Long-term droughts may drive drier tropical forests towards increased functional, taxonomic and phylogenetic homogeneity
Nature Communications, vol. 11, pp. 3346
Abstract
Tropical ecosystems adapted to high water availability may be highly impacted by climatic changes that increase soil and atmospheric moisture deficits. Many tropical regions are experiencing significant changes in climatic conditions, which may induce strong shifts in taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity of forest communities. However, it remains unclear if and to what extent tropical forests are shifting in these facets of diversity along climatic gradients in response to climate change. Here, we show that changes in climate affected all three facets of diversity in West Africa in recent decades. Taxonomic and functional diversity increased in wetter forests but tended to decrease in forests with drier climate. Phylogenetic diversity showed a large decrease along a wet-dry climatic gradient. Notably, we find that all three facets of diversity tended to be higher in wetter forests. Drier forests showed functional, taxonomic and phylogenetic homogenization. Understanding how different facets of diversity respond to a changing environment across climatic gradients is essential for effective long-term conservation of tropical forest ecosystems.
Authors 14
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Naturalis Biodiversity Center · University of Oxford
Affiliation as printed
Biodiversity Dynamics, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands. jesus.aguirregutierrez@ouce.ox.ac.uk
Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. jesus.aguirregutierrez@ouce.ox.ac.uk
Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Affiliation as printed
Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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University of Leeds · University College London
Affiliation as printed
Department of Geography, University College London, London, UK
Ecology and Global Change, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
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Affiliation as printed
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Science, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK
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Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology · Forestry Research Institute of Ghana
Affiliation as printed
CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, University Post Office, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana
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The Forestry Commission of Ghana
Affiliation as printed
Mensuration Unit, Forestry Commission of Ghana, Kumasi, Ghana
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Affiliation as printed
Ecology and Global Change, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
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Affiliation as printed
Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Royal Museum for Central Africa · University of Leeds
Affiliation as printed
Ecology and Global Change, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
Service of Wood Biology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium
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Affiliation as printed
Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology · Forestry Research Institute of Ghana
Affiliation as printed
CSIR-Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, University Post Office, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana
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Uppsala University · Arnold Arboretum
Affiliation as printed
Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
Department of Plant Ecology and Evolution, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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Affiliation as printed
Ecology and Global Change, School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK
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Affiliation as printed
Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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