Publication type: Article in scientific journal
Type of review: Peer review (publication)
Title: Root traits explain plant species distributions along climatic gradients yet challenge the nature of ecological trade-offs
Authors: Laughlin, Daniel C.
Mommer, Liesje
Sabatini, Francesco Maria
Bruelheide, Helge
Kuyper, Thom W.
McCormack, M. Luke
Bergmann, Joana
Freschet, Grégoire T.
Guerrero-Ramírez, Nathaly R.
Iversen, Colleen M.
Kattge, Jens
Meier, Ina C.
Poorter, Hendrik
Roumet, Catherine
Semchenko, Marina
Sweeney, Christopher J.
Valverde-Barrantes, Oscar J.
van der Plas, Fons
van Ruijven, Jasper
York, Larry M.
Aubin, Isabelle
Burge, Olivia R.
Byun, Chaeho
Ćušterevska, Renata
Dengler, Jürgen
Forey, Estelle
Guerin, Greg R.
Hérault, Bruno
Jackson, Robert B.
Karger, Dirk Nikolaus
Lenoir, Jonathan
Lysenko, Tatiana
Meir, Patrick
Niinemets, Ülo
Ozinga, Wim A.
Peñuelas, Josep
Reich, Peter B.
Schmidt, Marco
Schrodt, Franziska
Velázquez, Eduardo
Weigelt, Alexandra
et. al: No
DOI: 10.1038/s41559-021-01471-7
Published in: Nature Ecology & Evolution
Volume(Issue): 5
Issue: 8
Page(s): 1123
Pages to: 1134
Issue Date: 10-Jun-2021
Publisher / Ed. Institution: Nature Publishing Group
ISSN: 2397-334X
Language: English
Subject (DDC): 577: Ecology
580: Plants (Botany)
Abstract: Ecological theory is built on trade-offs, where trait differences among species evolved as adaptations to different environments. Trade-offs are often assumed to be bidirectional, where opposite ends of a gradient in trait values confer advantages in different environments. However, unidirectional benefits could be widespread if extreme trait values confer advantages at one end of an environmental gradient, whereas a wide range of trait values are equally beneficial at the other end. Here, we show that root traits explain species occurrences along broad gradients of temperature and water availability, but model predictions only resembled trade-offs in two out of 24 models. Forest species with low specific root length and high root tissue density (RTD) were more likely to occur in warm climates but species with high specific root length and low RTD were more likely to occur in cold climates. Unidirectional benefits were more prevalent than trade-offs: for example, species with large-diameter roots and high RTD were more commonly associated with dry climates, but species with the opposite trait values were not associated with wet climates. Directional selection for traits consistently occurred in cold or dry climates, whereas a diversity of root trait values were equally viable in warm or wet climates. Explicit integration of unidirectional benefits into ecological theory is needed to advance our understanding of the consequences of trait variation on species responses to environmental change.
URI: https://www.dora.lib4ri.ch/wsl/islandora/object/wsl:27397
https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/22954
Fulltext version: Published version
License (according to publishing contract): Licence according to publishing contract
Departement: Life Sciences and Facility Management
Organisational Unit: Institute of Natural Resource Sciences (IUNR)
Appears in collections:Publikationen Life Sciences und Facility Management

Files in This Item:
There are no files associated with this item.
Show full item record
Laughlin, D. C., Mommer, L., Sabatini, F. M., Bruelheide, H., Kuyper, T. W., McCormack, M. L., Bergmann, J., Freschet, G. T., Guerrero-Ramírez, N. R., Iversen, C. M., Kattge, J., Meier, I. C., Poorter, H., Roumet, C., Semchenko, M., Sweeney, C. J., Valverde-Barrantes, O. J., van der Plas, F., van Ruijven, J., et al. (2021). Root traits explain plant species distributions along climatic gradients yet challenge the nature of ecological trade-offs. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 5(8), 1123–1134. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01471-7
Laughlin, D.C. et al. (2021) ‘Root traits explain plant species distributions along climatic gradients yet challenge the nature of ecological trade-offs’, Nature Ecology & Evolution, 5(8), pp. 1123–1134. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01471-7.
D. C. Laughlin et al., “Root traits explain plant species distributions along climatic gradients yet challenge the nature of ecological trade-offs,” Nature Ecology & Evolution, vol. 5, no. 8, pp. 1123–1134, Jun. 2021, doi: 10.1038/s41559-021-01471-7.
LAUGHLIN, Daniel C., Liesje MOMMER, Francesco Maria SABATINI, Helge BRUELHEIDE, Thom W. KUYPER, M. Luke MCCORMACK, Joana BERGMANN, Grégoire T. FRESCHET, Nathaly R. GUERRERO-RAMÍREZ, Colleen M. IVERSEN, Jens KATTGE, Ina C. MEIER, Hendrik POORTER, Catherine ROUMET, Marina SEMCHENKO, Christopher J. SWEENEY, Oscar J. VALVERDE-BARRANTES, Fons VAN DER PLAS, Jasper VAN RUIJVEN, Larry M. YORK, Isabelle AUBIN, Olivia R. BURGE, Chaeho BYUN, Renata ĆUŠTEREVSKA, Jürgen DENGLER, Estelle FOREY, Greg R. GUERIN, Bruno HÉRAULT, Robert B. JACKSON, Dirk Nikolaus KARGER, Jonathan LENOIR, Tatiana LYSENKO, Patrick MEIR, Ülo NIINEMETS, Wim A. OZINGA, Josep PEÑUELAS, Peter B. REICH, Marco SCHMIDT, Franziska SCHRODT, Eduardo VELÁZQUEZ und Alexandra WEIGELT, 2021. Root traits explain plant species distributions along climatic gradients yet challenge the nature of ecological trade-offs. Nature Ecology & Evolution [online]. 10 Juni 2021. Bd. 5, Nr. 8, S. 1123–1134. DOI 10.1038/s41559-021-01471-7. Verfügbar unter: https://www.dora.lib4ri.ch/wsl/islandora/object/wsl:27397
Laughlin, Daniel C., Liesje Mommer, Francesco Maria Sabatini, Helge Bruelheide, Thom W. Kuyper, M. Luke McCormack, Joana Bergmann, et al. 2021. “Root Traits Explain Plant Species Distributions along Climatic Gradients yet Challenge the Nature of Ecological Trade-Offs.” Nature Ecology & Evolution 5 (8): 1123–34. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01471-7.
Laughlin, Daniel C., et al. “Root Traits Explain Plant Species Distributions along Climatic Gradients yet Challenge the Nature of Ecological Trade-Offs.” Nature Ecology & Evolution, vol. 5, no. 8, June 2021, pp. 1123–34, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01471-7.


Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.