Understanding variation in key functional traits across gradients in high diversity systems and the ecology of community changes along gradients in these systems is crucial in light of conservation and climate change. We examined inter‐ and intraspecific variation in leaf mass per area (
At the intersection of ecology and evolutionary biology, community phylogenetics can provide insights into overarching biodiversity patterns, particularly in remote and understudied ecosystems. To understand community assembly of the high alpine flora in the Sawtooth National Forest,
We used high‐throughput sequencing to supplement existing data and infer a nearly completely sampled community phylogeny of the alpine vascular flora. We calculated mean nearest taxon distance (
We found different patterns of community phylogenetic structure within the six most species‐rich orders, but across all vascular plants phylogenetic structure was largely not different from random. There was a significant negative correlation between elevation and tree‐wide phylogenetic diversity (
Our results provide further evidence that stochastic processes may also play an important role in the assembly of vascular plant communities in high alpine habitats at regional scales. However, order‐specific patterns suggest that adaptations are still important for assembly of specific sectors of the plant tree of life. Further studies quantifying functional diversity will be important in disentangling the interplay of eco‐evolutionary processes that likely shape broad community phylogenetic patterns in extreme environments.
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10460302
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- American Journal of Botany
- Volume:
- 106
- Issue:
- 7
- ISSN:
- 0002-9122
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 958-970
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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