Diversification and phylogenetic correlation of functional traits for co-occurring understory species in the Chinese boreal forest

Functional traits impact species interactions, community composition, and ecosystem functioning. However, few studies have focused on the diversification and phylogenetic correlation of multiple functional traits over geological time. We conducted phylogenetic comparative analysis for boreal forest understory species in northeast China to examine the diversification and phylogenetic correlation in several functional traits: leaf area (LA), leaf carbon content (LCC), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf nitrogen content (LNC), plant height (PH), and specific leaf area (SLA). Phylogenetic signals showed that there were very low levels of phylogenetic niche conservatism (PNC) in understory leaf-related traits and plant height, suggesting divergence of functional traits for the co-occurring understory species. The disparity through time analyses (DTT) indicated that trait disparities mainly originated during recent divergence events and there were no differences in the observed trait dispar...

功能性状影响种间相互作用、群落组成及生态系统功能。然而，鲜有研究关注地质时间尺度上多种功能性状的分化及系统发育相关性。本研究对中国东北北方森林林下物种开展系统发育比较分析，旨在探究若干功能性状的分化及系统发育相关性，包括叶面积（LA）、叶碳含量（LCC）、叶干物质含量（LDMC）、叶氮含量（LNC）、株高（PH）及比叶面积（SLA）。系统发育信号显示，林下植物叶相关性状及株高的系统发育生态位保守性（PNC）水平极低，表明共存林下物种的功能性状存在分化。时间差异分析（DTT）表明，性状差异主要源于近期分化事件，且观测到的性状差异并无...