Environmental filtering explains variation in plant diversity along resource gradients

Abstract

How plant species diversity is shaped Factors controlling plant species diversity have been teased apart in an ancient dune ecosystem in western Australia. Laliberté et al. surveyed plants in the ancient dune, where variation in soil properties is associated with changes in plant diversity. Local plant diversity was mostly determined by environmental filtering from the regional species pool. This process is driven by acidification during long-term soil formation. The findings challenge the prevailing view that resource competition controls local plant diversity. Science , this issue p. 1602