Multispecies coexistence of trees in tropical forests: spatial signals of topographic niche differentiation increase with environmental heterogeneity

C. Brown; D. F. R. P. Burslem; J. B. Illian; L. Bao; W. Brockelman; M. Cao; L. W. Chang; H. S. Dattaraja; S. Davies; C. V. S. Gunatilleke; I. A. U. N. Gunatilleke; J. Huang; A. R. Kassim; J. V. LaFrankie; J. Lian; L. Lin; K. Ma; X. Mi; A. Nathalang; S. Noor; P. Ong; R. Sukumar; S. H. Su; I. F. Sun; H. S. Suresh; S. Tan; J. Thompson; M. Uriarte; R. Valencia; S. L. Yap; W. Ye; R. Law

doi:10.1098/rspb.2013.0502

Multispecies coexistence of trees in tropical forests: spatial signals of topographic niche differentiation increase with environmental heterogeneity

C. Brown^*, D. F. R. P. Burslem, J. B. Illian, L. Bao, W. Brockelman, M. Cao, L. W. Chang, H. S. Dattaraja, S. Davies, C. V. S. Gunatilleke, I. A. U. N. Gunatilleke, J. Huang, A. R. Kassim, J. V. LaFrankie, J. Lian, L. Lin, K. Ma, X. Mi, A. Nathalang, S. NoorP. Ong, R. Sukumar, S. H. Su, I. F. Sun, H. S. Suresh, S. Tan, J. Thompson, M. Uriarte, R. Valencia, S. L. Yap, W. Ye, R. Law

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

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Abstract

Neutral and niche theories give contrasting explanations for the maintenance of tropical tree species diversity. Both have some empirical support, but methods to disentangle their effects have not yet been developed. We applied a statistical measure of spatial structure to data from 14 large tropical forest plots to test a prediction of niche theory that is incompatible with neutral theory: that species in heterogeneous environments should separate out in space according to their niche preferences. We chose plots across a range of topographic heterogeneity, and tested whether pairwise spatial associations among species were more variable in more heterogeneous sites. We found strong support for this prediction, based on a strong positive relationship between variance in the spatial structure of species pairs and topographic heterogeneity across sites. We interpret this pattern as evidence of pervasive niche differentiation, which increases in importance with increasing environmental heterogeneity.

Original language	English
Article number	20130502
Number of pages	8
Journal	Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences
Volume	280
Issue number	1764
Early online date	19 Jun 2013
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.0502
Publication status	Published - 7 Aug 2013

Keywords

species coexistence
tropical forest
niche differentiation
neutral theory
spatial pattern
cross-pair overlap distribution
Lankan dipterocarp forest
habitaty associations
beta-diversity
patterns
communities
abundance
distributions
availability
mechanisms

Cite this

Brown, C., Burslem, D. F. R. P., Illian, J. B., Bao, L., Brockelman, W., Cao, M., ... Law, R. (2013). Multispecies coexistence of trees in tropical forests: spatial signals of topographic niche differentiation increase with environmental heterogeneity. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences, 280(1764), [20130502]. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.0502

Multispecies coexistence of trees in tropical forests : spatial signals of topographic niche differentiation increase with environmental heterogeneity. / Brown, C.; Burslem, D. F. R. P.; Illian, J. B.; Bao, L.; Brockelman, W.; Cao, M.; Chang, L. W.; Dattaraja, H. S.; Davies, S.; Gunatilleke, C. V. S.; Gunatilleke, I. A. U. N.; Huang, J.; Kassim, A. R.; LaFrankie, J. V.; Lian, J.; Lin, L.; Ma, K.; Mi, X.; Nathalang, A.; Noor, S.; Ong, P.; Sukumar, R.; Su, S. H.; Sun, I. F.; Suresh, H. S.; Tan, S.; Thompson, J.; Uriarte, M.; Valencia, R.; Yap, S. L.; Ye, W.; Law, R.

