Species-specific trait–environment relationships among populations of widespread grass species

Roybal, Carla M.; Butterfield, Bradley J.

doi:10.1007/s00442-019-04372-6

Cited by 22 publications

(24 citation statements)

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“…These different trait patterns could not be attributed to different growth forms, as has been observed elsewhere on root (Zhao et al., 2016) and leaf traits (Midolo et al., 2019), because in our study, root trait patterns were highly variable within growth forms, and overlapping between species of different growth forms (Figure S4). Prior studies also observed idiosyncratic patterns in leaf (Albert et al., 2010; Kichenin et al., 2013; Read et al., 2017) and root trait variation along various environmental gradients (Kumordzi et al., 2019; Roybal & Butterfield, 2019; Zhou et al., 2019) suggesting that idiosyncrasy in intraspecific trait patterns may be a widespread phenomenon. As the different degrees of, and patterns in intraspecific trait variation may be influenced by species' phylogenetic background (Kembel & Cahill, 2005), phylogeny may be relevant to account for in future work.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…S4). Prior studies also observed idiosyncratic patterns in leaf (Albert et al, 2010;Kichenin et al, 2013;Read et al, 2017) and root trait variation along various environmental gradients (Kumordzi et al, 2019;Roybal & Butterfield, 2019;Zhou et al, 2019) suggesting that idiosyncrasy in intraspecific trait patterns may be a widespread phenomenon. As the different degrees of,…”

Section: Idiosyncratic Root Trait Patterns Along a Complex Environmenmentioning

confidence: 92%

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Patterns in intraspecific variation in root traits are species‐specific along an elevation gradient

et al. 2020

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Patterns in intraspecific variation in root traits are species-specific along an elevation gradient Abstract 1. Intraspecific trait variation is an important driver of plant performance in different environments. Although roots acquire essential resources that vary with the environment, most studies have focused on intraspecific variation in leaf traits, and research on roots is often restricted to a few species. It remains largely unclear how and to what extent root traits vary with the environment and whether general intraspecific patterns exist across species. 2. We compared intraspecific variation in specific root length (SRL), root diameter, root tissue density (RTD) and root branching density of 11 species along a 1000 m elevation gradient in the French Alps. We tested 1) the extent of intra-versus interspecific root trait variation along the gradient, 2) whether intraspecific trait patterns with elevation were consistent among species and 3) whether environmental variables better explained intraspecific variation in root traits than elevation. Specifically, we hypothesised that within a species, root trait values would adjust to enhance resource acquisition (either through an increase in SRL or root diameter, and/or branching density) and/or conservation (increased RTD) at higher elevations. 3. Species identity explained most of the overall variation in root traits. Elevation explained only a minor proportion of intraspecific root trait variation, which varied more strongly within than between elevations. Also, trait relationships with elevation rarely agreed with our hypotheses, Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved varied strongly across species, and were often differently related to environmental variation. Generally, climate, soil and vegetation properties better explained intraspecific root variation than elevation, but these relationships were highly species-dependent. 4. Along complex environmental gradients where multiple properties simultaneously change, roots of different species vary in different ways, leading to species-specific patterns in intraspecific root trait variation. The lack of support for our hypotheses may be caused by the multiple interactions between environmental properties, small-scale soil heterogeneity, species phylogeny, and changing plant-plant interactions. Our findings suggest that, to enhance our understanding of the effects of environmental change on plant performance, we need to better integrate the multiple dimensions of plant responses to change and measure a broader set of root traits and environmental variables.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Idiosyncratic Root Trait Patterns Along a Complex Environmenmentioning

confidence: 92%

Patterns in intraspecific variation in root traits are species‐specific along an elevation gradient

et al. 2020

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“…Therefore, the effect of benefactor species on functional traits may be species‐specific (Schöb et al, 2017; Siefert et al., 2014), depending on the identity of both the benefactor and the beneficiary species (Callaway, 1998). Species specificity may thus be a key characteristic determining how benefactor species affect ITV (Baruah et al, 2017; Coyle, 2017; Roybal & Butterfield, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the role of functional trait expression in plant–plant facilitation

