Changes in community phylogenetic structure in a North American forest chronosequence

• Main Authors: Abigail I. Pastore, Brendan P. Scherer
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2016-12-01
• Series: Ecosphere
• Subjects: abiotic filters; biotic filters; community phylogenetics; disturbance; facilitation; succession
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1592

Abstract Several studies of succession in tropical and subtropical climates include phylogenetic analyses of the plant communities; the majority of these studies find a shift from more closely related to less closely related assemblages over succession. It has been suggested that this pattern indicates a shift from abiotic to biotic filters structuring communities over time, but there is considerable debate surrounding this interpretation. Conducting analyses for multiple components of plant assemblages can provide insight into the processes structuring communities. Here, we present community phylogenetic analyses of a deciduous forest chronosequence for three community components: standing vegetation, seed bank, and vegetation regenerated after small‐scale disturbance. We constructed a phylogeny from 228 taxa present in the community data of a chronosequence obtained from previously published research. In the standing vegetation, we found a shift from more closely related to less closely related vegetation over the chronosequence. These results are consistent with other studies of chronosequences in tropical forests, lending support to the ubiquity of such shifts in relatedness over succession under different climatic conditions. However, the seed bank and vegetation regenerated after small‐scale disturbance showed no consistent pattern with stand age, suggesting recruits are experiencing different forces than surrounding vegetation. These phylogenetic analyses of seed banks and vegetation regenerated after small‐scale disturbance over a chronosequence provide additional evidence into the mechanisms driving forest succession.