Alpine niche facilitation

towards a functional taxonomy of the niche and facilitation

@cjlortie

main concepts defined and challenges

Sotomayor and Filazzola

niche range

extentexpansionfacilitation

fundamental

realized

Sotomayor et al 2017

Korner 1995

alpine ecosystems unique

high-altitude

> natural tree line

described by incredible variation

zonation

global scale

~10,000 plant species @1/3-1/4 all species represented

global extent of species

extent within a mountain region

the alpine niche changing rapidly

climate envelopes of alpine species

positive interactions

look up,not down

for treasure

niche theoryvalidation

andapplication

niche range

extentexpansionfacilitation

fundamental

realized

foundation species shortcut

synthesis of primary data on facilitation

limited to no reciprocity tested (bidirectionality unexamined)

rgbif & dismo

scrape %>% Maxent test

3 foundation species and 174 subordinate plant species

Niche area is the predicted area of occurrence for the plant species over the specified region.

AUC is the area under the curve is an estimate of model fit based on specificity vs sensitivity.

inferred reciprocity from positiveinteractions can have negative

implications for niche

species specificity critical

predicted occurrences are important

for bidirectionality