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Functional traits and phylogenetic structure based on root neighborhoods shape the mechanisms of species coexistence in underground communities

Liu, Minxia1; Miao, Lele1; Yang, Chunliang1; Zhang, Xin1

Published Feb 12, 2025 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.k0p2ngfj4

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Abstract

Roots exhibit a wide range of morphological diversity and symbiotic relationships, which makes it challenging to find general patterns among different taxa under different ecological conditions. Competitive exclusion and environmental filtering can drive species coexistence and diversity maintenance mechanisms. However, it remains to be seen how these two mechanisms shape the functional characteristics and phylogenetic structure of root neighborhoods, and this lack of information hinders our understanding of the processes that build subterranean communities and maintain diversity. We randomly selected 675 root clusters from 207 soil samples along a latitudinal gradient in the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China. We focused on eight root functional traits of 110 herbaceous species and analyzed root neighbors’ functional traits and phylogenetic structure concerning environmental factors. The root system’s phylogenetic structure and functional characteristics varied dramatically along the latitudinal gradient. First, the phylogenetic structure changed at a latitude of 35.2°N, diverging at a low latitude of 33.06°N and aggregating at a high latitude of 37.61°N. Second, root neighborhood functional trait aggregation was prevalent in individual root traits (72 % of traits). Functional divergence (28 % of traits) appeared to be associated with changes in environmental factors, showing a multidimensional adaptive synthesis. While environmental filtering can drive ecological niche differentiation of species to reduce competition, alternative rooting strategies may be equally important to promote resource use and species coexistence in the rooted neighborhood.