Are endemic species necessarily ecological specialists? Functional variability and niche differentiation of two threatened Dianthus species in the montane steppes of northeastern Iran.

Scientific Reports
Maryam BehroozianMansour Mesdaghi

Abstract

Endemic species are believed to converge on narrow ranges of traits, with rarity reflecting adaptation to specific environmental regimes. We hypothesized that endemism is characterized by limited trait variability and environmental tolerances in two Dianthus species (Dianthus pseudocrinitus and Dianthus polylepis) endemic to the montane steppes of northeastern Iran. We measured leaf functional traits and calculated Grime's competitor/stress-tolerator/ruderal (CSR) adaptive strategies for these and co-occurring species in seventy-five 25-m2 quadrats at 15 sites, also measuring a range of edaphic, climatic, and topographic parameters. While plant communities converged on the stress-tolerator strategy, D. pseudocrinitus exhibited functional divergence from S- to R-selected (C:S:R = 12.0:7.2:80.8% to 6.8:82.3:10.9%). Canonical correspondence analysis, in concert with Pearson's correlation coefficients, suggested the strongest associations with elevation, annual temperature, precipitation seasonality, and soil fertility. Indeed, variance (s2) in R- and S-values for D. pseudocrinitus at two sites was exceptionally high, refuting the hypothesis of rarity via specialization. Rarity, in this case, is probably related to recent speciatio...Continue Reading

References

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Citations

Aug 16, 2021·The Science of the Total Environment·Tiancai ZhouPeili Shi

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Software Mentioned

WorldClim
R
FD
SigmaPlot
vegan
StrateFy
Leaf Area Measurement
ArcGIS

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