et al. 2020

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1. Positive biotic interactions between plant species may strongly affect species and community-level patterns, but the processes through which benefactor species alter the performance of interacting species (via, e.g. beneficial mechanisms like resource provisioning) are still inadequately understood. One poorly explored potential explanation is that plant-plant facilitation could occur through the impact of benefactor species on the functional trait expression of beneficiary species. Indeed, plant species that affect local conditions can modify functional trait expression of interacting species, thereby improving their performance and resulting in a facilitative interaction. However, the response of intraspecific trait variation to biotically driven microhabitat modification, and its role in determining the outcome of plant-plant interactions, has rarely been explored. 2. Here, we test whether growing with benefactor species affects the expression of functional traits of eight species, encompassing different plant growth forms, in two contrasting study systems. This is achieved using a paired sampling approach to compare values of seven functional traits of conspecific individuals growing within and adjacent to cushion plants (i.e. benefactor species which are known to strongly alter microhabitat conditions and to have positive effects on some of the focal species). In addition, we test whether the effect of biotic interactions on functional trait expression changes along elevational gradients, as the outcome of biotic interactions is expected to vary with elevation. 3. Contrary to predictions, in both systems, intraspecific trait variation was not well explained by the biotic interaction with the cushion plant species or the variation in abiotic conditions associated with elevational gradients. Where biotic interactions did affect functional trait expression and bivariate trait relationships, traits responded variably between species, suggesting that context specificity may be a constraint to predicting how intraspecific trait variation responds to plant-plant interactions, adding to the growing body of literature that challenges the generality and predictability of the drivers of intraspecific trait variation. 4. This research, therefore, suggests that benefactor species' facilitative process is likely not through an impact on intraspecific trait expression, and that instead other processes may be more important for translating beneficial microhabitat 256 | Functional Ecology van der MerWe et al.

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“…For example, some species increase and others decrease their leaf N concentration along an elevational gradient in New Zealand (Kichenin et al., 2013). Similarly, environment‐ITV relationships of grass species in a common garden experiment varied substantially among species (Roybal & Butterfield, 2019). The apparent idiosyncrasy of environment‐ITV relationships across species presents a substantial challenge to any predictive model.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting intraspecific trait variation among California's grasses

et al. 2021

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Plant species can show considerable morphological and functional variation along environmental gradients. This intraspecific trait variation (ITV) can have important consequences for community assembly, biotic interactions, ecosystem functions and responses to global change. However, directly measuring ITV across many species and wide geographic areas is often infeasible. Thus, a method to predict spatial variation in a species’ functional traits could be valuable. We measured specific leaf area (SLA), height and leaf area (LA) of grasses across California, covering 59 species at 230 sampling locations. We asked how these traits change along climate gradients within each species and used machine learning to predict local trait values for any species at any location based on phylogenetic position, local climate and that species’ mean traits. We then examined how much these local predictions alter patterns of assemblage‐level trait variation across the state. Most species exhibited higher SLA and grew taller at higher temperatures and produced larger leaves in drier conditions. The random forests predicted spatial variation in functional traits very accurately, with correlations up to 0.97. Because trait records were spatially biased towards warmer areas, and these areas tend to have higher SLA individuals within each species, species means of SLA were upwardly biased. As a result, using species means over‐estimates SLA in the cooler regions of the state. Our results also suggest that height may be substantially under‐predicted in the warmest areas. Synthesis. Using only species mean traits to characterize the functional composition of communities risks introducing substantial error into trait‐based estimates of ecosystem properties including decomposition rates or NPP. The high performance of random forests in predicting local trait values provides a way forward for estimating high‐resolution patterns of ITV without a massive data collection effort.

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Species-specific trait–environment relationships among populations of widespread grass species

Cited by 22 publications

References 58 publications

Patterns in intraspecific variation in root traits are species‐specific along an elevation gradient

Patterns in intraspecific variation in root traits are species‐specific along an elevation gradient

Testing the role of functional trait expression in plant–plant facilitation

Predicting intraspecific trait variation among California's grasses

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