Analysis of functional diversity indices based on all measured traits showed a decrease of functional divergence due to mowing (indicating convergence of traits) and no response of functional richness, evenness and functional dispersion.
Finally, evolutionary convergence of traits among mutualists within an interaction group [ 49- 51], but see [ 52], could reduce variance in partner benefit and thereby weaken the effectiveness of selection to specialize [ 53, 54].
This shows that environmental filters select species at specific scales according to particular ecological traits, resulting in a convergence of these traits between species of a given community.
Here we test the hypotheses that habitat fragmentation (a) alters the relative contribution of tree species exhibiting different reproductive traits; (b) reduces the diversity of pollination systems; and (c) facilitates the functional convergence of reproductive traits between edge-affected and early-secondary forest habitats (5 32 years old).
We test the assumption of adaptive convergence of leaf traits with temperature by quantifying phylogenetic signal in a dataset comprising 21 leaf-physiognomic traits and MAT among 569 species-site pairs at 17 sites in the eastern USA and Barro Colorado Island, Republic of Panamá, published by Huff et al. [38] and Royer et al.[12].[12]
This suggests that fig wasps track plant secondary chemistry where colonisation of a novel host occurs between chemically similar lineages, assuming convergence of chemical traits is absent [ 73].
We observed convergence of morphological traits between our two restoration sites, indicating that observed changes were most likely an evolutionary response to selection rather than a consequence of genetic drift.
This may be related to the convergence of floral traits in these two lineages, both of which have much smaller, less pigmented flowers, with reduced pollen production compared to the outcrossing genotype.
Owing to the convergence of morphological traits and the incongruence of molecular evidence, the phylogenetic relationships among three subfamilies Myospalacinae (zokors), Spalacinae (blind mole rats) and Rhizomyinae (bamboo rats) within the family Spalacidae remain unresolved.
For example, the non-predictive facets of emotion expression and trait empathy can be expected to weaken the convergence of global trait EI with the outcome-based composites, because they are averaged along with the predictive facets into the global trait EI score.
Several authors have suggested that nested patterns of asymmetrical specialisation may be more likely to develop in mutualistic interactions because natural selection specifically favours the convergence and complementarity of traits in interacting species [3], [8].
