A history of species co‐occurrence in plant communities is hypothesized to lead to greater
niche differentiation, more efficient resource partitioning, and more productive, resistant
communities as a result of evolution in response to biotic interactions. A similar question can
be asked of co‐occurring populations: do individual species or community responses differ
when communities are founded with plants sharing a history of population co‐occurrence
(sympatric) or originating from different locations (allopatric)? Using shrub, grass, and forb …

A history of species co-occurrence in plant communities is hypothesized to lead to greater
niche differentiation, more efficient resource partitioning, and more productive, resistant
communities as a result of evolution in response to biotic interactions. We asked if individual
species or community responses differed when communities were founded with species
sharing a history of co-occurrence (sympatric) or with species originating from different
locations (allopatric). Using shrub, grass, and forb species from six locations in the western …