Ecological niches of epiphyllous bryophytes along afrotropical elevation gradient

Understanding multiple environmental drivers governing tropical organisms' distribution and ecological niches is crucial for predicting their responses to ongoing rapid deforestation. While macroclimatic effects via energy and water availability are well predicted, less is known about locally modulating factors such as canopy structure, light and edaphic conditions. Here we show that minimum temperatures and ambient humidity drive the abundance and richness of leaf-inhabiting epiphyllous bryophytes across a 4-km elevation gradient on Mount Cameroon, West Africa, separating epiphyll-rich rainforests (0–2200 m) from epihyll-poor fire-driven afromontane savanna (2300–4000 m). However, local factors contribute more than half to the total abundance and richness variation, either directly (light) or indirectly (edaphic conditions) via their effects on host plant composition. The most abundant epiphyllous communities occur in vertically stratified upland rainforests between 600 and 1100 m elev..., Data on epiphyllous bryophytes, host plants, soil chemistry, vegetation structure and canopy light conditions were collected on Mount Cameroon., Excel