Regional gradients in intraspecific seed mass variation are associated with species biotic attributes and niche breadth.

Abstract

Quantifying intraspecific trait variation (ITV) is crucial for understanding species local adaptation and regional distribution. Intraspecific seed mass variation (ITVsm) is expected to vary with environmental gradients or co-vary with related biotic attributes, but these relationships are not well known in a multispecies space. We performed interspecific and phylogenetic analyses to evaluate the relative power of three species biotic attributes and four niche breadth traits in explaining ITVsm variation for 434 eastern Qinghai–Tibetan species. We showed a positive relationship between species’ ITVsm and their niche breadth in the light, moisture and disturbance dimensions, supporting the idea that high ITV allows species to match their traits to different habitat conditions and thus to distribute in a wide range of environments. However, we did find significant direct effect of species’ thermal niche on individual seed mass variation. Meanwhile, we showed significant effects of seed dispersal mode, but not of life form and pollination type, on ITVsm. This suggests that the covariation or co-evolution between seed and disperser was related to the pattern and magnitude of ITVsm, but not to plant lifespan, the quality and allocation pattern of available resources and the availability of pollination vector. Lastly, all multivariate models showed a significant combined contribution of species’ biotic attributes and niche breadth to their ITVsm, implying that intrinsic biotic limitations and extrinsic abiotic pressures may operate simultaneously in controlling regional-scale intraspecific seed development.