Functional Diversity of Subalpine Bryophyte Communities in an Oceanic Island (La Réunion)

• Published in: Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research
• Main Authors: Ah-Peng, Claudine, Flores, Olivier, Wilding, Nicholas, Bardat, Jacques, Marline, Lovanomanjanahary, Hedderson, Terry A. J., Strasberg, Dominique
• Other Authors: Peuplement Végétaux et Bioagresseurs en Milieu Tropical - Pôle de Protection des Plantes (3P), Peuplements végétaux et bioagresseurs en milieu tropical (UMR PVBMT), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de La Réunion (UR), Department of Biological Sciences Cape Town, University of Cape Town, Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB ), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université de La Réunion (UR)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2014
• Subjects: [SDV.BV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Vegetal Biology; Antarctic and Alpine Research; Arctic
• Online Access: https://hal.univ-reunion.fr/hal-01169901; https://doi.org/10.1657/1938-4246-46.4.841

International audience Increasing temperature imperils worldwide tropical subalpine and alpine ecosystems with the threat of mountaintop extinctions and a subsequent loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functions. This paper provides a first assessment of functional diversity along a high climatic gradient for bryophytes, which represent a major plant compartment in these ecosystems. The present study takes place on the highlands of the Piton des Neiges volcano, the highest summit of La Réunion Island (Western Indian Ocean). We find a relatively high species richness of bryophytes in these subalpine habitats, with a peak of diversity at 2750 m for the ground-dwelling community. We report a strong linear relationship between functional diversity and species richness for epiphytes. Within the same plant group, the relationship between functional richness, based on eight traits, and elevation differed between the ground-dwelling and epiphytic communities, suggesting that different processes may structure bryophyte species assemblages along this short subalpine climatic gradient. Higher functional redundancy in ground-dwelling bryophyte assemblages indicates that this community may be more robust than epiphytic bryophytes to disturbances in these subalpine ecosystems.