Under global change, how biological diversity and ecosystem services are maintained in
time is a fundamental question. Ecologists have long argued about multiple mechanisms by …

Aim Seed traits related to recruitment have direct relevance for plant fitness and persistence.
Trait variation in time and among populations may increase species resilience and …

The global biogeography of microorganisms remains largely unknown, in contrast to the well-
studied diversity patterns of macroorganisms. We used arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus …

Understanding the adaptations that allow species to live in temporally variable environments
is essential for predicting how they may respond to future environmental change. Variation …

Anthropogenetic climate change has caused range shifts among many species. Species
distribution models (SDMs) are used to predict how species ranges may change in the …

This review summarizes current understanding of five key plant traits: seed mass, plant
height, wood density, leaf mass per unit area and leaf size, emphasizing ways in which our …

Ecological theory predicts close relationships between macroclimate and functional traits.
Yet, global climatic gradients correlate only weakly with the trait composition of local plant …

Seed dormancy is expected to provide ecological advantages by adjusting germination to
the favorable growth period. However, many species produce nondormant seeds …

For evaluating climate change impacts on biodiversity, extensive experiments are urgently
needed to complement popular non-mechanistic models which map future ecosystem …

Summary During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 18 000–20 000 yr ago) and previous
glacial periods, atmospheric [CO2] dropped to 180–190 ppm, which is among the lowest …