Journal article
Climatic and soil factors explain the two-dimensional spectrum of global plant trait variation
Nature Ecology & Evolution, Vol.6, pp.36-50
2022
Abstract
Plant functional traits can predict community assembly and ecosystem functioning and are thus widely used in global models of vegetation dynamics and land–climate feedbacks. Still, we lack a global understanding of how land and climate affect plant traits. A previous global analysis of six traits observed two main axes of variation: (1) size variation at the organ and plant level and (2) leaf economics balancing leaf persistence against plant growth potential. The orthogonality of these two axes suggests they are differently influenced by environmental drivers. We find that these axes persist in a global dataset of 17 traits across more than 20,000 species. We find a dominant joint effect of climate and soil on trait variation. Additional independent climate effects are also observed across most traits, whereas independent soil effects are almost exclusively observed for economics traits. Variation in size traits correlates well with a latitudinal gradient related to water or energy limitation. In contrast, variation in economics traits is better explained by interactions of climate with soil fertility. These findings have the potential to improve our understanding of biodiversity patterns and our predictions of climate change impacts on biogeochemical cycles.
Details
- Title
- Climatic and soil factors explain the two-dimensional spectrum of global plant trait variation
- Authors/Creators
- J.S. Joswig (Author/Creator) - Max Planck Institute for BiogeochemistryC. Wirth (Author/Creator) - Max Planck Institute for BiogeochemistryM.C. Schuman (Author/Creator) - University of ZurichJ. Kattge (Author/Creator) - Max Planck Institute for BiogeochemistryB. Reu (Author/Creator) - Industrial University of SantanderI.J. Wright (Author/Creator) - Macquarie UniversityS.D. Sippel (Author/Creator) - ETH ZurichN. Rüger (Author/Creator) - German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity ResearchR. Richter (Author/Creator) - German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity ResearchM.E. Schaepman (Author/Creator) - University of ZurichP.M. van Bodegom (Author/Creator) - Leiden UniversityJ.H.C. Cornelissen (Author/Creator) - Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamS. Díaz (Author/Creator) - Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología VegetalW.N. Hattingh (Author/Creator) - Pioneer (United States)K. Kramer (Author/Creator) - Wageningen University & ResearchF. Lens (Author/Creator) - Naturalis Biodiversity CenterÜ. Niinemets (Author/Creator) - Estonian University of Life SciencesP.B. Reich (Author/Creator) - University of MinnesotaM. Reichstein (Author/Creator) - Max Planck Institute for BiogeochemistryC. Römermann (Author/Creator) - German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity ResearchF. Schrodt (Author/Creator) - University of NottinghamM. Anand (Author/Creator) - University of GuelphM. Bahn (Author/Creator) - Universität InnsbruckC. Byun (Author/Creator) - Gyeongguk National UniversityG. Campetella (Author/Creator) - Università di CamerinoB.E.L. Cerabolini (Author/Creator) - University of InsubriaJ.M. Craine (Author/Creator) - Jonah’s Just BegunA. Gonzalez-Melo (Author/Creator) - Universidad del RosarioA.G. Gutiérrez (Author/Creator) - University of ChileT. He (Author/Creator) - Curtin UniversityP. Higuchi (Author/Creator) - Universidade do Estado de Santa CatarinaH. Jactel (Author/Creator) - UMR BIOdiversity, GEnes & CommunitiesN.J.B. Kraft (Author/Creator) - University of California, Los AngelesV. Minden (Author/Creator) - Vrije Universiteit BrusselV. Onipchenko (Author/Creator) - Lomonosov Moscow State UniversityJ. Peñuelas (Author/Creator) - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones CientíficasV.D. Pillar (Author/Creator) - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do SulÊ. Sosinski (Author/Creator) - Brazilian Agricultural Research CorporationN.A. Soudzilovskaia (Author/Creator) - Hasselt UniversityE. Weiher (Author/Creator) - University of Wisconsin–Eau ClaireM.D. Mahecha (Author/Creator) - German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research
- Publication Details
- Nature Ecology & Evolution, Vol.6, pp.36-50
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- Identifiers
- 991005541111207891
- Copyright
- © 2021 The Authors.
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Agricultural Sciences
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
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- Citation topics
- 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
- 3.40 Forestry
- 3.40.86 Plant Communities
- Web Of Science research areas
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- ESI research areas
- Environment/Ecology