Background Investigating the causes and consequences of intraspecific trait variation (ITV)
in plants is not novel, as it has long been recognized that such variation shapes biotic and …

Foundational to trait-based community ecology is the expectation that functional traits
determine demographic outcomes. However, trait–demographic rate relationships are …

Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological
characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect …

Deciphering the mechanisms that link biodiversity with ecosystem functions is critical to
understanding the consequences of changes in biodiversity. The hypothesis that …

Trait variability in space and time allows plants to adjust to changing environmental
conditions. However, we know little about how this variability is distributed and coordinated …

The utility of plant functional traits for predictive ecology relies on our ability to interpret trait
variation across multiple taxonomic and ecological scales. Using extensive data sets of trait …

Plant traits–the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological
characteristics of plants and their organs–determine how primary producers respond to …

Scaling approaches in ecology assume that traits are the main attributes by which
organisms influence ecosystem functioning. However, several recent empirical papers have …

Concern about the functional consequences of unprecedented loss in biodiversity has
prompted biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) research to become one of the most …

1. Forests account for a substantial part of the terrestrial biomass storage and productivity.
To better understand forest productivity, we need to disentangle the processes underlying …