Global plant trait relationships extend to the climatic extremes of the tundra biome

Thomas, Haydn J. D.; Bjorkman, Anne D.; Myers‐Smith, Isla H.; Elmendorf, Sarah C.; Kattge, Jens; Dı́az, Sandra; Vellend, Mark; Blok, Daan; Cornelissen, J. H. C.; Forbes, Bruce C.; Henry, Greg H.R.; Hollister, Robert D.; Normand, Signe; Prevéy, Janet S.; Rixen, Christian; Schaepman‐Strub, Gabriela; Wilmking, Martin; Wipf, Sonja; Cornwell, William K.; Beck, Pieter S. A.; Georges, Damien; Goetz, Scott J.; Guay, Kevin C.; Rüger, Nadja; Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A.; Spasojevic, Marko J.; Alatalo, Juha M.; Alexander, Heather D.; Anadon‐Rosell, Alba; Angers‐Blondin, Sandra; Beest, Mariska te; Berner, L. T.; Björk, Robert G.; Buchwał, Agata; Buras, Allan; Carbognani, Michele; Christie, Katherine S.; Collier, Laura Siegwart; Cooper, Elisabeth J.; Elberling, Bo; Eskelinen, Anu; Frei, Esther R.; Grau, Oriol; Grogan, Paul; Hallinger, Martin; Heijmans, M.M.P.D.; Hermanutz, Luise; Hudson, James M.; Johnstone, Jill F.; Hülber, Karl; Iturrate-García, Maitane; Iversen, Colleen M.; Jaroszynska, Francesca; Kaarlejärvi, Elina; Kulonen, Aino; Lamarque, Laurent J.; Lantz, Trevor C.; Lévesque, Esther; Little, Chelsea J.; Michelsen, Anders; Milbau, Ann; Nabe‐Nielsen, Jacob; Nielsen, Sigrid Schøler; Ninot, Josep M.; Oberbauer, Steven F.; Olofsson, Johan; Onipchenko, V. G.; Petraglia, Alessandro; Rumpf, Sabine B.; Shetti, Rohan; Speed, James D. M.; Suding, Katharine N.; Tape, Ken D.; Tomaselli, Marcello; Trant, Andrew J.; Treier, Urs A.; Tremblay, Maxime; Venn, Susanna; Vowles, Tage; Weijers, Stef; Wookey, Philip A.; Zamin, Tara; Bahn, Michael; Blonder, Benjamin; Bodegom, Peter M. van; Bond‐Lamberty, Ben; Campetella, Giandiego; Cerabolini, Bruno E. L.; Chapin, F. Stuart; Craine, Joseph M.; Dainese, Matteo; Green, W. A.; Jansen, Steven; Kleyer, Michael; Manning, Peter; Niinemets, Ülo; Onoda, Yusuke; Ozinga, Wim A.; Peñuelas, Josep; Poschlod, Peter; Reich, Peter B.; Sandel, Brody; Schamp, Brandon S.; Sheremetiev, Serge; Vries, Franciska T. de

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-15014-4

Cited by 70 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 134 publications

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“…All measurements were aggregated into species' mean trait values (Table 1, Supporting information). For logistical reasons, our trait sampling focused on reliably capturing interspecific trait variation (Lavorel et al 2008, Baraloto et al 2010) as it is usually larger in magnitude than intra‐specific trait variation (Albert et al 2010, Thomas et al 2020).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life‐history dimensions indicate non‐random assembly processes in tropical island tree communities

et al. 2020

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Community assembly processes on islands are often non‐random. The mechanisms behind non‐random assembly, however, are generally difficult to disentangle. Functional diversity in combination with a null model approach that accounts for differences in species richness among islands can be used to test for non‐random assembly processes, but has been applied rarely to island communities. By linking functional diversity of trees on islands with a null model approach, we bridge this gap and test for the role of stochastic versus non‐random trait‐mediated assembly processes in shaping communities by studying functional diversity–area relationships. We measured 11 plant functional traits linked to species dispersal and resource acquisition strategies of 57 tree species on 40 tropical islands. We grouped traits into four life‐history dimensions representing 1) dispersal ability, 2) growth strategy, 3) light acquisition and 4) nutrient acquisition. To test for non‐random assembly processes, we used null models that account for differences in species richness among the islands. Our results reveal contrasting responses of the four life‐history dimensions to island area. The dispersal and the growth strategy dimensions were underdispersed on smaller islands, whereas the light acquisition dimension was overdispersed. The nutrient acquisition dimension did not deviate from null expectations. With increasing island area, shifts in the strength of non‐random assembly processes increased the diversity of dispersal and acquisition strategies in island communities. Our results suggest that smaller islands may be more difficult to colonize and provide more limited niche space compared to larger islands, whose tree communities are likely determined by stochastic processes and higher niche diversity. Our null model approach highlights that analyzing the functional diversity of different life‐history dimensions provides a powerful framework to unravel community assembly processes on islands. These complex, non‐random assembly processes are masked by measures of functional diversity that do not account for differences in species richness between islands.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life‐history dimensions indicate non‐random assembly processes in tropical island tree communities

et al. 2020

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“…This is a significant shortcoming, as snow is a fundamental mediator of climate conditions at local scales and has long been considered as one of the most important environmental filters for Arctic and alpine plants (23,24). Another shortcoming is that earlier studies have hitherto focused on explaining plot-scale patterns in functional properties and paid limited attention to how trait composition and diversity might change across landscapes (2,22,25).…”

