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Data from: Functional and phylogenetic implications of forest Mesophication in temperate hardwood forests

Anderson, Sam1; Rogers, David2; McCulloh, Katherine1

Research facility: University of Wisconsin System
Published Mar 17, 2026 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j3tx95xrx

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Abstract

Forest mesophication involves the shifting of plant communities from fire-adapted, drought tolerant systems to those dominated by species better adapted to shaded, closed-canopy environments. While commonly understood from a taxonomic perspective, the phylogenetic underpinnings and functional implications of forest mesophication have received less quantitative testing. We applied phylogenetic and functional trait data to legacy datasets of changing forest composition in Wisconsin from the latter half of the 20th century. In both the 1950s and 2000s, forests demonstrated a phylogenetically clustered structure, with closely related species occupying similar sites. The inclusion of functional traits into models accounted for 42% of the variance explained by this clustering in the 1950s and just 16% in the 2000s. This diminished explanatory value of functional traits corresponds with overall shifts in functional diversity, with the majority of sites being dissimilar from their 1950s trait syndrome. Contemporary trait syndromes were defined by broad declines in drought and fire tolerance, litter flammability, and an increase in leaf traits associated with acquisitive resource strategies. Such shifts identify the diminished capacity of traits to explain phylogenetic clustering, provide broadscale, quantifiable support for the hypothesized functional implications of mesophication, highlight key species that land managers can deliberately target to meet land management goals, and outline future directions of how interspecific trait variation influence shifting patterns of composition in temperate forests.