Trees have overlapping potential niches that extend beyond their realized niches

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Laughlin, Daniel C.; McGill, Brian J.
• 署名单位: University of Wyoming; University of Maine System; University of Maine Orono; University of Maine System; University of Maine Orono
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-10980
• DOI: 10.1126/science.adm8671
• 发表日期: 2024-07-05
• 页码: 75-80
• 关键词: centrifugal organization; species distributions; plant-communities; CLIMATE-CHANGE; ecology; responses; range; temperature; COMPETITION; population

摘要

Tree species appear to prefer distinct climatic conditions, but the true nature of these preferences is obscured by species interactions and dispersal, which limit species' ranges. We quantified realized and potential thermal niches of 188 North American tree species to conduct a continental-scale test of the architecture of niches. We found strong and consistent evidence that species occurring at thermal extremes occupy less than three-quarters of their potential niches, and species' potential niches overlap at a mean annual temperature of similar to 12 degrees C. These results clarify the breadth of thermal tolerances of temperate tree species and support the centrifugal organization of thermal niches. Accounting for the nonrealized components of ecological niches will advance theory and prediction in global change ecology.