In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences, Vol. 280, No. 1764, 20130502, 07.08.2013.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Brown, C, Burslem, DFRP, Illian, JB, Bao, L, Brockelman, W, Cao, M, Chang, LW, Dattaraja, HS, Davies, S, Gunatilleke, CVS, Gunatilleke, IAUN, Huang, J, Kassim, AR, LaFrankie, JV, Lian, J, Lin, L, Ma, K, Mi, X, Nathalang, A, Noor, S, Ong, P, Sukumar, R, Su, SH, Sun, IF, Suresh, HS, Tan, S, Thompson, J, Uriarte, M, Valencia, R, Yap, SL, Ye, W & Law, R 2013, 'Multispecies coexistence of trees in tropical forests: spatial signals of topographic niche differentiation increase with environmental heterogeneity', Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences, vol. 280, no. 1764, 20130502. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.0502

Brown, C. ; Burslem, D. F. R. P. ; Illian, J. B. ; Bao, L. ; Brockelman, W. ; Cao, M. ; Chang, L. W. ; Dattaraja, H. S. ; Davies, S. ; Gunatilleke, C. V. S. ; Gunatilleke, I. A. U. N. ; Huang, J. ; Kassim, A. R. ; LaFrankie, J. V. ; Lian, J. ; Lin, L. ; Ma, K. ; Mi, X. ; Nathalang, A. ; Noor, S. ; Ong, P. ; Sukumar, R. ; Su, S. H. ; Sun, I. F. ; Suresh, H. S. ; Tan, S. ; Thompson, J. ; Uriarte, M. ; Valencia, R. ; Yap, S. L. ; Ye, W. ; Law, R. / Multispecies coexistence of trees in tropical forests : spatial signals of topographic niche differentiation increase with environmental heterogeneity. In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences. 2013 ; Vol. 280, No. 1764.

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title = "Multispecies coexistence of trees in tropical forests: spatial signals of topographic niche differentiation increase with environmental heterogeneity",

abstract = "Neutral and niche theories give contrasting explanations for the maintenance of tropical tree species diversity. Both have some empirical support, but methods to disentangle their effects have not yet been developed. We applied a statistical measure of spatial structure to data from 14 large tropical forest plots to test a prediction of niche theory that is incompatible with neutral theory: that species in heterogeneous environments should separate out in space according to their niche preferences. We chose plots across a range of topographic heterogeneity, and tested whether pairwise spatial associations among species were more variable in more heterogeneous sites. We found strong support for this prediction, based on a strong positive relationship between variance in the spatial structure of species pairs and topographic heterogeneity across sites. We interpret this pattern as evidence of pervasive niche differentiation, which increases in importance with increasing environmental heterogeneity.",

keywords = "species coexistence, tropical forest, niche differentiation, neutral theory, spatial pattern, cross-pair overlap distribution, Lankan dipterocarp forest, habitaty associations, beta-diversity, patterns, communities, abundance, distributions, availability, mechanisms",

author = "C. Brown and Burslem, {D. F. R. P.} and Illian, {J. B.} and L. Bao and W. Brockelman and M. Cao and Chang, {L. W.} and Dattaraja, {H. S.} and S. Davies and Gunatilleke, {C. V. S.} and Gunatilleke, {I. A. U. N.} and J. Huang and Kassim, {A. R.} and LaFrankie, {J. V.} and J. Lian and L. Lin and K. Ma and X. Mi and A. Nathalang and S. Noor and P. Ong and R. Sukumar and Su, {S. H.} and Sun, {I. F.} and Suresh, {H. S.} and S. Tan and J. Thompson and M. Uriarte and R. Valencia and Yap, {S. L.} and W. Ye and R. Law",

note = "Funding statement The CTFS plots were individually supported from a number of sources, details of which are given in the electronic supplementary material, text S2. C.B. was financially supported by a Microsoft PhD Scholarship. Acknowledgements We are grateful for the assistance of Yu-Wen Pan, Sandeep Pulla, Hugo Romero-Saltos and anonymous referees who provided helpful comments on the manuscript. The census and topographic data used here may be accessed directly via individual plot Principal Investigators. {\circledC} 2013 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.",

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doi = "10.1098/rspb.2013.0502",

language = "English",

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T2 - spatial signals of topographic niche differentiation increase with environmental heterogeneity

AU - Brown, C.

AU - Burslem, D. F. R. P.

AU - Illian, J. B.

AU - Bao, L.

AU - Brockelman, W.

AU - Cao, M.

AU - Chang, L. W.

