Trait-based plant ecology: moving towards a unifying species coexistence theory

Escudero, Adrián; Valladares, Fernando

doi:10.1007/s00442-016-3578-5

Cited by 46 publications

(47 citation statements)

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“…Although trait-based plant community ecology offers a valuable conceptual framework (Shipley et al, 2016) and the number of papers published using this approach has grown exponentially (Escudero & Valladares, 2016), there are some limitations. One of these limitations is the reduced set of traits that are often measured.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions between abiotic gradients determine functional and phylogenetic diversity patterns in Mediterranean‐type climate mountains in the Andes

López‐Angulo

Swenson

Cavieres

et al. 2018

J Vegetation Science

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Questions How do phylogenetic and functional trait dispersions respond to multiple abiotic gradients? Are functional trait and phylogenetic dispersions coupled across different spatial scales? Does phylogenetic signal on functional trait data help to elucidate the degree to which phylogenetic information is providing novel information? Location Three massifs in mediterranean‐type climate zone of the high Andes, central Chile. Methods We sampled plant species composition in 20 alpine sites above the tree line at three different spatial scales: plot (20 m × 20 m), subplot (2.4 m × 2.4 m) and cell (30 cm × 30 cm). Functional and phylogenetic mean pair‐wise distances (MPD) calculated using data on six functional traits (maximum plant height, plant size, leaf area, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content and leaf thickness) and a molecular phylogeny (rbcL and matK) were compared to the patterns expected under a null model to characterize the functional and phylogenetic dispersion along interacting elevation and potential solar radiation gradients. Results Our results show that functional and phylogenetic dispersion were related and influenced by potential solar radiation, but the effect of this factor varied with elevation. Overdispersion was found in the most stressful sites, while clustering was observed where the conditions were milder, suggesting a relevant role of facilitation and competitive interactions, respectively. While Blomberg's K statistic indicated no phylogenetic signal for the studied plant traits, Pagel's λ indicated phylogenetic signal, but not of strong intensity (<1), suggesting that the correlation between the functional and phylogenetic diversities was low and that additional unmeasured traits with phylogenetic signal were likely to be important in determining the structure of the studied communities. Conclusions Our results support the hypothesis that biotic interactions modulated by environmental conditions are important for alpine plant community assembly. Moreover, they reinforce the notion that multiple processes shape community structure, and this can be elucidated by examining interacting environmental gradients, such as elevation and potential solar radiation, and taking into account multiple spatial scales. Our results reinforce the use of both functional and phylogenetic diversities simultaneously and discourage the use of phylogenetic diversity as a surrogate of functional structure.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactions between abiotic gradients determine functional and phylogenetic diversity patterns in Mediterranean‐type climate mountains in the Andes

López‐Angulo

Swenson

Cavieres

et al. 2018

J Vegetation Science

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“…A wide range of ecological issues can be conveniently addressed using a functional trait approach. For example, functional diversity helps addressing questions about determination of ecosystems level processes (Dıáz & Cabido, 2001;Escudero & Valladares, 2016) or to disentangle processes underlying invasions by alien species as well as invasion resistance (Drenovsky et al, 2012;Funk, Cleland, Suding, & Zavaleta, 2008). Furthermore, assessment of species traits can be used in modeling vegetation changes under different environmental pressure (Hobbs, 1997;Noble & Gitay, 1996) and in managing ecosystem services (Lavorel & Garnier, 2002).…”

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confidence: 99%

Sampling intraspecific variability in leaf functional traits: Practical suggestions to maximize collected information

