Phylogenetic beta diversity in an upper montane Atlantic Forest along an altitudinal gradient Ravi Fernandes Mariano . Vanessa Leite Rezende . Carolina Njaime Mendes . Rubens Manoel dos Santos . Cle ´ber Rodrigo de Souza . Aloysio Souza de Moura . Felipe Santana Machado . Patrı ´cia Vieira Pompeu . Warley Augusto Caldas Carvalho . Marco Aure ´lio Leite Fontes Received: 14 January 2020 / Accepted: 26 May 2020 Ó Springer Nature B.V. 2020 Abstract Studying community phylogenies along elevation gradients can inform us about the influences of environmental conditions on the structuring com- munities, and therefore allow predictions on how future environmental changes may affect them. The aim of the work was to evaluate the processes that govern tree communities along an altitudinal gradient in an upper montane Atlantic Forest in the Mantiqueira Range, southeastern Brazil. To do so, we analyzed the phylogenetic structure of angiosperm tree communi- ties in four elevations (ranging from 1500 to 2100 m) and verified if it varies significantly with altitude. We also analyzed the phylogenetic beta diversity among local angiosperm tree communities along the altitudinal gradient. Further, we evaluated the soil and temperature influences over these communities. The results showed tendency of increasing phyloge- netic clustering with the elevation. We also verified that the phylogenetic lineages of the tree communities are replaced along the altitudinal gradient influenced by changes in temperature and soil, indicating phylo- genetic niche conservatism. This suggest that these communities could move to higher altitudes in a global warming scenario, and that would change their species composition and abundance due to changes in soil along the altitudinal gradient. Thus, the highest areas would be threatened as they would not have higher altitude locations to migrate to. In addition, phyloge- netic lineages which only occur, or occur in their large majority, at highest altitudes (i.e., Cunoniaceae and Winteraceae) would be locally extinct by the current (or future) climatic scenario. Keywords Community ecology Á Climatic changes Á Evolution Á Phylogenetic niche conservatism Á Phylogenetic structure Introduction Biological communities are usually a subset of the regional species pool, and understanding the mecha- nisms that allow them to coexist in local communities is a major challenge for ecologists. Two theories are Communicated by Hsiao-Hsuan Wang. R. F. Mariano (&) Á V. L. Rezende Á C. N. Mendes Á R. M. Santos Á C. R. Souza Á A. S. Moura Á M. A. L. Fontes Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, Brazil e-mail: ravimariano@hotmail.com F. S. Machado Escola Estadual Professora Ana Letro Staacks, Timo ´teo, Brazil P. V. Pompeu Universidade Estadual Do Mato Grosso Do Sul, Aquidauana, Brazil W. A. C. Carvalho Universidade Federal de Sa ˜o Joa ˜o del-Rei, Sa ˜o Joa ˜o del-Rei, Brazil 123 Plant Ecol https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-020-01041-0