Data from: Phylogenetic measures of plant communities show long-term change and impacts of fire management in tallgrass prairie remnants

1. Phylogenies are increasingly incorporated into ecological studies on
the basis that evolutionary relatedness broadly correlates with trait
similarity. However, phylogenetic approaches have rarely been applied to
monitoring long-term community change or guiding management. 2. We
analysed a 25-year resampling data set (1976–2001) of 41 tallgrass prairie
remnants (Illinois, USA) to test for phylogenetic signals of plant
community structure, change, environmental associations, fire management
and functional traits. A community phylogeny was constructed using GenBank
sequences and trait data were acquired from the TRY consortium.
Phylogenetic measures of alpha and beta diversity were compared with
taxonomic and functional measures. 3. From 1976–2001, communities became
more phylogenetically clustered relative to null model expectations, i.e.
increasingly restricted to subsets of species more closely related than
expected by chance. Phylogeny was a sensitive indicator of environmental
gradients and fire management. There were strong relationships between
phylogeny and traits: key traits were phylogenetically non-random and
phylogenetic diversity was a necessary complement to species richness for
explaining variation in trait diversity. 4. Phylogeny revealed a shift in
community structure over time, with sites having been phylogenetically
random in 1976 but becoming differentiated from each other by 2001. In
contrast, measures of taxonomic and functional diversity showed
differentiation at both time points. Phylogenetic patterns likely
reflected changes in species’ abundances mediated by the influence of
environmental conditions and fire frequency. 5. Synthesis and
applications. Phylogenetic analyses can elucidate factors central to sound
monitoring and management of plant communities. In this system, phylogeny
was not a proxy for other indicators, but provided information
complementing taxonomic-based and trait-based approaches for understanding
vegetation structure, change and response to fire management. Phylogenetic
approaches to ecological analysis are increasingly accessible, but fuller
understanding of phylogeny–trait relationships and further development of
user-friendly analytical tools are needed for phylogenetics to widely
inform restoration and management. In some systems, targeting phylogenetic
diversity may be an effective means for restoring functionally diverse
plant communities.