Global gradients in intraspecific variation in vegetative and floral traits are partially associated with climate and species richness
Metadatos
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WILEY
Materia
Community ecology Flower trait Functional diversity Functional trait Leaf trait Macroecology Precipitation gradient Temperature gradient Within-species variation
Fecha
2020Referencia bibliográfica
Kuppler J, Albert CH, Ames GM, et al. Global gradients in intraspecific variation in vegetative and floral traits are partially associated with climate and species richness. Global Ecol Biogeogr. 2020;29:992–1007. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13077
Resumen
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 whether associations of ITV with
temperature, precipitation and species richness were consistent with any of 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 18,401 measurements of the absolute extent of
ITV (measured as the coefficient of variation) in nine vegetative and seven floral traits
from 2,822 herbaceous and woody species at 2,372 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. The 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 in 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 consideration of ITV can improve our understanding of how plants cope
with stressful conditions and environmental change across spatial and biological scales.