AU - Dattaraja, H. S.

AU - Davies, S.

AU - Gunatilleke, C. V. S.

AU - Gunatilleke, I. A. U. N.

AU - Huang, J.

AU - Kassim, A. R.

AU - LaFrankie, J. V.

AU - Lian, J.

AU - Lin, L.

AU - Ma, K.

AU - Mi, X.

AU - Nathalang, A.

AU - Noor, S.

AU - Ong, P.

AU - Sukumar, R.

AU - Su, S. H.

AU - Sun, I. F.

AU - Suresh, H. S.

AU - Tan, S.

AU - Thompson, J.

AU - Uriarte, M.

AU - Valencia, R.

AU - Yap, S. L.

AU - Ye, W.

AU - Law, R.

N1 - Funding statement The CTFS plots were individually supported from a number of sources, details of which are given in the electronic supplementary material, text S2. C.B. was financially supported by a Microsoft PhD Scholarship. Acknowledgements We are grateful for the assistance of Yu-Wen Pan, Sandeep Pulla, Hugo Romero-Saltos and anonymous referees who provided helpful comments on the manuscript. The census and topographic data used here may be accessed directly via individual plot Principal Investigators. © 2013 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

PY - 2013/8/7

Y1 - 2013/8/7

N2 - Neutral and niche theories give contrasting explanations for the maintenance of tropical tree species diversity. Both have some empirical support, but methods to disentangle their effects have not yet been developed. We applied a statistical measure of spatial structure to data from 14 large tropical forest plots to test a prediction of niche theory that is incompatible with neutral theory: that species in heterogeneous environments should separate out in space according to their niche preferences. We chose plots across a range of topographic heterogeneity, and tested whether pairwise spatial associations among species were more variable in more heterogeneous sites. We found strong support for this prediction, based on a strong positive relationship between variance in the spatial structure of species pairs and topographic heterogeneity across sites. We interpret this pattern as evidence of pervasive niche differentiation, which increases in importance with increasing environmental heterogeneity.

AB - Neutral and niche theories give contrasting explanations for the maintenance of tropical tree species diversity. Both have some empirical support, but methods to disentangle their effects have not yet been developed. We applied a statistical measure of spatial structure to data from 14 large tropical forest plots to test a prediction of niche theory that is incompatible with neutral theory: that species in heterogeneous environments should separate out in space according to their niche preferences. We chose plots across a range of topographic heterogeneity, and tested whether pairwise spatial associations among species were more variable in more heterogeneous sites. We found strong support for this prediction, based on a strong positive relationship between variance in the spatial structure of species pairs and topographic heterogeneity across sites. We interpret this pattern as evidence of pervasive niche differentiation, which increases in importance with increasing environmental heterogeneity.

