@ARTICLE{TreeBASE2Ref26739, author = {Ting-Wen Chen and Philipp Sandmann and Ina Schaefer and Stefan Scheu}, title = {Neutral lipid fatty acid composition as trait and constraint in Collembola evolution}, year = {2017}, keywords = {community phylogenetics; comparative method; functional traits; phylogenetic signal; springtails; trophic niche}, doi = {}, url = {http://}, pmid = {}, journal = {Functional Ecology}, volume = {}, number = {}, pages = {}, abstract = {1. Functional traits determine the occurrence of species along environmental gradients and the coexistence with other species. Understanding how traits evolved among coexisting species helps to infer community assembly processes. 2. We propose fatty acid compositions in consumers' tissues as a functional trait which relates to both food resources and physiological functions of species. We tested phylogenetic signals in fatty acid profiles using comparative methods for 13 field-collected Collembola species and further for 37 species compiled from literature. 3. Collembola fatty acid profiles generally displayed phylogenetic signal, with phylogenetically related species resembling each other in FA profiles. Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, which relate to physiological functions, demonstrated strong phylogenetic signals. In contrast, food resource biomarker fatty acids and the ratios between bacterial, fungal and plant biomarker fatty acids exhibited no phylogenetic signal, except for the concentration of the bacterial biomarker 18:1ω7 which showed phylogenetic signals in the field-collected Collembola biomarker dataset. 4. Our results suggest that fatty acids related to physiological functions are constrained during evolutionary history and that species with close phylogenetic affinity adapt to similar environments. Phylogenetic lability in food resource biomarkers implies niche partitioning in closely related species thereby favouring species coexistence. 5. Exactly testing phylogenetic signal in ecological relevant traits in coexisting species lends an evolutionary perspective to contemporary assembly processes of ecological communities. Integrating phylogenetic comparative methods in community phylogenetic and trait-based approaches may compensate for limitations of each method used alone and help to get a more complete picture of processes driving and maintaining assembly patterns.} }

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