ATMOSPHERIC AND SOIL DROUGHT RISKS COMBINED SHAPE COMMUNITY

ASSEMBLY OF TREES IN A TROPICAL DRY FOREST

Authors: Moisés Méndez-Toribio, Guillermo Ibarra-Manríquez, Horacio Paz,Edwin Lebrija

Trejos

DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.13355
Received: 11 March 2019 | Accepted: 2 January 2020

Statement of the problem/issue discussed: How environmental conditions drive species sorting in
a tropical dry forest?

Author’s purpose: To analyze changes in tree species assemblages among sites with distinct
atmospheric and soil drought risks.

Approach/methods: Empirical Approach

Hypothesis: There is no relation between traits of species and its environmental conditions

Major conclusions: Both below- and above-ground drought stress gradients cause shifts in
species distributions and (functional) community assembly. Atmospheric aridity can be
decoupled from soil aridity and be as important as the latter in determining species
performance. Atmospheric aridity is an often-overlooked stressor in studies of plant community
assembly yet it is a key determinant of plant physiology and function (Novick et al., 2016).
Temporal and spatial partitioning of soil water (i.e. differentiation in strategies of resource
acquisition and use) has been hypothesized to be an important driver of species coexistence in
SDTF (Markesteijn et al.,2011;Méndez-Alonzo et al., 2012; Paz et al., 2015).

The atmospheric and soil drought risks combined shape community assembly of trees in
a tropical dry forest. Upon hearing such research title sounds interesting but too broad in scope.
There must be a specific place or area to which community assembly of trees is to observe.
Statements in the abstract are very informative, specific and concise. It allows the reader grasp
an idea about how environmental conditions affect the traits and characteristics of a certain
species. It was made mention in the introduction that to predict plant community assembly under
changing environmental conditions (HilleRisLambers, Adler, Harpole, Levine, & Mayfield,
2012; Reich, 2014) requires a detailed knowledge of the relationships between plant traits,
resource availability and environmental conditions, as well as of the underlying mechanisms that
shape community assembly along ecological gradients (Craine, 2007; Mason, De Bello,
Mouillot, Pavoine, & Dray, 2013). But even though there were studies about this article, our
knowledge will still be limited because only few studies have measured local habitat conditions
to elucidate differences in drivers of community assembly in relation to changes in plant
functional traits and strategies (Buzzard, Hulshof, Birt, Violle, & Enquist, 2016;Lebrija-Trejos,
Pérez-García, Meave, Bongers, & Poorter, 2010;Weiher et al., 2011).

Tables and figures presented with the following results from the data gathered were
interpreted well. The variables as well as the different numbers were further elaborated so that
readers could understand the significant global relationship between species traits and
environmental conditions. Since environmental factors such as drought is inevitable, the research
explained that there are drought tolerant species with a specific trait that could helped them
survive during the time of drought. It was also discussed how water availability changes with
topography, soil depth and time, on how species acquire and utilize available water and
moreover, as indicated on the results, how species are affected by atmospheric drought. This
relationships between topographic seasons and species was supported by different references of
earlier related research. It turned out that I found the discussion of the article so relevant for me
as a reader since the author cited the pertinent literature. The discussion helped me realized that
every species have different strategies in coping with the unpredictable and inevitable challenge
of the environment. The way that the author presented the ideas was on its high quality wherein
no important details were neglected and no ideas were exaggerated. The author clearly stated the
necessary information that the readers deserve to know, thus no sections of the article must be
omitted.
Environmental influences and traits of the species to thrive in a certain area is closely
related with each other. The author assumed that it is the common expectations on the success of
strategies in resource limited environments, drought tolerant conservative species with dense
tissues and tardily deciduous leaves were favored on sites with higher resource (soil water)
availability. Drought avoiding acquisitive species with water storing tissues and thin, light leaves
with short retention time periods were favored in sites with drier soils. A decoupling of stressing
conditions caused by soil and atmospheric aridity combined with differences in species
adaptations. As for me, in order to prove this common assumption, the author somehow has been
objective on the discussion of the topic although there were references provided. Readers seek
truth and knowledge that is why they tend to read articles and researches. In the field of science
especially in ecology, the objective of this research as well as the observations done are very
important in such a way that everything must go through with a scientific process in order not to
give false and unreliable information to the readers. The descriptive and empirical methods used
was appropriate to the author’s purpose of the study which is to analyze changes in tree species
assemblages among sites with distinct atmospheric soil drought risks. The procedures were
scientifically done, critically discussed and well explained that readers can also do it on their
own if they want to try. The statistical method used in analyzing the data was appropriate to the
type of research and was carefully examined since I could not find any duplicated content that
might lead to confusion.