A central goal in ecology is to understand the mechanisms that govern the structure and dynamics of biological communities, and these two aspects have generally been studied separately. However, past dynamics affect present community structure and present structure, in turn, will determine future dynamics. Recent studies have quantified the degree of ecological similarity across species using “quantitative traits” to unlock the processes determining community assembly, which address questions of structure, and species demography, which address questions of dynamics. These perspectives (assembly and demography) are expected to be interconnected, and integrating these perspectives is necessary for a holistic understanding of the mechanisms that govern the structure and dynamics of tree communities. In this symposium, we present four integrative studies and will form the general framework for our discussion regarding how to link trait-based investigations of assembly and demography to infer the processes underlying species coexistence.

Commentators: Kohyama, T. (Hokkaido Univ.), Kurokawa, H. (Tohoku Univ.)