Effects of spatial distance and woody plant cover on beta diversity point to dispersal limitation as a driver of community assembly during postfire succession in a Mediterranean shrubland

Beta diversity, and its components of turnover and nestedness, reflects the processes governing community assembly, such as dispersal limitation or biotic interactions, but it is unclear how they operate at the local scale and how their role changes along postfire succession. Here, we analyzed the patterns of beta diversity and its components in a herbaceous plant community after fire, and in relation to dispersal ability, in Central Spain. We calculated multiple-site beta diversity (beta(SOR)) and its components of turnover (beta(SIM)) and nestedness (beta(SNE)) of all herbaceous plants, or grouped by dispersal syndrome (autochory, anemochory, and zoochory), during the first 3 years after wildfire. We evaluated the relationship between pairwise beta diversity (beta(sor)), and its components (beta(sim), beta(sne)), and spatial distance or differences in woody plant cover, a proxy of biotic interactions. We found high multiple-site beta diversity dominated by the turnover component. Community dissimilarity increased with spatial distance, driven mostly by the turnover component. Species with less dispersal ability (i.e., autochory) showed a stronger spatial pattern of dissimilarity. Biotic interactions with woody plants contributed less to community dissimilarity, which tended to occur through the nestedness component. These results suggest that dispersal limitation prevails over biotic interactions with woody plants as a driver of local community assembly, even for species with high dispersal ability. These results contribute to our understanding of postfire community assembly and vegetation dynamics.

Automated summary

This research analyzed beta diversity and its components in a herbaceous plant community in Central Spain after a fire, and its relationship with dispersal ability. The study found that dispersal limitation is the primary driver of local community assembly, while biotic interactions between woody plants and herbaceous plants have a smaller contribution to community dissimilarity.