One way invasive species spread through an area is by harnessing variability in traits, but this doesn’t match observations of invasive species on the slopes of Mount Teide.
Tag - plant functional traits
Fi Gennu
Plant economics spectrum theory holds true within ferns
Plants usually have limited resources in one way or another. There is only so much nutrient in the soil. How best to use it? The plant economics spectrum theory integrates the coordination of plant functional traits...
Rising tides bring rising salinity to coastal plants, but will they cope?
Rising sea levels mean increased salinity for plants on the shore, but how well do coastal plants cope with salt? New research says they're surprisingly bad at it.
Alun Salt
Responses of plant leaf economic and hydraulic traits mediate the effects of drought on grassland productivity
Water availability is a key driver of net primary production. Extreme drought events are forecasted to increase in intensity and frequency within the century with big impacts on ecosystem productivity. This will also...
William Salter
Call for Papers: Intraspecific variation in plant functional traits for Annals of Botany
Special Issue Guest Editors: Dr. Kasey Barton, University of Hawaii at Manoa Dr. Andrea Westerband, Macquarie University, Australia Dr. Jennifer Funk, Chapman University, California Plant functional trait analysis has...
Alex Assiry
Functional traits in endemism hotspots and refugia
Refugia are island-like habitats that are linked to long-term environmental stability and, as a result, high endemism. Conservation of refugia and endemism hotspots should be based on a deep ecological and evolutionary...
Non-structural carbohydrate dynamics in shrubland under drought-induced die-off
The relationship between plant carbon economy and drought responses of co-occurring woody species can be assessed by comparing carbohydrate (C) dynamics following drought and rain periods, relating these dynamics to...
botanyone
Antibiotics impact plant traits
Antibiotics used in the livestock industry are released to agricultural fields via grazing animals and manure. From there, they may affect human health due to consumption of antibiotic-exposed crop plants or drinking...
AoBPLANTS
Light partitioning in temperate rain forests
In the temperate rainforest of southern Chile, Fajardo and Siefert find that interspecific differences in the leaf mass per area (LMA) trait can explain the fine-scale partitioning of light availability gradients by...
Communities on infertile soils are less sensitive to climate change
Much evidence suggests that plant communities on infertile soils are relatively insensitive to increased water deficit caused by increasing temperature and/or decreasing precipitation. Harrison et al. undertake a re...
Plants and climate change: complexities and surprises (review)
Camille Parmesan and Mick E. Hanley introduce the special issue with a review of some of the surprises so far with plant responses to anthropogenic climate change. This issue comes from a sponsored symposium session...
Litter decomposition traits and home-field advantage
Litter often decomposes faster in its environment of origin (at ‘home’) than in a foreign environment (‘away’), which has become known as the home-field advantage (HFA). However, many studies have highlighted the...
Species identity influences belowground arthropod assemblages via functional traits
Plants link above- and belowground subsystems, and a recent study in AoB PLANTS suggests that their phylogenetic relationships leave a “fingerprint” on belowground communities. Gorman et al. found that after correcting...
Habitat specialization through germination cueing
The importance of regeneration to plant habitat specialization has been poorly studied. ten Brink et al. examine the adaptive association between germination ecology and specialization to either forest or open habitats...
