Summary 1. The concept of plant functional type proposes that species can be grouped according to common responses to the environment and/or common effects on ecosystem processes. However, the knowledge of relationships between traits associated with the response of plants to environmental factors such as resources and disturbances (response traits), and traits that determine effects of plants on ecosystem functions (effect traits), such as biogeochemical cycling or propensity to disturbance, remains rudimentary. 2. We present a framework using concepts and results from community ecology, ecosystem ecology and evolutionary biology to provide this linkage. Ecosystem functioning is the end result of the operation of multiple environmental filters in a hierarchy of scales which, by selecting individuals with appropriate responses, result in assemblages with varying trait composition. Functional linkages and trade-offs among traits, each of which relates to one or several processes, determine whether or not filtering by different factors gives a match, and whether ecosystem effects can be easily deduced

/pdf/predicting-changes-in-community-composition-and-ecosystem-3zopj1ch0s.pdf

Predicting changes in community composition and ecosystem functioning from plant traits: revisiting the Holy Grail

The increasing availability of phylogenetic data, computing power and informatics tools has facilitated a rapid expansion of studies that apply phylogenetic data and methods to community ecology. Several key areas are reviewed in which phylogenetic information helps to resolve long-standing controversies in community ecology, challenges previous assumptions, and opens new areas of investigation. In particular, studies in phylogenetic community ecology have helped to reveal the multitude of processes driving community assembly and have demonstrated the importance of evolution in the assembly process. Phylogenetic approaches have also increased understanding of the consequences of community interactions for speciation, adaptation and extinction. Finally, phylogenetic community structure and composition holds promise for predicting ecosystem processes and impacts of global change. Major challenges to advancing these areas remain. In particular, determining the extent to which ecologically relevant traits are phylogenetically conserved or convergent, and over what temporal scale, is critical to understanding the causes of community phylogenetic structure and its evolutionary and ecosystem consequences. Harnessing phylogenetic information to understand and forecast changes in diversity and dynamics of communities is a critical step in managing and restoring the Earths biota in a time of rapid global change.

https://projects.au.dk/fileadmin/projects/circe/2009_Cavender_et_al_01.pdf

The merging of community ecology and phylogenetic biology

Although the structure and composition of plant communities is known to influence the functioning of ecosystems, there is as yet no agreement as to how these should be described from a functional perspective. We tested the biomass ratio hypothesis, which postulates that ecosystem properties should depend on species traits and on species contribution to the total biomass of the community, in a successional sere following vineyard abandonment in the Mediterranean region of France. Ecosystem-specific net primary productivity, litter decomposition rate, and total soil carbon and nitrogen varied significantly with field age, and correlated with community-aggregated (i.e., weighed according to the relative abundance of species) functional leaf traits. The three easily measurable traits tested, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, and nitrogen concentration, provide a simple means to scale up from organ to ecosystem functioning in complex plant communities. We propose that they be called ''functional markers,'' and be used to assess the impacts of community changes on ecosystem properties induced, in particular, by global change drivers.

/pdf/plant-functional-markers-capture-ecosystem-properties-during-4mgbv7cc5w.pdf

Plant functional markers capture ecosystem properties during secondary succession

https://www.cell.com/trends/plant-science/pdf/S1360-1385(00)01797-0.pdf

Phenotypic plasticity for plant development, function and life history.

Based on conclusions drawn from general climatic impact assessmentin mountain regions, the review synthesizes results relevant to the European Alps published mainly from 1994 onward in the fields of population genetics, ecophysiology, phenology, phytogeography, modeling, paleoecology and vegetation dynamics Other important factors of global change interacting synergistically with climatic factors are also mentioned, such as atmospheric CO2 concentration, eutrophication, ozone or changes in land-use Topics addressed are general species distribution and populations (persistence, acclimation, genetic variability, dispersal, fragmentation, plant/animal interaction, species richness, conservation), potential response of vegetation (ecotonal shift – area, physiography – changes in the composition, structural changes), phenology, growth and productivity, and landscape In conclusion, the European Alps appear to have a natural inertia and thus to tolerate an increase of 1–2 K of mean air temperature as far as plant species and ecosystems are concerned in general However, the impact of land-use is very likely to negate this buffer in many areas For a change of the order of 3 K or more, profound changes may be expected

Potential impact of climate change on vegetation in the European Alps: A review

1. Introduction and background 2. Plant strategies and successional change: a resource-response perspective 3. Community composition and trends of dominance and diversity in recovering ecosystems 4. The environment of successional plants: disentangling causes and consequences 5. Recruitment in successional habitats: general trends and specific differences 6. How do plants interact with each other? 7. Plant/plant interactions and ecosystem recovery 8. Competition and the evolution of response breadths and niches 9. Ecological and genetic variation in early successional plants 10. Coping with a variable environment: habitat selection, response flexibility: tracking, acclimation, and plasticity 11. Physiological trends of plant in recovering ecosystems 12. Crossing the scales: can we predict community composition from individual species response? 13. From fields to forests: forest dynamics and regeneration in a changing environment 14. Succession and global change: the implications of migration, extinction, and adaptation References Index.

Fakhri A Bazzaz

Papers

Plants in Changing Environments: Linking Physiological, Population, and Community Ecology