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158 results for “plant size”
Alaskan Peatland Experiment (APEX): Ammonium Uptake Experiment II - Size Characteristics of Carex aquatilis Plants Harvested in 2016 from Thermokast Features Located in the Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest near Fairbanks, Alaska
This dataset contains data from an ammonium uptake experiment conducted at the APEX Beta site in the BCEF. Data includes size characteristics of Carex aquatilis plants harvested from the edge and centre of thermokarst features.
SGS-LTER CO2 Elevation Study: Stipa comata basal size and plant density per Open Top Chamber plot on the Central Plains Experimental Range, Nunn, Colorado, USA 1997 - 2001
This data package was produced by researchers working on the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term Ecological Research (SGS-LTER) Project, administered at Colorado State University. Long-term datasets and background information (proposals, reports, photographs, etc.) on the SGS-LTER project are contained in a comprehensive project collection within the Digital Collections of Colorado (http://digitool.library.colostate.edu/R/?func=collections&collection_id=3429). The data table and associated metadata document, which is generated in Ecological Metadata Language, may be available through other repositories serving the ecological research community and represent components of the larger SGS-LTER project collection. Additional information and referenced materials can be found: http://hdl.handle.net/10217/82454. At the end of the Open Top Chamber experiment the number and basal size of Stipa comata plants in ambient and elevated (720ppm) chambered and unchambered plots was measured. There was a greater number of small plants and seedlings in the elevated CO2 plots. This research was conducted at the Central Plains Experimental Range, near Nunn, CO; lat.40degrees 40 minutes N; long. 104 degrees 45 minutes W in the shortgrass steppe region of NE Colorado, USA and as a collaboration between SGS-LTER and USDA-ARS researchers.
The effects of age on the demography of a perennial plant depend on interactions with size and environment
<p>Age-dependence of the demographic rates survival, fecundity and individual growth is a fundamental aspect of population biological theory. Knowledge about plant ageing can also be important for conservation and agriculture as it will improve the accuracy of population viability assessments and long-term performance assessments in perennial crops. Recent studies show age effects on demographic rates for several plant species, yet much remains to be learned about the patterns and mechanisms of plant ageing, particularly about how age effects interact with the environment and with plant size.</p> <p>We collected age-and-size-based demographic data, as well as individual-based environmental data, for the perennial herb Plantago lanceolata in Denmark over three annual transitions (four years). We combined frequent field monitoring of carefully mapped individuals with the underused technique of root histology to determine age of herbaceous plants. We used generalized linear mixed effects models to assess how age, soil properties, and year influenced survival, growth, and reproduction.</p> <p>Our results show no strong evidence of consistent age declines, rather, we found mostly positive effects of age on vital rates. For all vital rates, i.e. survival, growth, flowering, and reproductive output, age effects also differed significantly among years. Additionally, we detected an interactive effect of age and size in the growth model. Size, and temporal and spatial environmental variation also affected vital rates independently of age.</p> <p>Synthesis: Our study shows that age-dependence of demographic rates can depend both on individual size and environmental variation. These results suggest that a consideration of potential age-interactions may improve the accuracy of comparative studies of ageing and population projections. Moreover, this study shows that much is still unknown about how plant ageing can be affected by the environment, and illustrates how age determination using herb chronology provides an opportunity to increase our knowledge about ageing in herbaceous plants.</p>
Plant size and leaf traits for epiphyte species found in flooded gallery forests and non-flooded gallery forests in Central Brazil
