Data from: Taxonomic and functional turnover are decoupled in European peat bogs

In peatland ecosystems, plant communities mediate a globally significant
carbon store. The effects of global environmental change on plant
assemblages are expected to be a factor in determining how ecosystem
functions such as carbon uptake will respond. Using vegetation data from
56 Sphagnum-dominated peat bogs across Europe, we show that in these
ecosystems plant species aggregate into two major clusters that are each
defined by shared response to environmental conditions. Across
environmental gradients, we find significant taxonomic turnover in both
clusters. However, functional identity and functional redundancy of the
community as a whole remain unchanged. This strongly suggests that in peat
bogs, species turnover across environmental gradients is restricted to
functionally similar species. Our results demonstrate that plant taxonomic
and functional turnover are decoupled, which may allow these peat bogs to
maintain ecosystem functioning when subject to future environmental
change.