Script and results of the Bayesian analyses of environmental and phylogenetic effects of leaf composition

These are the script and results of the Bayesian analysis of an article
published in Ecology. In this study, we tested the suitability of
biogeochemical niche hypothesis in a set of forestal tree rainforest
species in a French Guiana forest. Biogeochemical niche
hypothesis (BN) aims to relate species/genotype elemental composition with
its niche based on the fact that different elements are involved
differentially in distinct plant functions. These are the results of the
models that allow us to analyze the effects of experimental independent
variables (season, site and topography) on dependent variables (foliar
traits) taking into account as random factors phylogeny of the distinct
studied species and also taxonomy effects not linked to phylogeny such as
convergence and divergence evolutive processes. This script provides all
the necessary information to conduct this type of analyses including the
R-packages necessaries to conduct it. We observed strong legacy
(phylogenic+species) signals in the species-specific foliar elemental
composition (elementome) and, for the first time, provide empirical
evidence for a relationship between species-specific foliar elementome and
functional traits. Our study thus supports the BN hypothesis and confirms
the general niche segregation process through which the species-specific
use of bio-elements drives the high levels of a-diversity in this tropical
forest.