<p>Despite their unique adaptations to thrive in canopy environments without access to soil resources, epiphytes are underrepresented in studies of functional traits and of functional composition of tropical plant communities. We investigated functional traits of spermatophytic (seed-bearing) C<sub>3</sub> and CAM epihyte communities in flooded and non-flooded gallery forests in Central Brazil. The two forest types differ in floristic, structure, microclimate and edaphic conditions. We studied plant size, leaf thickness, leaf dry matter content, leaf area, specific leaf area, leaf C, N, P, K, Mg, Ca and C and N stable isotope ratios. Because photosynthetic pathway (C<sub>3</sub> or CAM) is an important aspect of ecologial differentiation of spermatophytic epiphytes, we expected that functional trait syndromes in a multivariate space would be more associated with photosynthetic pathway than forest type and changes in abundance of C<sub>3</sub> and CAM epiphytes would drive functional trait composition at the community level. C<sub>3</sub> and CAM epiphytes segregated in the multivariate trait space, however more complex functional typologies were also evident. Despite lower light levels, CAM epiphytes were more abundant in the flooded gallery forest. There, they accounted for 80% of all individuals, whereas C<sub>3</sub> epiphytes dominated in the non-flooded forest. These large differences in the proportion of C<sub>3</sub> and CAM epiphytes strongly affected functional trait values at the community level, despite very little intraspecfic variation in trait values between forest types for species that occurred in both forests. </p>
Data from: Seed size predicts global effects of small mammal seed predation on plant recruitment
<p>We conducted a global literature review and meta-analysis to evaluate whether seed size could predict post-dispersal seed predator effects on seed removal and plant recruitment, respectively. Datasets were built using data extracted from published studies focusing on seed predation by small mammals (see Methods for criteria and data extraction protocol). We found that seed size predicted small mammal seed removal rates and their impacts on plant recruitment consistent with optimal foraging theory, with intermediate seed sizes most strongly impacted globally - for both native and exotic plants. However, differences in seed size distributions among ecosystems conditioned seed predation patterns, with relatively larger-seeded species most strongly affected in grasslands (smallest seeds), and relatively smaller-seeded species most strongly affected in tropical forests (largest seeds). Such size-dependent seed predation has profound implications for coexistence among plants because it may enhance or weaken opposing life-history tradeoffs in an ecosystem-specific manner. Our results suggest that seed size may serve as a key life-history trait that can integrate consumer effects to improve understandings of plant coexistence. </p>
Size-selective exclusion of mammals and invertebrates differently affects grassland plant communities depending on vegetation type
<p>Human-caused loss of vertebrate and invertebrate animals, defaunation, is increasing, and potentially affects plant community structure of diverse grassland ecosystems worldwide. We experimentally simulated defaunation using size-selective fences to progressively exclude large-, medium- and small-sized mammals, and invertebrates from two subalpine vegetation types in the Swiss National Park (SNP): intensively grazed short-grass and moderately grazed tall-grass vegetation. We assessed plant community properties yearly from 2009 to 2013, and examined treatment effects on plant community structure in the two grassland types. In the short-grass vegetation, the exclusion of large mammals increased total plant biomass, while the exclusion of large and medium-sized mammals increased total, grass and forb biomass compared to when all animals had access. These increases became stronger when also invertebrates were excluded. The exclusion of all mammals and invertebrates increased biomass of grasses by 205%, forbs by 100% and total plant biomass by 118% compared to when all animals had access, hence enhancing relative biomass of grasses from 43.6% to 60%, changing plant species composition and lowering richness of forbs by 16%, the number of plant families by 13% and family-level Shannon diversity by 23%. In contrast to these significant community-level responses found in the short-grass vegetation, there was no evidence that the size-selective exclusion of animals altered the plant community structure of the tall-grass vegetation. The contrasting results were due to the difference in plant community composition prior to our experiment, which were related to differences in quantity and quality of forage and in grazing intensities of herbivores between the two grassland types. Synthesis. Our results showed that different-sized animals, in particular large mammals and invertebrates, contributed to maintain the plant community structure in the short-grass vegetation, highlighting the importance of multiple, functionally different animal groups for ecosystem functioning and stability. In contrast to the short-grass vegetation, we could not detect such a top-down control by animals in the tall-grass vegetation. Our results suggest that potential defaunation effects on grassland plant community structure depend on the degree of grazing pressure release and grassland vegetation type.</p>
