Testing the environmental filtering concept in global drylands
Journal of Ecology105: 1058-10692017
Le Bagousse-Pinguet Y., Gross N., Maestre F.T, Maire V., de Bello F., Fonseca CR., Kattge J., Valencia E., Leps J., Liancourt P.
PDFTesting in drylands worldwide the pervasive environmental filtering hypothesis constitutes a great opportunity to better understand the responses of plant communities to ongoing environmental changes. Here we showed the particular set of conditions under which this hypothesis operates, therefore identifying when the abiotic environment selects species with similar trait values within communities. We also illustrated that it is not a prerequisite, and that species with functionally distinct strategies can still co-occur locally, even under prevailing environmental filtering.