http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5678-4946
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ABSTRACT
Background: Tropical sand dunes are ideal systems for understanding drivers of community assembly as dunes are subject to both deterministic and stochastic processes. However, studies that evaluate the factors that mediate plant community assembly in these ecosystems are few.
Aims: We evaluated phylogenetic community structure to elucidate the role of deterministic and stochastic processes in mediating the assembly of plant communities along the north of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.
Methods: We used plastid genetic markers to evaluate phylogenetic relationships in 16 sand-dune communities. To evaluate the role of climate in shaping plant community structure we carried out linear regressions between climatic variables and mean phylogenetic distance. We estimated the Net Relatedness Index and Nearest Taxon Index to identify ecological processes mediating community assembly.
Results: Observed phylogenetic structure was not different from random, suggesting that stochastic processes are the major determinants of community assembly. Climate was slightly correlated with phylogenetic diversity suggesting that abiotic environment plays a minimal role in community assembly.
Conclusions: Random assembly appears to be the primary factor structuring the studied sand dune plant communities. Environmental filters may represent a secondary factor contributing to the observed phylogenetic structure. Thus, both processes may act simultaneously to mediate the assembly of sand-dune plant communities.
Acknowledgements
We thank to Cristopher Albor, Rigel Silveira for field assistance. This study was founded by a grant from CONACyT (248406) to VP-T.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Supplementary material
Supplementary data for this article can be accessed here.
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Notes on contributors
Diego F. Angulo
Diego F. Angulo is a post-doctoral researcher and is interested in phylogeography, ecology and evolutionary biology of flowering plants.
Juan Tun-Garrido
Juan Tun-Garrido is a plant taxonomist. His research interests are focused in the systematic, floristic and biogeography of the Yucatan flora.
Gerardo Arceo-Gómez
Gerardo Arceo-Gómez is a plant ecologist. His research interest is focused in ecology and evolution of plant-animal interactions and community ecology.
Miguel A. Munguía-Rosas
Miguel A. Munguía-Rosas is a plant ecologist. His research interests include community ecology mainly related to anthropogenic impacts on vegetation.
Victor Parra-Tabla
Victor Parra-Tabla is a plant ecologist. His research interest is focused in plant ecology and especially on single and multiple plant-insect interactions.