Section: Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Arctic soils are a major storage of carbon, and the whole Arctic system may witness important feedbacks emerging from changes in vegetation that could reinforce global climate warming ( 18 , 19 ). Indeed, there are a few comprehensive studies showing the importance of growing season-related factors in driving functional composition of Arctic and alpine vegetation ( 5 , 20 – 22 ). However, at the same time, it remains largely unknown how the changes in one key environmental driver in the Arctic, snow, will affect the functional composition and diversity of the Arctic ecosystems.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Decreasing snow cover alters functional composition and diversity of Arctic tundra

Niittynen

Heikkinen

Luoto

2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The Arctic is one of the least human-impacted parts of the world, but, in turn, tundra biome is facing the most rapid climate change on Earth. These perturbations may cause major reshuffling of Arctic species compositions and functional trait profiles and diversity, thereby affecting ecosystem processes of the whole tundra region. Earlier research has detected important drivers of the change in plant functional traits under warming climate, but studies on one key factor, snow cover, are almost totally lacking. Here we integrate plot-scale vegetation data with detailed climate and snow information using machine learning methods to model the responsiveness of tundra communities to different scenarios of warming and snow cover duration. Our results show that decreasing snow cover, together with warming temperatures, can substantially modify biotic communities and their trait compositions, with future plant communities projected to be occupied by taller plants with larger leaves and faster resource acquisition strategies. As another finding, we show that, while the local functional diversity may increase, simultaneous biotic homogenization across tundra communities is likely to occur. The manifestation of climate warming on tundra vegetation is highly dependent on the evolution of snow conditions. Given this, realistic assessments of future ecosystem functioning require acknowledging the role of snow in tundra vegetation models.

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“…In response to climate change, plant trait space shifts through species loss, migration, and adaptation (Bjorkman et al, 2018;IPBES, 2019;Madani et al, 2018;May et al, 2017), altering plant trait diversity, and hence functional diversity (Wieczynski et al, 2019). Functional diversity may have multiple origins: it can arise from inter-and intraspecific variability as well as variation in growing processes (Fahey et al, 2019;Thomas et al, 2020). Investigating effects of functional diversity offers the possibility to increase the understanding of the mechanisms underlying biodiversity-productivity relationships and to estimate alterations in the shortwave energy budget related to functional trait diversity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How does leaf functional diversity affect the light environment in forest canopies? An in-silico biodiversity experiment

Plekhanova

Niklaus

Gastellu-Etchegorry

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Global change is affecting biodiversity, with consequences on carbon, water, and energy fluxes between the atmosphere, vegetation, and soil. The interaction of shortwave radiation with vegetation drives basic processes of the biosphere, such as primary productivity or species interactions through light competition. In our study, we aim to understand the effects of biodiversity on canopy light absorption. We focus on the diversity of three key functional traits that influence the light-canopy interaction: leaf area index, leaf angle distribution and leaf optical properties. Our study is based on the in-silico combination of process-based modelling of radiation (3D radiative transfer model DART) with the well-established design of biodiversity experiments. We used this novel method to study the effects of leaf functional diversity on a light proxy for productivity (the fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FAPAR)) and net radiation (shortwave albedo). We found that diverse canopies had lower albedo and higher FAPAR than the average of the corresponding monoculture values. In mixtures, FAPAR was unequally re-distributed between trees with distinct leaf traits and the net biodiversity effect on absorptance was greater when combining plant functional types with more distinct traits. Our results support the mechanistic understanding of overyielding effects in functionally diverse canopies and may partially explain some of the growth-promoting mechanisms in biodiversity-ecosystem functioning experiments. They can further help to account for biodiversity effects in dynamic vegetation and climate models.We would like to present this study in the BG3.22 session, because it 1) contributes to the understanding of fundamental ecosystem functions related to light interaction 2) describes a novel in-silico combination of process-based modelling of radiation with the well-established design of biodiversity experiments.

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Global plant trait relationships extend to the climatic extremes of the tundra biome

Cited by 70 publications

References 134 publications

Life‐history dimensions indicate non‐random assembly processes in tropical island tree communities

Life‐history dimensions indicate non‐random assembly processes in tropical island tree communities

Decreasing snow cover alters functional composition and diversity of Arctic tundra

How does leaf functional diversity affect the light environment in forest canopies? An in-silico biodiversity experiment

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