Ecological niche shifts of understorey plants along a latitudinal gradient of temperate forests in north-western Europe

Abstract

Main conclusions Forest understorey plants shifted their realized niche along the latitudinal gradient, suggesting local adaptation and/or plasticity. This macroecological pattern casts doubt on the idea that the realized niche is stable in space and time, which is a key assumption of species distribution models used to predict the future of biodiversity, hence raising concern about predicted extinction rates.

Keywords

Beta diversity; climate change; detrended correspondence analyses; Ellenberg indicator values; forest understorey plant species; niche optimum; niche width; plant community; realized niche

Published in

Global Ecology and Biogeography
2013, volume: 22, number: 10, pages: 1130-1140
Publisher: WILEY-BLACKWELL

SLU Authors

• Brunet, Jörg

  • Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Global goals (SDG)

SDG13 Climate action
SDG15 Life on land

UKÄ Subject classification

Botany
Ecology
Climate Science

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12073

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/50598