Data from: Taxonomic and functional turnover are decoupled in European peat bogs

• Main Authors: Robroek, Bjorn J.M., Jassey, Vincent E.J., Payne, Richard J., Martí, Magalí, Bragazza, Luca, Bleeker, Albert, Buttler, Alexandre, Caporn, Simon J.M., Dise, Nancy B., Kattge, Jens, Zajac, Katarzyna, Svensson, Bo H., van Ruijven, J., Verhoeven, Jos T.A.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Utrecht University 2017
• Subjects: Andromeda polifolia; Betula nana; Bryales; Calluna vulgaris; Carex pauciflora; Cladonia spp; Dicranales; Drosera anglica; Drosera rotundifolia; Empetrum nigrum; Erica tetralix; Eriophorum angustifolium; Eriophorum vaginatum; Hypnales; Molinia caerulea; Narthecium ossifragum; Polytrichales; Rhynchospora alba; Rubus chamaemorus; Scheuchzeria palustris; Sphagnum angustifolium; Sphagnum austinii; Sphagnum balticum; Sphagnum capillifolium; Sphagnum cuspidatum; Sphagnum fallax; Sphagnum flexuosum; Sphagnum fuscum; Sphagnum magellanicum; Sphagnum majus; Sphagnum papillosum; Sphagnum pulchrum; Sphagnum rubellum; Sphagnum tenellum; Trichophorum cespitosum; Vaccinium microcarpon; Vaccinium oxycoccus; Vaccinium uliginosum; climate change; community ecology; environmental gradients; functional diversity; peatland ecology; plant functional traits; species diversity
• Online Access: https://research.wur.nl/en/datasets/data-from-taxonomic-and-functional-turnover-are-decoupled-in-euro; https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.g1pk3

In peatland ecosystems, plant communities mediate a globally significant carbon store. The effects of global environmental change on plant assemblages are expected to be a factor in determining how ecosystem functions such as carbon uptake will respond. Using vegetation data from 56 Sphagnum-dominated peat bogs across Europe, we show that in these ecosystems plant species aggregate into two major clusters that are each defined by shared response to environmental conditions. Across environmental gradients, we find significant taxonomic turnover in both clusters. However, functional identity and functional redundancy of the community as a whole remain unchanged. This strongly suggests that in peat bogs, species turnover across environmental gradients is restricted to functionally similar species. Our results demonstrate that plant taxonomic and functional turnover are decoupled, which may allow these peat bogs to maintain ecosystem functioning when subject to future environmental change.