Traditional plant functional groups explain variation in economic but not size-related traits across the tundra biome

Aim Plant functional groups are widely used in community ecology and earth system modelling to describe trait variation within and across plant communities. However, this approach rests on the assumption that functional groups explain a large proportion of trait variation among species. We test whet...

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Autores: Thomas, Haydn J. D., Myers-Smith, I. H.|||0000-0002-8417-6112, Bjorkman, Anne|||0000-0003-2174-7800, Elmendorf, Sarah C.|||0000-0003-1085-8521, Blok, Daan, Cornelissen, J. H. C.|||0000-0002-2346-1585, Forbes, Bruce C.|||0000-0002-4593-5083, Hollister, Robert D.|||0000-0002-4764-7691, Normand, S., Prevéy, J. S., Rixen, C., Schaepman-Strub, Gabriela|||0000-0002-4069-1884, Wilmking, Martin|||0000-0003-4964-2402, Wipf, Sonja|||0000-0002-3492-1399, Cornwell, W. K., Kattge, Jens|||0000-0002-1022-8469, Goetz, Scott J.|||0000-0002-6326-4308, Guay, K. C., Alatalo, Juha M.|||0000-0001-5084-850X, Anadon-Rosell, Alba|||0000-0002-9447-7795, Angers-Blondin, Sandra, Berner, L. T., Björk, Robert G.|||0000-0001-7346-666X, Buchwal, Agata|||0000-0001-6879-6656, Buras, Allan|||0000-0003-2179-0681, Carbognani, Michele|||0000-0001-7701-9859, Christie, Katherine, Siegwart Collier, L., Cooper, Elisabeth J.|||0000-0002-0634-1282, Eskelinen, Anu|||0000-0003-1707-5263, Frei, Esther R.|||0000-0003-1910-7900, Grau Fernández, Oriol|||0000-0002-3816-9499, Grogan, P.|||0000-0002-7379-875X, Hallinger, M., Heijmans, M. M. P. D., Hermanutz, Luise|||0000-0003-0706-7067, Hudson, J. M. G., Hülber, K.|||0000-0001-9274-1647, Iturrate-Garcia, Maitane, Iversen, Colleen|||0000-0001-8293-3450, Jaroszynska, F., Johnstone, J. F.|||0000-0001-6131-9339, Kaarlejärvi, Elina|||0000-0003-0014-0073, Kulonen, Aino, Lamarque, L. J.|||0000-0002-1430-5193, Lévesque, E., Little, C. J.|||0000-0003-2803-7465, Michelsen, Anders|||0000-0002-9541-8658, Milbau, Ann|||0000-0003-3555-8883, Nabe-Nielsen, Jacob|||0000-0002-0716-9525, Nielsen, S. S., Ninot, J. M.|||0000-0002-3712-0810, Oberbauer, S. F., Olofsson, Johan, Onipchenko, Vladimir|||0000-0002-1626-1171, Petraglia, Alessandro|||0000-0003-4632-2251, Rumpf, Sabine B.|||0000-0001-5909-9568, Semenchuk, P. R., Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A.|||0000-0003-4659-2585, Spasojevic, M.|||0000-0003-1808-0048, Speed, J. D. M.|||0000-0002-0633-5595, Tape, K. D., Beest, Mariska te|||0000-0003-3673-4105, Tomaselli, M.|||0000-0003-4208-3433, Trant, A., Treier, U. A., Venn, S., Vowles, Tage|||0000-0002-9049-2146, Weijers, S.|||0000-0003-3386-5417, Zamin, T. J., Atkin, Owen K.|||0000-0003-1041-5202, Bahn, Michael|||0000-0001-7482-9776, Blonder, Benjamin|||0000-0002-5061-2385, Campetella, Giandiego|||0000-0001-6126-522X, Cerabolini, Bruno Enrico Leone|||0000-0002-3793-0733, Chapin III, F. Stuart|||0000-0002-2558-9910, Dainese, Matteo|||0000-0001-7052-5572, Vries, F. T. de, Díaz, Sandra|||0000-0003-0012-4612, Green, W., Jackson, Robert|||0000-0001-8846-7147, Manning, Peter|||0000-0002-7940-2023, Niinemets, Ülo|||0000-0002-3078-2192, Ozinga, Wim|||0000-0002-6369-7859, Peñuelas, Josep|||0000-0002-7215-0150, Reich, P. B., Schamp, Brandon|||0000-0002-6885-2029, Sheremetev, S., Bodegom, Peter van
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:200862
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/200862
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1111/geb.12783
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Cluster analysis
Community composition
Ecosystem function
Plant functional groups
Plant functional types
Plant traits
Tundra biome
Vegetation change
Descripción
Sumario:Aim Plant functional groups are widely used in community ecology and earth system modelling to describe trait variation within and across plant communities. However, this approach rests on the assumption that functional groups explain a large proportion of trait variation among species. We test whether four commonly used plant functional groups represent variation in six ecologically important plant traits. Location Tundra biome. Time period Data collected between 1964 and 2016. Major taxa studied 295 tundra vascular plant species. Methods We compiled a database of six plant traits (plant height, leaf area, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, leaf nitrogen, seed mass) for tundra species. We examined the variation in species-level trait expression explained by four traditional functional groups (evergreen shrubs, deciduous shrubs, graminoids, forbs), and whether variation explained was dependent upon the traits included in analysis. We further compared the explanatory power and species composition of functional groups to alternative classifications generated using post hoc clustering of species-level traits. Results Traditional functional groups explained significant differences in trait expression, particularly amongst traits associated with resource economics, which were consistent across sites and at the biome scale. However, functional groups explained 19% of overall trait variation and poorly represented differences in traits associated with plant size. Post hoc classification of species did not correspond well with traditional functional groups, and explained twice as much variation in species-level trait expression. Main conclusions Traditional functional groups only coarsely represent variation in well-measured traits within tundra plant communities, and better explain resource economic traits than size-related traits. We recommend caution when using functional group approaches to predict tundra ecosystem change, or ecosystem functions relating to plant size, such as albedo or carbon storage. We argue that alternative classifications or direct use of specific plant traits could provide new insight into ecological prediction and modelling.

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