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KW - tropical forest

KW - niche differentiation

KW - neutral theory

KW - spatial pattern

KW - cross-pair overlap distribution

KW - Lankan dipterocarp forest

KW - habitaty associations

KW - beta-diversity

KW - patterns

KW - communities

KW - abundance

KW - distributions

KW - availability

KW - mechanisms

U2 - 10.1098/rspb.2013.0502

DO - 10.1098/rspb.2013.0502

M3 - Article

VL - 280

JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences

JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences

SN - 0962-8452

IS - 1764

M1 - 20130502

ER -

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10.1098/rspb.2013.0502

T:\People\d.burslem\Backup 2012\Files\Papers\Old\2013\Calum rainforest paper\Published version\Brown et al Revised Manuscript
This is the authors version of an article published as Brown, C, Burslem, DFRP, Illian, JB, Bao, L, Brockelman, W, Cao, M, Chang, LW, Dattaraja, HS, Davies, S, Gunatilleke, CVS, Gunatilleke, IAUN, Huang, J, Kassim, AR, LaFrankie, JV, Lian, J, Lin, L, Ma, K, Mi, X, Nathalang, A, Noor, S, Ong, P, Sukumar, R, Su, SH, Sun, IF, Suresh, HS, Tan, S, Thompson, J, Uriarte, M, Valencia, R, Yap, SL, Ye, W & Law, R 2013, 'Multispecies coexistence of trees in tropical forests: spatial signals of topographic niche differentiation increase with environmental heterogeneity'Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences, vol 280, no. 1764, 20130502. Doi: 10.1098/rspb.2013.0502
Submitted manuscript, 56.8 KB
T:\People\d.burslem\Backup 2012\Files\Papers\Old\2013\Calum rainforest paper\Published version\ESM
This is the authors version of an article published as Brown, C, Burslem, DFRP, Illian, JB, Bao, L, Brockelman, W, Cao, M, Chang, LW, Dattaraja, HS, Davies, S, Gunatilleke, CVS, Gunatilleke, IAUN, Huang, J, Kassim, AR, LaFrankie, JV, Lian, J, Lin, L, Ma, K, Mi, X, Nathalang, A, Noor, S, Ong, P, Sukumar, R, Su, SH, Sun, IF, Suresh, HS, Tan, S, Thompson, J, Uriarte, M, Valencia, R, Yap, SL, Ye, W & Law, R 2013, 'Multispecies coexistence of trees in tropical forests: spatial signals of topographic niche differentiation increase with environmental heterogeneity'Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences, vol 280, no. 1764, 20130502. Doi: 10.1098/rspb.2013.0502
Submitted manuscript, 901 KB
T:\People\d.burslem\Backup 2012\Files\Papers\Old\2013\Calum rainforest paper\Published version\Fig 1
This is from the authors version of an article published as Brown, C, Burslem, DFRP, Illian, JB, Bao, L, Brockelman, W, Cao, M, Chang, LW, Dattaraja, HS, Davies, S, Gunatilleke, CVS, Gunatilleke, IAUN, Huang, J, Kassim, AR, LaFrankie, JV, Lian, J, Lin, L, Ma, K, Mi, X, Nathalang, A, Noor, S, Ong, P, Sukumar, R, Su, SH, Sun, IF, Suresh, HS, Tan, S, Thompson, J, Uriarte, M, Valencia, R, Yap, SL, Ye, W & Law, R 2013, 'Multispecies coexistence of trees in tropical forests: spatial signals of topographic niche differentiation increase with environmental heterogeneity'Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences, vol 280, no. 1764, 20130502. Doi: 10.1098/rspb.2013.0502
Submitted manuscript, 171 KB
T:\People\d.burslem\Backup 2012\Files\Papers\Old\2013\Calum rainforest paper\Published version\Figure 2
This is the authors version of an article published as Brown, C, Burslem, DFRP, Illian, JB, Bao, L, Brockelman, W, Cao, M, Chang, LW, Dattaraja, HS, Davies, S, Gunatilleke, CVS, Gunatilleke, IAUN, Huang, J, Kassim, AR, LaFrankie, JV, Lian, J, Lin, L, Ma, K, Mi, X, Nathalang, A, Noor, S, Ong, P, Sukumar, R, Su, SH, Sun, IF, Suresh, HS, Tan, S, Thompson, J, Uriarte, M, Valencia, R, Yap, SL, Ye, W & Law, R 2013, 'Multispecies coexistence of trees in tropical forests: spatial signals of topographic niche differentiation increase with environmental heterogeneity'Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences, vol 280, no. 1764, 20130502. Doi: 10.1098/rspb.2013.0502
Submitted manuscript, 22.2 KB
T:\People\d.burslem\Backup 2012\Files\Papers\Old\2013\Calum rainforest paper\Published version\Table 1
This is the authors version of an article published as Brown, C, Burslem, DFRP, Illian, JB, Bao, L, Brockelman, W, Cao, M, Chang, LW, Dattaraja, HS, Davies, S, Gunatilleke, CVS, Gunatilleke, IAUN, Huang, J, Kassim, AR, LaFrankie, JV, Lian, J, Lin, L, Ma, K, Mi, X, Nathalang, A, Noor, S, Ong, P, Sukumar, R, Su, SH, Sun, IF, Suresh, HS, Tan, S, Thompson, J, Uriarte, M, Valencia, R, Yap, SL, Ye, W & Law, R 2013, 'Multispecies coexistence of trees in tropical forests: spatial signals of topographic niche differentiation increase with environmental heterogeneity'Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences, vol 280, no. 1764, 20130502. Doi: 10.1098/rspb.2013.0502
Submitted manuscript, 16.3 KB