Data from: Infrapopulation size and mate availability influence reproductive success of a parasitic plant
1. Aggregated distributions of parasite individuals across host individuals are nearly ubiquitous among parasitic taxa. The size and sex ratio of the population of one parasite species infecting a single host (hereafter "infrapopulation") can influence parasite fitness through intraspecific competition, mate availability, and the ability to attract vectors for transmission of parasite propagules. Competition for both resources and for pollen and seed vector services may limit reproductive success (pollen receipt, fruit production, and seed dispersal) in large infrapopulations of parasitic plants, while mate limitation or reduced ability to attract vectors may limit this success in small infrapopulations. 2. Using a dioecious parasitic plant, desert mistletoe (Phoradendron californicum), we experimentally removed reproductive tissue from male parasites in whole infrapopulations to test for independent effects of infrapopulation size and within-host mate availability on female fitness. As desert mistletoe requires both pollen and seed vectors for successful reproduction, the species provides the opportunity to test how infrapopulation characteristics affect multiple components of parasite fitness. 3. We found that insect-mediated pollen receipt decreased for parasites on treated hosts, consistent with within-host mate limitation. Additionally, the relationship between mate availability and fruit production per flower ranged from neutral to positive depending on year of the experiment. 4. As expected if competition for host resources limits reproductive success more than mate availability in larger infrapopulations, the greater pollen receipt to females in large infrapopulations did not generally translate into increased mistletoe fruit production. Relationships between mistletoe fruit production per flower and infrapopulation size ranged from negative to neutral. 5. Both pollen receipt and pollinator visitation increased with infrapopulation size, indicating that larger populations can be more attractive to pollen vectors independent of mate availability. However, we found no relationship between infrapopulation size and fruit removal by dispersers and, thus, no evidence that attraction of seed dispersal vectors increases with infrapopulation size. 6. Synthesis: These results highlight the interactive roles of within-host processes (resource competition, mate availability, and vector attraction) in determining the fitness of biotically-transmitted parasite individuals.
Experimental Investigation of the Bubble Size Distribution in a Mini Plant Batch Bubble Column With Variation of Gas Flux, Bubble Column Height and Composition of the Liquid Phase
<p>This data set contains bubble size distributions (BSD) measured in a dN = 100 mm mini-plant batch bubble column. The BSD were measured using the optical multimode online probe. The liquid holdup, the feed gas volume flow rate/flux, the composition of the liquid phase (water or aqueous solutions of NaCl, EtOH, glycerol or Na2SO3) and the measuring position in the bubble column were varied. </p>
Wood density and leaf size jointly predict woody plant growth rates across (but not within) species along a steep precipitation gradient
<p>1. Functional traits have been proposed to define key dimensions of plant ecological strategies, but we lack consensus on whether traits can accurately predict plant demography. Despite theoretical expectations, it has been challenging to find consistent relationships between functional traits and growth. 2. In this study, we quantified inter- and intraspecific trait variation and individual growth rates of woody plants across a steep moisture gradient that varies 10-fold in annual precipitation (350–3,700 mm) in southern Chile and used a hierarchical Bayesian model to predict growth as a function of trait values. 3. We show that large-leaved species with lower stem tissue density exhibited the fastest growth rates, and these two traits exhibited the highest proportion of interspecific variation. Predictions of growth improved considerably (R2 of the best model increased from 0.28 to 0.49) when species-level multiple traits and their interactions were considered. The inclusion of intraspecific trait variation (ITV), however, did not improve models of growth rate. 4. We found that trait-growth rate relationships were not always consistent across levels of biological organization; relationships observed at the interspecific level did not necessarily hold at the intraspecific level. We found that the relationships between wood density or leaf size and growth were consistent in direction across the precipitation gradient, and the relationships between leaf economics traits and growth were weak and site-specific. 5. Synthesis. Although using more than one functional trait considerably improved growth predictions, wood density and leaf size successfully predicted growth rates across (not within) species, which is consistent with a whole-plant carbon economy. We assert that these two traits are intimately linked and ultimately describe a continuum of plant architecture and carbon economy that covers multiple trait syndromes.</p>
