Data from: Functional response of subordinate species to intraspecific trait variability within dominant species

1. Dominant species can act as a biotic filter in structuring plant
communities by constraining the establishment and survival of subordinate
species. The effect of intraspecific trait variability of dominant species
on the functional response of subordinate species, however, is not well
understood. 2. We quantified intraspecific variation in four functional
traits of 26 subordinate species established in an experimental grassland
established with two population sources (i.e., cultivars and local
ecotypes) of three dominant grasses (Sorghastrum nutans, Andropogon
gerardii, and Schizachyrium scoparium) and three pools of subordinate
species (each from one origin) within each of the dominant grass source
treatments. 3. Twenty of the 26 subordinate species exhibited
intraspecific trait variability for one trait or more in response to
dominant species population source, and variation among population sources
of the dominant species was non-random. Dominant grass population source
affected intraspecific variability in functional traits of multiple
subordinate species. Cultivar sources of the dominant grasses and some of
the subordinate species that established with them had higher and
generally more variable functional leaf area and leaf nitrogen content
compared to local ecotypes of the dominant grasses and the subordinate
species that established with them. 4. Synthesis. This study provides
evidence that intraspecific trait variability in dominant species acts as
an inner, biotic filter to constrain niche availability and dimensionality
affecting trait variation of subordinate species during community
assembly.