Script and results of the Bayesian analyses of environmental and phylogenetic effects of leaf composition
Data files
May 28, 2023 version files 64.50 KB
Abstract
These are the script and results of the Bayesian analysis of an article published in Ecology. In this study, we tested the suitability of biogeochemical niche hypothesis in a set of forestal tree rainforest species in a French Guiana forest. Biogeochemical niche hypothesis (BN) aims to relate species/genotype elemental composition with its niche based on the fact that different elements are involved differentially in distinct plant functions.
These are the results of the models that allow us to analyze the effects of experimental independent variables (season, site and topography) on dependent variables (foliar traits) taking into account as random factors phylogeny of the distinct studied species and also taxonomy effects not linked to phylogeny such as convergence and divergence evolutive processes. This script provides all the necessary information to conduct this type of analyses including the R-packages necessaries to conduct it.
We observed strong legacy (phylogenic+species) signals in the species-specific foliar elemental composition (elementome) and, for the first time, provide empirical evidence for a relationship between species-specific foliar elementome and functional traits. Our study thus supports the BN hypothesis and confirms the general niche segregation process through which the species-specific use of bio-elements drives the high levels of a-diversity in this tropical forest.