Global gradients in intraspecific variation in vegetative and floral traits are partially associated with climate and species richness
Creators
- Kuppler, Jonas1
- Albert, Cécile H.2
- Ames, Gregory M.3
- Armbruster, W. Scott4
- Boenisch, Gerhard5
- Boucher, Florian C.6
- Campbell, Diane R.7
- Carneiro, Liedson T.8
- Chacón-Madrigal, Eduardo9
- Enquist, Brian J.10
- Fonseca, Carlos R.11
- Gómez, José M.12
- Guisan, Antoine13
- Higuchi, Pedro14
- Karger, Dirk N.15
- Kattge, Jens5
- Kleyer, Michael16
- Kraft, Nathan J. B.17
- Larue-Kontić, Anne-Amélie C.1
- Lázaro, Amparo18
- Lechleitner, Martin1
- Loughnan, Deirdre19
- Minden, Vanessa16
- Niinemets, Ülo20
- Overbeck, Gerhard E.21
- Parachnowitsch, Amy L.22
- Perfectti, Francisco23
- Pillar, Valério D.21
- Schellenberger Costa, David24
- Sletvold, Nina22
- Stang, Martina25
- Alves-dos-Santos, Isabel26
- Streit, Helena21
- Wright, Justin27
- Zych, Marcin28
- Junker, Robert R.1
- 1. University of Salzburg
- 2. University of Avignon
- 3. North Carolina State University
- 4. University of Alaska Fairbanks
- 5. Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
- 6. Grenoble Alpes University
- 7. University of California, Irvine
- 8. Federal University of Alfenas
- 9. University of Costa Rica
- 10. University of Arizona
- 11. Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte
- 12. Estacion Experimental de Zonas Aridas
- 13. University of Lausanne
- 14. Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina
- 15. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
- 16. Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg
- 17. University of California Los Angeles
- 18. Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies
- 19. University of British Columbia
- 20. Estonian University of Life Sciences
- 21. Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul
- 22. Uppsala University
- 23. University of Granada
- 24. Friedrich Schiller University Jena
- 25. Leiden University
- 26. University of Sao Paulo
- 27. Duke University
- 28. University of Warsaw
Description
Aim
Intraspecific trait variation (ITV) within natural plant communities can be large, influencing local ecological processes and dynamics. Here, we shed light on how ITV in vegetative and floral traits responds to large-scale abiotic and biotic gradients (i.e. climate and species richness). Specifically, we tested if associations of ITV with temperature, precipitation and species richness were consistent with any of from four hypotheses relating to stress-tolerance and competition. Furthermore, we estimated the degree of correlation between ITV in vegetative and floral traits and how they vary along the gradients.
Location
Global.
Time period
1975-2016.
Major taxa studied
Herbaceous and woody plants.
Methods
We compiled a dataset of 18,112 measurements of the absolute extent of ITV (measured as coefficient of variation) in nine vegetative and seven floral traits from 2,774 herbaceous and woody species at 2,306 locations.
Results
Large-scale associations between ITV and climate were trait-specific and more prominent for vegetative traits, especially leaf morphology, than for floral traits. ITV showed pronounced associations with climate, with lower ITV values in colder areas and higher values in drier areas. The associations of ITV with species richness were inconsistent across traits. Species-specific associations across gradients were often idiosyncratic and covariation in ITV was weaker between vegetative and floral traits than within the two trait groups.
Main conclusions
Our results show that, depending on the traits considered, ITV either increased or decreased with climate stress and species richness, suggesting that both factors can constrain or enhance ITV, which might foster plant-population persistence under stressful conditions. Given the species-specific responses and covariation in ITV, associations can be hard to predict for traits and species not yet studied. We conclude that considering ITV can improve our understanding of how plants cope with stressful conditions and environmental change across spatial and biological scales.
Notes
Files
Data1_Mean_rarifiedCV_per_community.csv
Files
(2.5 MB)
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Additional details
Related works
- Is cited by
- 10.1111/geb.13077 (DOI)