Data from: Environmental filtering explains variation in plant diversity along resource gradients

The mechanisms that shape plant diversity along resource gradients remain
unresolved because competing theories have been evaluated in isolation. By
testing multiple theories simultaneously across a >2-million-year
dune chronosequence in an Australian biodiversity hotspot, we show that
variation in plant diversity is not explained by local resource
heterogeneity, resource partitioning, nutrient stoichiometry, or soil
fertility along this strong resource gradient. Rather, our results suggest
that diversity is determined by environmental filtering from the regional
flora, driven by soil acidification during long-term pedogenesis. This
finding challenges the prevailing view that resource competition controls
local plant diversity along resource gradients, and instead reflects
processes shaping species pools over evolutionary time scales.