Burn it all down: leaf traits change more than species composition
In a fire-adapted ecosystem, increased fire frequency altered community composition and structure of the ecosystem through changes in the position of the shrub line.
Plant Science from Cell Biology to Ecosystems
In a fire-adapted ecosystem, increased fire frequency altered community composition and structure of the ecosystem through changes in the position of the shrub line.
How functional traits modify species niche occupancy and community assembly is a vital question in ecology. He et al. measure specific leaf area for over 5000 plants with more than 1700 observational locations.
Evidence from this study indicates that elevated [CO2] not only can aggravate the effects of water deficit on photosynthetic performance and growth of maritime pine but also it can attenuate genotypic differences in drought tolerance as compared with those observed at current atmospheric [CO2].