Global decoupling of functional and phylogenetic diversity in plant communities

Journal
Nature ecology & evolution
Date Issued
2025-02
Author(s)
Hähn, Georg J A
Damasceno, Gabriella
Alvarez-Davila, Esteban
Aubin, Isabelle
Bauters, Marijn
Bergmeier, Erwin
Biurrun, Idoia
Bjorkman, Anne D
Bonari, Gianmaria
Botta-Dukát, Zoltán
Campos, Juan A
Čarni, Andraž
Chytrý, Milan
Ćušterevska, Renata
de Gasper, André Luís
De Sanctis, Michele
Dengler, Jürgen
Dolezal, Jiri
El-Sheikh, Mohamed A
Finckh, Manfred
Galán-de-Mera, Antonio
Garbolino, Emmanuel
Gholizadeh, Hamid
Golub, Valentin
Haider, Sylvia
Hatim, Mohamed Z
Hérault, Bruno
Homeier, Jürgen
Jandt, Ute
Jansen, Florian
Jentsch, Anke
Kattge, Jens
Kessler, Michael
Khanina, Larisa
Kreft, Holger
Küzmič, Filip
Lenoir, Jonathan
Moeslund, Jesper Erenskjold
Mucina, Ladislav
Naqinezhad, Alireza
Noroozi, Jalil
Pérez-Haase, Aaron
Phillips, Oliver L
Pillar, Valério D
Rivas-Torres, Gonzalo
Ruprecht, Eszter
Sandel, Brody
Schmidt, Marco
Schmiedel, Ute
Schnitzer, Stefan
Schrodt, Franziska
Šilc, Urban
Sparrow, Ben
Sporbert, Maria
Stančić, Zvjezdana
Strohbach, Ben
Svenning, Jens-Christian
Tang, Cindy Q
Tang, Zhiyao
Vibrans, Alexander Christian
Violle, Cyrille
Waller, Donald
Wana, Desalegn
Wang, Hua-Feng
Whitfeld, Timothy
Zizka, Georg
Sabatini, Francesco Maria
Bruelheide, Helge
DOI
10.1038/s41559-024-02589-0
Abstract
Plant communities are composed of species that differ both in functional traits and evolutionary histories. As species' functional traits partly result from their individual evolutionary history, we expect the functional diversity of communities to increase with increasing phylogenetic diversity. This expectation has only been tested at local scales and generally for specific growth forms or specific habitat types, for example, grasslands. Here we compare standardized effect sizes for functional and phylogenetic diversity among 1,781,836 vegetation plots using the global sPlot database. In contrast to expectations, we find functional diversity and phylogenetic diversity to be only weakly and negatively correlated, implying a decoupling between these two facets of diversity. While phylogenetic diversity is higher in forests and reflects recent climatic conditions (1981 to 2010), functional diversity tends to reflect recent and past climatic conditions (21,000 years ago). The independent nature of functional and phylogenetic diversity makes it crucial to consider both aspects of diversity when analysing ecosystem functioning and prioritizing conservation efforts.
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