Soil shapes community structure through fire

Abstract

Recurrent wildWres constitute a major selecting force in shaping the structure of plant communities. At the regional scale, Wre favours phenotypic and phylogenetic clustering in Mediterranean woody plant communities. Nevertheless, the incidence of Wre within a Wre-prone region may present strong variations at the local, landscape scale. This study tests the prediction that woody communities on acid, nutrient-poor soils should exhibit more pronounced phenotypic and phylogenetic clustering patterns than woody communities on fertile soils, as a consequence of their higher Xammability and, hence, presumably higher propensity to recurrent Wre. Results conWrm the predictions and show that habitat Wltering driven by Wre may be detected even in local communities from an already Wre-Wltered regional Xora. They also provide a new perspective from which to consider a preponderant role of Wre as a key evolutionary force in acid, infertile Mediterranean heathlands.