Plant size, latitude, and phylogeny explain within-population variability in herbivory
<p>Interactions between plants and herbivores are central in most ecosystems, but their strength is highly variable. The amount of variability within a system is thought to influence most aspects of plant-herbivore biology, from ecological stability to plant defense evolution. Our understanding of what influences variability, however, is limited by sparse data. We collected standardized surveys of herbivory for 503 plant species at 790 sites across 116° of latitude. With these data, we show that within-population variability in herbivory increases with latitude, decreases with plant size, and is phylogenetically structured. Differences in the magnitude of variability are thus central to how plant-herbivore biology varies across macroscale gradients. We argue that increased focus on interaction variability will advance understanding of patterns of life on Earth.</p>
Data belonging to: Decreasing relatedness among mycorrhizal fungi in a shared plant network increases fungal network size but not plant benefit
<p>Dataset beloning to the publication: "Decreasing relatedness among mycorrhizal fungi in a shared plant network increases fungal network size but not plant benefit" in Ecology letters (2021). R script used to analyse the data in the .csv files</p>
Data from: Dispersal-related plant traits are associated with range size in the Atlantic Forest
<p><strong>Aim: </strong>The efficiency of animal-mediated seed dispersal is threatened by declines of animal populations, especially in tropical forests. We hypothesise that large-seeded plants with animal-mediated dispersal tend to have limited geographic ranges and face an increased risk of extinction due to the potential decline in seed dispersal by large-bodied fruit-eating and seed-dispersing animals (frugivores)</p> <p><strong>Location:</strong> Atlantic Forest, Brazil, South America</p> <p><strong>Taxon:</strong> Angiosperms</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> First, we collected dispersal-related trait (dispersal syndrome, fruit size, seed size), growth form (tree, climber, other) and preferred vegetation type (open, closed) data for 1,052 Atlantic Forest plant species. Next, we integrated these with occurrence records, extinction risk assessments, and phylogenetic trees. Finally, we performed phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS) regressions to test the direct and interactive effects of dispersal-related traits and vegetation type on geographical range size.</p> <p><strong>Results: </strong>Large-seeded species had smaller range sizes than small-seeded species, but only for species with animal-mediated dispersal, not for those dispersed by abiotic mechanisms. However, plants with abiotic dispersal had overall smaller range sizes than plants with animal-mediated dispersal. Furthermore, we found that species restricted to forests had smaller ranges than those occurring in open or mixed vegetation. Finally, at least 29% of the Atlantic Forest flora is threatened by extinction, but this was not related to plant dispersal syndromes.</p> <p><strong>Main Conclusions:</strong> Large-seeded plants with animal-mediated dispersal may be suffering from dispersal limitation, potentially due to past and ongoing defaunation of large-bodied frugivores, leading to small range sizes. Other factors, such as deforestation and fragmentation, will probably modulate such effects of dispersal on range size, and ultimately extinction. Our study sheds light on the relationship between plant traits, mutualistic interactions and distribution that are key to the functioning of tropical forests.</p>
Elevational range-sizes and edaphic associations for plant species of the Mount Kinabalu region of Borneo (Sabah, Malaysia)
