Community functional responses to soil and climate at multiple spatial scales: when does intraspecific variation matter?

ABSTRACT: Despite increasing evidence of the importance of intraspecific trait variation in plant communities, its role in community trait responses to environmental variation, particularly along broad-scale climatic gradients, is poorly understood. We analyzed functional trait variation among early-successional herbaceous plant communities (old fields) across a 1200-km latitudinal extent in eastern North America, focusing on four traits: vegetative height, leaf area, specific leaf area (SLA), and leaf dry matter content (LDMC). We determined the contributions of species turnover and intraspecific variation to between-site functional dissimilarity at multiple spatial scales and community trait responses to edaphic and climatic factors. Among-site variation in community mean trait values and communit

SUBMITTER: Siefert A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4203824 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature