Assemblage of forest communities in subtropical montane forests of western Mexico

Abstract

Functional diversity indices have been used to differentiate the relative contribution of stochastic and deterministic processes that modulate the assemblage of communities; however, knowledge regarding the relative contribution of assemblage mechanisms in forest communities is scarce. We analysed the assembly mechanisms driving forest assemblages along a topographic gradient at two spatial scales (1000 m2 and 3000 m2) for three different forest types from subtropical mountain forests (pine-oak, mixed pine-broadleaf and broadleaf forest) in western Mexico, using null models of multi-trait indices. The forest structure differed along the topographic gradient. Upper slopes were dominated by Pinus douglasiana with an importance value index (IVI) of 0.8, while 10 and 13 tree species were required in the middle and lower slopes, respectively, to reach the same IVI. The results support the idea that the subtropical montane forest of western Mexico is a mosaic of communities, when analysed at a scale of 1000 m2 the forest assembly was mainly explained by stochastic processes, while analysis at the scale of 3000 m2 showed that functional convergence of species were the main mechanisms of the assemblage of the pine-oak forest communities due to an abiotic stressful environment.