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Laughlin, Daniel C.
Mommer, Liesje
Sabatini, Francesco Maria
Bruelheide, Helge
Kuyper, Thom W.
McCormack, Luke
Bergmann, Joana
Freschet, Grégoire T.
Guerrero-Ramirez, Nathaly
Iversen, Colleen
Kattge, Jens
Meier, Ina C.
Poorter, Hendrik
Roumet, Catherine
Semchenko, Marina
Sweeney, Christopher J.
Valverde-Barrantes, Oscar J.
van der Plas, Fons
van Ruijven, Jasper
York, Larry M.
Aubin, Isabelle
Burge, Olivia R.
Byun, Chaeho
Ćušterevska, Renata
Dengler, Jürgen
Forey, Estelle
Guerin, Greg R.
Hérault, Bruno
Jackson, Rob
Karger, Dirk Nikolaus
Lenoir, Jonathan
Lysenko, Tatiana
Meir, Patrick
Niinemets, Ülo
Ozinga, Wim A.
Peñuelas, Josep
Reich, Peter B.
Schmidt, Marco
Schrodt, Franziska
Velázquez, Eduardo
Weigelt, Alexandra
Mommer, Liesje
Sabatini, Francesco Maria
Bruelheide, Helge
Kuyper, Thom W.
McCormack, Luke
Bergmann, Joana
Freschet, Grégoire T.
Guerrero-Ramirez, Nathaly
Iversen, Colleen
Kattge, Jens
Meier, Ina C.
Poorter, Hendrik
Roumet, Catherine
Semchenko, Marina
Sweeney, Christopher J.
Valverde-Barrantes, Oscar J.
van der Plas, Fons
van Ruijven, Jasper
York, Larry M.
Aubin, Isabelle
Burge, Olivia R.
Byun, Chaeho
Ćušterevska, Renata
Dengler, Jürgen
Forey, Estelle
Guerin, Greg R.
Hérault, Bruno
Jackson, Rob
Karger, Dirk Nikolaus
Lenoir, Jonathan
Lysenko, Tatiana
Meir, Patrick
Niinemets, Ülo
Ozinga, Wim A.
Peñuelas, Josep
Reich, Peter B.
Schmidt, Marco
Schrodt, Franziska
Velázquez, Eduardo
Weigelt, Alexandra
Root traits explain plant species distributions along climatic gradients yet challenge the nature of ecological trade-offs
3.102240
documents
Born digital
Article
2021
Ecological theory is built on trade-offs where trait differences among species evolved as adaptations to different environments. Trade-offs are often assumed to be bidirectional, where opposite ends of a gradient in trait values confer advantages in different environments. However, unidirectional benefits could be widespread if extreme trait values confer advantages at one end of an environmental gradient, whereas a wide range of trait values are equally beneficial at the other end. Here we show that root traits explain species occurrences along broad gradients of temperature and water availability, but model predictions only resembled trade-offs in two out of twenty-four models. Forest species with low specific root length (SRL) and high root tissue density (RTD) were more likely to occur in warm climates but species with high SRL and low RTD were more likely to occur in cold climates. Unidirectional benefits were more prevalent than trade-offs: for example, species with large-diameter roots and high RTD were more commonly associated with dry climates, but species with the opposite trait values were not associated with wet climates. Directional selection for traits consistently occurred in cold or dry climates, whereas a diversity of root trait values were equally viable in warm or wet climates. Explicit integration of unidirectional benefits into ecological theory is needed to advance our understanding of the consequences of trait variation on species responses 112 to environmental change.
5, 8, 1123-1134
Nature Ecology and Evolution (published by)
Calendar Year 2021 Staff Publications
The Morton Arboretum Staff Publications and Dataset Collection
Publications
The Morton Arboretum Staff Publications and Dataset Collection
Publications
English
Copyright statement: This document may be protected by copyright law. Please contact the Sterling Morton Library ABOUT section for additional information.