TY - JOUR
T1 - Climate and soil attributes determine plant species turnover in global drylands
AU - Ulrich, Werner
AU - Soliveres, Santiago
AU - Maestre, Fernando T.
AU - Gotelli, Nicholas J.
AU - Quero, José L.
AU - Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel
AU - Bowker, Matthew A.
AU - Eldridge, David J.
AU - Ochoa, Victoria
AU - Gozalo, Beatriz
AU - Valencia, Enrique
AU - Berdugo, Miguel
AU - Escolar, Cristina
AU - García-Gómez, Miguel
AU - Escudero, Adrián
AU - Prina, Aníbal
AU - Alfonso, Graciela
AU - Arredondo, Tulio
AU - Bran, Donaldo
AU - Cabrera, Omar
AU - Cea, Alex P.
AU - Chaieb, Mohamed
AU - Contreras, Jorge
AU - Derak, Mchich
AU - Espinosa, Carlos I.
AU - Florentino, Adriana
AU - Gaitán, Juan
AU - Muro, Victoria García
AU - Ghiloufi, Wahida
AU - Gómez-González, Susana
AU - Gutiérrez, Julio R.
AU - Hernández, Rosa M.
AU - Huber-Sannwald, Elisabeth
AU - Jankju, Mohammad
AU - Mau, Rebecca L.
AU - Hughes, Frederic Mendes
AU - Miriti, Maria
AU - Monerris, Jorge
AU - Muchane, Muchai
AU - Naseri, Kamal
AU - Pucheta, Eduardo
AU - Ramírez-Collantes, David A.
AU - Raveh, Eran
AU - Romão, Roberto L.
AU - Torres-Díaz, Cristian
AU - Val, James
AU - Veiga, José Pablo
AU - Wang, Deli
AU - Yuan, Xia
AU - Zaady, Eli
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2014/12/1
Y1 - 2014/12/1
N2 - Aim: Geographical, climatic and soil factors are major drivers of plant beta diversity, but their importance for dryland plant communities is poorly known. The aim of this study was to: (1) characterize patterns of beta diversity in global drylands; (2) detect common environmental drivers of beta diversity; and (3) test for thresholds in environmental conditions driving potential shifts in plant species composition. Location: Global. Methods: Beta diversity was quantified in 224 dryland plant communities from 22 geographical regions on all continents except Antarctica using four complementary measures: the percentage of singletons (species occurring at only one site); Whittaker's beta diversity, β(W); a directional beta diversity metric based on the correlation in species occurrences among spatially contiguous sites, β(R2); and a multivariate abundance-based metric, β(MV). We used linear modelling to quantify the relationships between these metrics of beta diversity and geographical, climatic and soil variables. Results: Soil fertility and variability in temperature and rainfall, and to a lesser extent latitude, were the most important environmental predictors of beta diversity. Metrics related to species identity [percentage of singletons and β(W)] were most sensitive to soil fertility, whereas those metrics related to environmental gradients and abundance [(β(R2) and β(MV)] were more associated with climate variability. Interactions among soil variables, climatic factors and plant cover were not important determinants of beta diversity. Sites receiving less than 178 mm of annual rainfall differed sharply in species composition from more mesic sites (> 200 mm). Main conclusions: Soil fertility and variability in temperature and rainfall are the most important environmental predictors of variation in plant beta diversity in global drylands. Our results suggest that those sites annually receiving c. 178 mm of rainfall will be especially sensitive to future climate changes. These findings may help to define appropriate conservation strategies for mitigating effects of climate change on dryland vegetation.
AB - Aim: Geographical, climatic and soil factors are major drivers of plant beta diversity, but their importance for dryland plant communities is poorly known. The aim of this study was to: (1) characterize patterns of beta diversity in global drylands; (2) detect common environmental drivers of beta diversity; and (3) test for thresholds in environmental conditions driving potential shifts in plant species composition. Location: Global. Methods: Beta diversity was quantified in 224 dryland plant communities from 22 geographical regions on all continents except Antarctica using four complementary measures: the percentage of singletons (species occurring at only one site); Whittaker's beta diversity, β(W); a directional beta diversity metric based on the correlation in species occurrences among spatially contiguous sites, β(R2); and a multivariate abundance-based metric, β(MV). We used linear modelling to quantify the relationships between these metrics of beta diversity and geographical, climatic and soil variables. Results: Soil fertility and variability in temperature and rainfall, and to a lesser extent latitude, were the most important environmental predictors of beta diversity. Metrics related to species identity [percentage of singletons and β(W)] were most sensitive to soil fertility, whereas those metrics related to environmental gradients and abundance [(β(R2) and β(MV)] were more associated with climate variability. Interactions among soil variables, climatic factors and plant cover were not important determinants of beta diversity. Sites receiving less than 178 mm of annual rainfall differed sharply in species composition from more mesic sites (> 200 mm). Main conclusions: Soil fertility and variability in temperature and rainfall are the most important environmental predictors of variation in plant beta diversity in global drylands. Our results suggest that those sites annually receiving c. 178 mm of rainfall will be especially sensitive to future climate changes. These findings may help to define appropriate conservation strategies for mitigating effects of climate change on dryland vegetation.
KW - Aridity
KW - Beta diversity
KW - Climatic variability
KW - Global environmental change
KW - Habitat filtering
KW - Latitudinal gradient
KW - Plant community assembly
KW - Regression analysis
KW - Soil fertility
KW - Spatial soil heterogeneity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84939260935&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/jbi.12377
DO - 10.1111/jbi.12377
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84939260935
SN - 0305-0270
VL - 41
SP - 2307
EP - 2319
JO - Journal of Biogeography
JF - Journal of Biogeography
IS - 12
ER -