<p>Identifying physical and ecological boundaries that limit where species can occur is important for predicting how those species will respond to global change. The island of Borneo encompasses a wide range of habitats that support some of the highest richness on Earth, making it an ideal location for investigating ecological mechanisms underlying broad patterns of species distribution. We tested variation in richness and range-size in relation to edaphic specialization and vegetation zone boundaries using 3060 plant species from 193 families centered around the elevational gradient of Mt. Kinabalu, Borneo. Across species, average range-size increased with elevation, consistent with Rapoport's rule. However, plants associated with ultramafic soil, which is low in nutrient and water availability and often has high concentrations of heavy metals, had larger range-sizes and greater richness than expected along the elevational gradient, as compared to a null model with randomization of edaphic association. In contrast, non-ultramafic species had smaller range-sizes and lower richness than expected. These results suggest that tolerance of resource limitation may be associated with wider range-sizes, whereas species intolerant of edaphic stress may have narrower range-sizes, possibly owing to more intense competition in favorable soil types. Using elevation as a predictor of average range-sizes, we found that piece-wise models with breakpoints at vegetation zone transitions explained species distributions better than models that did not incorporate ecological boundaries. The greatest relative increases in range-size with respect to elevation occurred mid-elevation, within the montane cloud forest vegetation zone. Expansion of average range-size across an area without physical boundaries may indicate a shift in ecological strategy and importance of biotic versus abiotic stressors. Our results indicate that elevational range-size patterns are structured by ecological constraints such as species' edaphic association, which may limit the ability of species to migrate up or down mountains in response to climate change.</p>
Data from: Within-species trait variation can lead to size limitations in seed dispersal of small-fruited plants
<p>The inability of small-gaped animals to consume very large fruits may limit seed dispersal of the respective plants. This has often been shown for large-fruited plant species that remain poorly dispersed when large-gaped animal species are lost due to anthropogenic pressure. Little is known about whether gape-size limitations similarly influence seed dispersal of small-fruited plant species that can show a large variation in fruit size within species.</p> <p>In this study, fruit sizes of 15 plant species were compared with the gape sizes of their 41 animal dispersers in the temperate, old-growth Białowieża Forest, Poland. The effect of gape-size limitations on fruit consumption was assessed at the plant species level, and for a subset of nine plant species, also at the individual level, and subindividual level (i.e., fruits of the same plant individual). In addition, for the species subset, fruit-seed trait relationships were investigated to determine whether a restricted access of small-gaped animals to large fruits results in the dispersal of fewer or smaller seeds per fruit.</p> <p>Fruit sizes widely varied among plant species (74.2%), considerably at the subindividual level (17.1%), and to the smallest extent among plant individuals (8.7%). Key disperser species should be able to consume fruits of all plant species and all individuals (except those of the largest-fruited plant species), even if they are able to consume only 28-55% of available fruits. Fruit and seed traits were positively correlated in eight out of nine plant species, indicating that gape size limitations will result in 49% fewer (in one plant species) or 16-21% smaller seeds (in three plant species) dispersed per fruit by small-gaped than by large-gaped main dispersers, respectively.</p> <p>Our results show that a large subindividual variation in fruit size is characteristic for small-fruited plant species, and increases their connectedness with frugivores at the level of plants species and individuals. Simultaneously, however, the large variation in fruit size leads to gape-size limitations that may induce selective pressures on fruit size if large-gaped dispersers become extinct. This study emphasizes the mechanisms by which gape-size limitation at the species, individual and subindividual level shape plant-frugivore interactions and the co-evolution of small-fruited plants.</p>
Changes in plant community assembly from patchy degradation of grasslands and grazing by different-sized herbivores
<p>Grassland degradation caused by increases in livestock grazing threatens a variety of ecosystem services. Understanding changes in plant community assembly during the process of grassland degradation in the presence of grazing is important to help restore degraded grasslands worldwide but has received little attention thus far. The grassland degradation process is typified by heterogeneous degradation, i.e., gradual formation of degraded patches (hereafter "patchy degradation"). Here, we experimentally examined the effects of herbivore grazing and patchy degradation on plant community assembly using nine pairs of non-degraded (intact) and patch-degraded (fragmented) grasslands subject to grazing by different-sized herbivores (i.e., NG, no grazing; SG, sheep grazing; CG, cattle grazing) over