Coexistencia de Quercus y Pinus: Evaluación de la hipótesis de complementariedad de nichos entre fenotipos en bosques monoespecíficos o con dominancia de pocas especies.

In this proposal, we want to test whether the complementarity between phenotypes within and among species could explain coexistence in poor and monospecific natural forests and, if true, what are the mechanisms involved. We will evaluate niche/functional overlap between individuals by conducting massive phenotyping using NIRs spectroscopy over fully mapped oak- pine forest stands, combined with needed field measurements for model adjustment. Beside we will perform experimental common garden trials to evaluate the phenotypic complementarity in saplings in contrasted vicinities. Our expectation is that microhabitat conditions related to neighbor phenotypes may determine the phenotypic realization of seedlings and saplings, which may determine most of the phenotypic variability of the recruited trees. Moreover, given that many species belonging to the two genera, although with separated evolutionary histories, coincide at the neighborhood scale in most of their ranges, we want to evaluate the functional and phylogenetic patterns (phylogenetic and functional congruence or discrepancies) under these co-occurrences. We will evaluate forest inventories (e.g. PlotOpen), building a complete functional data set and calibrated phylogenies. We expect that co-occurring pines and oaks could be complementary in functional terms conforming an evolutionary complex that maximizes niche complementarity in each locality or region.