Data from: Niche construction by growth forms is as strong a predictor of species diversity as environmental gradients ...

• Main Authors: Bråthen, Kari Anne, Tuulia Ravolainen, Virve
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2016
• Subjects: tundra plant communities; bedrock nutrient content; collective niche construction; plant growth forms; moisture index; Empetrum nigrum; herbivore density; Holocene; Tundra
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kr13g; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.kr13g

We present a conceptual framework that describes how species belonging to a growth form collectively can be niche constructors (i.e. modify niches) and affect species diversity in plant communities. We use an empirical assessment of tundra plant communities to illustrate the framework's utility. In doing so, we make a first investigation of collective niche construction in ecological communities. In tundra plant communities, growth forms differently affect ecosystem process rates and cause environmental modifications; thus, growth forms are strong candidates for being niche constructors. To assess the impact of growth form niche construction on plant species diversity, we excluded the species of the growth form applied as niche constructor when estimating the community species diversity. We assessed niche construction in 70 tundra meadow communities and 1450 randomly selected tundra plant communities that are distributed along ecological gradients in temperature, resource availability, competitive ... : Bråthen & Ravolainen DataTwo sheets in a xls file with the data from both study designs: the tundra design and the tundra meadow design. Variable names are the same as those described in the text of the paper. Note the hierarchical, nested designs as depicted in Figure 3. ...