four years. Using a null-model approach, we estimated the relative magnitude of deterministic processes of community assembly by comparing the observed and expected β-diversity. We found that in the absence of herbivore grazing, deterministic processes played a greater role in community assembly, regardless of whether patchy degradation had occurred. However, the deterministic processes resulted in plant communities being more spatially similar in non-degraded grasslands while being more dissimilar in patchy degraded grasslands. Compared with non-degraded grasslands, species with strong competitive abilities (i.e., Leymus chinensis) were less dominant in patchy degraded grasslands, indicating relaxed competition and a reduced role of species interactions over plant communities. Instead, patchy degradation added the role of environmental variables over plant communities. Sheep grazing consistently promoted more stochastic plant community assembly in both non-degraded and patch-degraded grasslands, while cattle grazing promoted more stochastic plant community assembly only in the non-degraded state, having no effect in the patch-degraded state. Our study offers important insights into changes in plant community assembly during ongoing patch-degradation of grasslands, indicating the role of increased environmental filtering of soil and reduced species interactions in driving plant community dynamics with increasing grassland patchy degradation. We also uncovered an herbivore species-specific effect on plant community assembly during the process of grassland degradation, which will better inform and improve future grassland restoration planning efforts.</p>
Data from: Effective population size in a partially clonal plant is not predicted by the number of genetic individuals
<p>Estimating effective population size (<em>N</em><sub>e</sub>) is important for theoretical and practical applications in evolutionary biology and conservation. Nevertheless, estimates of <em>N</em><sub>e</sub> in organisms with complex life-history traits remain scarce because of the challenges associated with estimation methods. Partially clonal plants capable of both vegetative (clonal) growth and sexual reproduction are a common group of organisms for which the discrepancy between the apparent number of individuals (ramets) and the number of genetic individuals (genets) can be striking, and it is unclear how this discrepancy relates to <em>N</em><sub>e</sub>.</p> <p>In this study, we analysed two populations of the orchid <em>Cypripedium calceolus</em> to understand how the rate of clonal vs. sexual reproduction affected <em>N</em><sub>e</sub>. We genotyped >1,000 ramets at microsatellite and SNP loci, and estimated contemporary <em>N</em><sub>e</sub> with the linkage disequilibrium method, starting from the theoretical expectation that variance in reproductive success among individuals caused by clonal reproduction and by constraints on sexual reproduction would lower <em>N</em><sub>e</sub>. We considered factors potentially affecting our estimates, including different marker types and sampling strategies, and the influence of pseudoreplication in genomic datasets on <em>N</em><sub>e</sub> confidence intervals. The magnitude of <em>N</em><sub>e</sub>/<em>N</em><sub>ramets </sub>and <em>N</em><sub>e</sub>/<em>N</em><sub>genets</sub> ratios we provide may be used as reference points for other species with similar life-history traits. Our findings demonstrate that <em>N</em><sub>e</sub> in partially clonal plants cannot be predicted based on the number of genets generated by sexual reproduction, because demographic changes over time can strongly influence <em>N</em><sub>e</sub>. This is especially relevant in species of conservation concern, in which population declines may not be detected by only ascertaining the number of genets.</p>
Drivers of strong isolation and small effective population size at a leading range edge of a widespread plant
<p>Climate change has influenced species distributions worldwide with upward elevational shifts observed in many systems. Leading range edge populations, like those at upper elevation limits, are crucial for climate change responses but can exhibit low genetic diversity due to founder effects, isolation, or limited outbreeding. These factors can hamper local adaptation at range limits. Using the widespread herb, <em>Argentina</em> <em>anserina</em>, we measured ecological attributes (population density on the landscape, area of population occupancy, and plant and flower density) spanning a 1000m elevation gradient, with high elevation populations at the range limit. We measured vegetative clonal potential in the greenhouse for populations spanning the gradient. We combined these data with a ddRAD-seq dataset to test the hypotheses that high-elevation populations would exhibit ecological and genomic signatures of leading range edge populations. We