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Science 24 October 2008:
Vol. 322. no. 5901, pp. 580 - 582
DOI: 10.1126/science.1160662
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Reports

Functional Traits and Niche-Based Tree Community Assembly in an Amazonian Forest

Nathan J. B. Kraft,1 Renato Valencia,2 David D. Ackerly1

It is debated whether species-level differences in ecological strategy, which play a key role in much of coexistence theory, are important in structuring highly diverse communities. We examined the co-occurrence patterns of over 1100 tree species in a 25-hectare Amazonian forest plot in relation to field-measured functional traits. Using a null model approach, we show that co-occurring trees are often less ecologically similar than a niche-free (neutral) model predicts. Furthermore, we find evidence for processes that simultaneously drive convergence and divergence in key aspects of plant strategy, suggesting that at least two distinct niche-based processes are occurring. Our results show that strategy differentiation among species contributes to the maintenance of diversity in one of the most diverse tropical forests in the world.

1 Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
2 Laboratorio de Ecología de Plantas, Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Aptado, 17-01-2184, Quito, Ecuador.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Taxonomic scale-dependence of habitat niche partitioning and biotic neighbourhood on survival of tropical tree seedlings.
S. A. Queenborough, D. F. R. P. Burslem, N. C. Garwood, and R. Valencia (2009)
Proc R Soc B 276, 4197-4205
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Costs of height gain in rainforest saplings: main-stem scaling, functional traits and strategy variation across 75 species.
R. M. Kooyman and M. Westoby (2009)
Ann. Bot. 104, 987-993
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Comment on "Functional Traits and Niche-Based Tree Community Assembly in an Amazonian Forest".
J. K. Lake and A. Ostling (2009)
Science 324, 1015
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Response to Comment on "Functional Traits and Niche-Based Tree Community Assembly in an Amazonian Forest".
N. J. B. Kraft and D. D. Ackerly (2009)
Science 324, 1015
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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