Petruzzellis

Palandrani

Savi

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

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The choice of the best sampling strategy to capture mean values of functional traits for a species/population, while maintaining information about traits’ variability and minimizing the sampling size and effort, is an open issue in functional trait ecology. Intraspecific variability (ITV) of functional traits strongly influences sampling size and effort. However, while adequate information is available about intraspecific variability between individuals (ITVBI) and among populations (ITVPOP), relatively few studies have analyzed intraspecific variability within individuals (ITVWI). Here, we provide an analysis of ITVWI of two foliar traits, namely specific leaf area (SLA) and osmotic potential (π), in a population of Quercus ilex L. We assessed the baseline ITVWI level of variation between the two traits and provided the minimum and optimal sampling size in order to take into account ITVWI, comparing sampling optimization outputs with those previously proposed in the literature. Different factors accounted for different amount of variance of the two traits. SLA variance was mostly spread within individuals (43.4% of the total variance), while π variance was mainly spread between individuals (43.2%). Strategies that did not account for all the canopy strata produced mean values not representative of the sampled population. The minimum size to adequately capture the studied functional traits corresponded to 5 leaves taken randomly from 5 individuals, while the most accurate and feasible sampling size was 4 leaves taken randomly from 10 individuals. We demonstrate that the spatial structure of the canopy could significantly affect traits variability. Moreover, different strategies for different traits could be implemented during sampling surveys. We partially confirm sampling sizes previously proposed in the recent literature and encourage future analysis involving different traits.

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“…Mendivelso et al, ), whereas others observed growth patterns coupled with seasonal changes in precipitation, rather than with leaf phenology (Rowland et al, ). Differences in growth responses to climate variability among co‐existing species may also be driven by variations in functional traits (Enquist & Leffler, ; Wagner et al, ), since species with different traits would have different resource use, competing less intensely than species with similar traits (Escudero & Valladares, ). Studies relating secondary growth with plant functional traits are scarce and usually consider the annual growth rate as a demographic integrative variable (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Differences in growth responses to climate variability among co-existing species may also be driven by variations in functional traits (Enquist & Leffler, 2001;Wagner et al, 2014), since species with different traits would have different resource use, competing less intensely than species with similar traits (Escudero & Valladares, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate seasonality and tree growth strategies in a tropical dry forest

García‐Cervigón

Camarero

Cueva

et al. 2020

J Vegetation Science

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Questions Do tree species in seasonally dry tropical forests differ in the timing of their secondary growth? And in their growth rates between consecutive years? If so, how are these contrasting patterns linked to seasonality in climatic variables (temperature, precipitation)? Which is the role of leaf phenology and functional traits as drivers of stem radial increment responses to climate? Location A Tumbesian tropical dry forest in southern Ecuador. Methods We used a 12‐year database of stem radial increments to characterize intra‐ and inter‐annual patterns of secondary growth in 13 co‐existing dominant tree species. For each species, we adjusted an additive model to describe intra‐annual increment patterns and created a mean series of annual increments to describe inter‐annual changes. Adjusted increments were then correlated with monthly temperature and rainfall data over the study period, and also with the crown percentage covered by leaves. The role of functional traits (leaf area, wood density, maximum tree height, seed dry mass) was explored using average trait values per species. Results We observed continuous variation in the seasonality of radial increments, ranging from species that started incrementing their diameter as early as first rains occurred in the season to species that showed delayed responses. Variability in intra‐ and inter‐annual increment patterns was explained by functional traits (leaf area and seed dry mass, and maximum height and wood density, respectively) and leaf phenology, but this variation was not clearly matched with any functional trait configuration. This, combined with the absence of homogeneous responses of annual growth rates to climate, suggests the existence of contrasting strategies that virtually vary in a species‐specific fashion. Conclusions Co‐existing tree species in seasonally dry tropical forests show different growth strategies to face intra‐ and inter‐annual climate variations, which may increase the resilience of these forests against projected climatic variations.

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Trait-based plant ecology: moving towards a unifying species coexistence theory

Cited by 46 publications

References 46 publications

Interactions between abiotic gradients determine functional and phylogenetic diversity patterns in Mediterranean‐type climate mountains in the Andes

Interactions between abiotic gradients determine functional and phylogenetic diversity patterns in Mediterranean‐type climate mountains in the Andes

Sampling intraspecific variability in leaf functional traits: Practical suggestions to maximize collected information

Climate seasonality and tree growth strategies in a tropical dry forest

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