found that population density on the landscape declined towards the high elevation limit, as is expected towards range edges. However, plant density was elevated within edge populations. In the greenhouse, high-elevation plants exhibited stronger clonal potential than low-elevation plants, likely explaining increased plant density in the field. Phylogeographic analysis supported more recent colonization of high-elevation populations which were also more genetically isolated, had more extreme heterozygote excess, and had smaller effective population size than low. Results support that colonization of high elevations was likely accompanied by increased asexuality, contributing to a decline in effective population size. Despite high plant density in leading-edge populations, their small effective size, isolation, and clonality could constrain adaptive potential.</p>
Seed size, seed dispersal traits, and plant dispersion patterns for native and introduced grassland plants
<p>Most terrestrial plants disperse by seeds, yet the relationship between seed mass, seed dispersal traits, and plant dispersion is poorly understood. We quantified seed traits for 48 species of native and introduced plants from grasslands of western Montana, USA, to investigate the relationships between seed traits and plant dispersion patterns. Additionally, because the linkage between dispersal traits and dispersion patterns might be stronger for actively dispersing species, we compared these patterns between native and introduced plants. Finally, we evaluated the efficacy of a global trait database, the TRY plant traits database, versus locally collected data for examining these questions.</p> <p>This archive contains species-level data used in analyses, including species metadata (origin, growth form), mean values of measured seed traits (size metrics and type of dispersal structures), two metrics of dispersion (local and broad scales, respectively) derived from grassland surveys in the study region, and information on the seed mass accessed from the TRY traits database. Note that the latter seed mass data could not be included in the archive, but can be acquired directly from the TRY plant traits database (<a href="https://www.try-db.org/TryWeb/Home.php">https://www.try-db.org/TryWeb/Home.php</a>).</p>
Data from: Elevational range sizes of woody plants increase with climate variability in the Tropical Andes
<p><strong>Aim</strong>:<strong> </strong>The climate variability hypothesis proposes that species subjected to wide variation in climatic conditions will evolve wider niches, resulting in larger distributions. We test this hypothesis in tropical plants across a broad elevational gradient; specifically, we use a species-level approach to evaluate whether elevational range sizes are explained by the levels of thermal variability experienced by species.</p> <p><strong>Location</strong>:<strong> </strong>Central Andes</p> <p><strong>Time period</strong>:<strong> </strong>Present day</p> <p><strong>Taxon</strong>: Woody plants</p> <p><strong>Methods</strong>: Combining data from 479 forest plots, we determined the elevational distributions of nearly 2300 species along an elevational gradient (~209 – 3800 m). For each species, we calculated the maximum annual variation in temperature experienced across its elevational distribution. We used phylogenetic generalized least square models to evaluate the effect of thermal variability on range size. Our models included additional covariates that might affect range size: body size, local abundance, mean temperature and total precipitation. We also considered interactions between thermal variability and mean temperature or precipitation. To account for geometric constraints, we repeated our analyses with a standardized measure of range size, calculated by comparing observed range sizes with values obtained from a null model. </p> <p><strong>Results</strong>: Our results supported the main prediction of the climate variability hypothesis. Thermal variability had a strong positive effect on the range size, with species exposed to higher thermal variability having broader elevational distributions. Body size and local abundance also had positive, yet weak effects, on elevational range size. Furthermore, there was a strong positive interaction between thermal variability and mean annual temperature.</p> <p><strong>Main conclusions</strong>: Thermal variability had an overriding importance in driving elevational range sizes of woody plants in the Central Andes. Moreover, the relationship between thermal variability and range size might be even stronger in warmer regions, underlining the potential vulnerability of tropical montane floras to the effects of global warming.</p>
Data from: Within-species trait variation can lead to size limitations in seed dispersal of small-fruited plants
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