NCEAS Working Groups
Linking phylogenetic history, plant traits, and ecological processes at multiple scales
Project Description
Ecological processes we observe in the present are deeply influenced by evolutionary processes in the past. Where and when species evolved has important consequences for the characteristics of organisms (their functional traits). Traits, in turn, influence community organization and can mediate flows of energy and nutrients through ecosystems. Thus, the evolutionary (phylogenetic) history of species influences the structure and function of natural communities, mediated by traits. The scale dependency of community structure on phylogenetic history is poorly understood, and the influence of history on ecosystem processes is largely unexplored. To better understand how the past influences the present and the scale-dependency of these influences, the working group will undertake a large-scale synthesis of the connections among phylogenetic history, plant traits, community organization and ecosystem processes throughout the major biomes of North America. Through multi-scale analyses, we seek to advance understanding of the extent to which the evolutionary history of organisms influences community organization and drives ecosystem processes. Because ecosystems both drive and respond to global changes, this question is a unifying theme for biology in the 21st century.
Principal Investigator(s)
Jeannine M. Cavender-Bares, David D. Ackerly, J. Gordon Burleigh, Michelle C. Mack, Richard H. Ree, Peter B. Reich
Project Dates
Start: January 1, 2008
End: December 31, 2009
completed
Participants
- David D. Ackerly
- University of California, Berkeley
- Cecile M. Ane
- University of Wisconsin, Madison
- Jeremy Beaulieu
- Yale University
- J. Gordon Burleigh
- National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent)
- Marc W. Cadotte
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- Jeannine M. Cavender-Bares
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
- Cathy Collins
- University of Kansas
- Kendi F. Davies
- University of Colorado, Boulder
- T. Jonathan Davies
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- Nicholas J. Deacon
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
- Steven Declerck
- Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
- Michael J. Donoghue
- Yale University
- Erika J. Edwards
- Brown University
- Paul V. A. Fine
- University of California, Berkeley
- Matthew R. Helmus
- University of Wisconsin, Madison
- Robert D. Holt
- University of Florida
- Dawn Kaufman
- Claremont Colleges
- Steven W. Kembel
- University of California, Berkeley
- Clarence L. Lehman
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
- Jeremy W. Lichstein
- Princeton University
- Michelle McMahon
- University of Arizona
- Todd H. Oakley
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- Richard H. Ree
- Field Museum of Natural History
- Patrick R. Stephens
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- George D. Weiblen
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
- Peter Wragg
- University of Minnesota
Products
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Journal Article / 2012
Synthesizing phylogenetic knowledge for ecological research
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Journal Article / 2012
Effects of competition on phylogenetic signal and phenotypic plasticity in plant functional traits
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Journal Article / 2012
Phylogenetic diversity promotes ecosystem stability
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Presentations / 2007
Comparative methods
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Presentations / 2007
Linking phylogenetic history, plant traits and environmental gradients in time and space
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Presentations / 2007
Linking plant traits and ecophylogenetics
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Presentations / 2008
Linking phylogenetic history, plant traits and environmental gradients in time and space
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Presentations / 2008
Linking phylogenetic history, plant traits and environmental gradients in time and space
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Journal Article / 2009
The merging of community ecology and phylogenetic biology
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Journal Article / 2012
Introduction to the special issue on Integrating ecology and phylogenetics: The footprint of history in modern-day communities
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Journal Article / 2012
Shocks to the system: Community assembly of the oak savanna in a 40-year fire frequency experiment
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Software /
EcoPhyl; C- based program, open source, for ecophylogenetic analysis of community data using relatedness of species, traits, and environmental gradients
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Journal Article / 2010
Native communities determine the identity of exotic invaders even at scales at which communities are unsaturated
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Journal Article / 2012
Using phylogenetic trees to test for character displacement: A model and an example from a desert mammal community
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Journal Article / 2012
Floral diversity and community structure in Pedicularis (Orobanchaceae)
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Journal Article / 2012
Niche evolution across spatial scales: Climate and habitat specialization in California Lasthenia Asteraceae
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Journal Article / 2012
Untangling the influence of ecological and evolutionary factors on trait variation across hummingbird assemblages
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Journal Article / 2012
Phylogenetic diversity-area curves
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Software / 2008
Picante: Tools for integrating phylogenies and ecology, R package, version 0.4-0
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Journal Article / 2010
Picante: R tools for integrating phylogenies and ecology
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Journal Article / 2012
Phylogenetic and functional characteristics of household yard floras and their changes along an urbanization gradient
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Journal Article / 2012
Phylogeny, ecology, and the origins of climate-richness relationships
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Journal Article / 2012
Herbivory, growth rates, and habitat specialization in tropical tree lineages: Implications for Amazon beta-diversity
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Journal Article / 2012
Demographic drivers of successional changes in phylogenetic structure across life-history stages in plant communities
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Journal Article / 2012
Assessing the effects of spatial contingency and environmental filtering on metacommunity phylogenetics
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Software /
Phylografter: Collaborative web-based software for phylogenetic tree assembly
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Data Set / 2008
USA Bailey's Ecoregions polygon map and R script for grid sampling
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Journal Article / 2012
Habitat specialization and the role of trait lability in structuring diverse willow family genus Salix communities
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Journal Article / 2012
Phylogenetic and functional alpha and beta diversity in temperate and tropical tree communities
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Journal Article / 2008
Phylocom: Software for the analysis of phylogenetic community structure and trait evolution
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Software / 2008
Phylocom: Software for the analysis of phylogenetic community structure and trait evolution
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Journal Article / 2012
Predicting tropical insect herbivore abundance from host plant traits and phylogeny