Equilibrium in plant functional trait responses to warming is stronger under higher climate variability during the Holocene

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (11) ◽  
pp. 2052-2066
Author(s):  
Pierre Gaüzère ◽  
Lars Lønsmann Iversen ◽  
Alistair W. R. Seddon ◽  
Cyrille Violle ◽  
Benjamin Blonder
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Functional Trait ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Plant Functional Trait

scholarly journals Leaf Traits of Trees in Tropical Dry Evergreen Forests of Peninsular India

Ecologies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 268-284
Author(s):  
Muthulingam Udayakumar ◽  
Thangavel Sekar
Keyword(s):  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Functional Trait ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Evergreen Forest ◽  
Leaf Life Span ◽  
Dry Matter Content ◽  
Evergreen Species ◽  
Peninsular India ◽  
Plant Functional Trait

A plant functional trait study was conducted to know the existing relationship between important leaf traits namely, specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), and leaf life span (LL) in tropical dry evergreen forest (TDEFs) of Peninsular India. Widely accepted methodologies were employed to record functional traits. The relationships between SLA and LDMC, LDMC and LL, and SLA and LL were measured. Pearson’s coefficient of correlation showed a significant negative relationship between SLA and LDMC, and SLA and LL, whereas a significant positive relationship was prevailed between LDMC and LL. The mean trait values (SLA, LDMC, and LL) of evergreens varied significantly from deciduous species. SLA had a closer relationship with LDMC than LL. Similarly, LL had a closer relationship with SLA than LDMC. Species with evergreen leaf habits dominated forest sites under study. Evergreen species dominate the study area with a high evergreen-deciduous ratio of 5.34:1. The S strategy score of trees indicated a relatively higher biomass allocation to persistent tissues. TDEFs occur in low elevation, semiarid environment, but with the combination of oligotrophic habitat, high temperature and longer dry season these forests were flourishing as a unique evergreen ecosystem in the drier environment. The relationships found between leaf traits were in concurrence with earlier findings. Trees of TDEFs survive on the poor-nutrient habitat with a low SLA, high LDMC, and LL. This study adds baseline data on key leaf traits to plant functional trait database of India.

scholarly journals Variation Patterns of Functional Trait Moments Along Geographical Gradients and Their Environmental Determinants in the Subtropical Evergreen Broadleaved Forests

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caishuang Huang ◽  
Yue Xu ◽  
Runguo Zang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Leaf Area ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Specific Leaf Area ◽  
Functional Trait ◽  
Leaf Nitrogen ◽  
Subtropical Region ◽  
Mean Variance ◽  
Nitrogen Phosphorus ◽  
Skewness And Kurtosis

Understanding how environmental change alters the composition of plant assemblages is a major challenge in the face of global climate change. Researches accounting for site-specific trait values within forest communities help bridge plant economics theory and functional biogeography to better evaluate and predict relationships between environment and ecosystem functioning. Here, by measuring six functional traits (specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, leaf nitrogen, and phosphorus concentration, leaf nitrogen/phosphorus, wood density) for 292 woody plant species (48,680 individuals) from 250 established permanent forest dynamics plots in five locations across the subtropical evergreen broadleaved forests (SEBLF) in China, we quantified functional compositions of communities by calculating four trait moments, i.e., community-weighted mean, variance, skewness, and kurtosis. The geographical (latitudinal, longitudinal, and elevational) patterns of functional trait moments and their environmental drivers were examined. Results showed that functional trait moments shifted significantly along the geographical gradients, and trait moments varied in different ways across different gradients. Plants generally showed coordinated trait shifts toward more conservative growth strategies (lower specific leaf area, leaf N and P concentration while higher leaf nitrogen/phosphorus and wood density) along increasing latitude and longitude. However, trends opposite to the latitudinal and longitudinal patterns appeared in trait mean values along elevation. The three sets of environmental variables (climate, soil and topography) explained 35.0–69.0%, 21.0–56.0%, 14.0–31.0%, and 16.0–30.0% of the variations in mean, variance, skewness, and kurtosis across the six functional traits, respectively. Patterns of shifts in functional trait moments along geographical gradients in the subtropical region were mainly determined by the joint effects of climatic and edaphic conditions. Climate regimes, especially climate variability, were the strongest driving force, followed by soil nutrients, while topography played the least role. Moreover, the relationship of variance, skewness and kurtosis with climate and their geographical patterns suggested that rare phenotypes at edges of trait space were selected in harsher environments. Our study suggested that environmental filtering (especially climate variability) was the dominant process of functional assembly for forest communities in the subtropical region along geographical gradients.

scholarly journals Plant functional trait data and reflectance spectra for 22 palmiet wetland species

Data in Brief ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 1209-1219
Author(s):  
Alanna J. Rebelo ◽  
Ben Somers ◽  
Karen J. Esler ◽  
Patrick Meire
Keyword(s):  
Functional Trait ◽  
Reflectance Spectra ◽  
Plant Functional Trait ◽  
Wetland Species

scholarly journals Open questions in understanding the adaptive significance of plant functional trait variation within a single lineage

2020 ◽  
Vol 227 (3) ◽  
pp. 659-663 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeannine Cavender‐Bares ◽  
Clarissa G. Fontes ◽  
Jesús Pinto‐Ledezma
Keyword(s):  
Functional Trait ◽  
Adaptive Significance ◽  
Trait Variation ◽  
Plant Functional Trait ◽  
Open Questions
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