Linking phylogenetic history, plant traits, and ecological processes at multiple scales

• Cavender-Bares, Jeannine
• Ackerly, David
• Burleigh, J. Gordon
• Mack, Michelle
• Ree, Richard
• Reich, Peter

Abstract
We propose a series of multi-disciplinary working group meetings, sponsored jointly by NCEAS, and NESCent to investigate the links between evolutionary history, plant traits, community structure and ecosystem processes. We will use data from the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network and beyond to examine the influence of phylogenetic relationships on community structure and traits relevant to ecosystem processes, at nested spatial and taxonomic scales across North America. In doing so, we will break new theoretical ground and develop new experimental and statistical protocols. Despite growing interest in understanding the influences of phylogeny on ecological processes, a synthesis across local and continental scales has yet to be attempted. Progress toward a unified understanding of the problem has been hampered by a lack of synthesis of existing phylogenetic and ecological data. A signature outcome will be a database of phylogenetic information for North American land plants and corresponding databases of plant traits and species abundances across local and large-scale environmental gradients. A second outcome will be a set of user-friendly software tools for statistical analysis of these data. These products will be used to clarify the significance of phylogenetic history and trait evolution for community organization and ecosystem processes across critical local and continental environmental gradients in North America. A North American synthesis will provide a framework for subsequent global analyses. We propose two NCEAS and two NESCent meetings between 2007 ? 09, bringing together physiological, community and ecosystem ecologists with plant systematists and computational biologists to develop new theory and statistical methods widely applicable to the study of the evolution and assembly of communities.