Fast-slow continuum and reproductive strategies structure plant life-history variation worldwide.

ABSTRACT: The identification of patterns in life-history strategies across the tree of life is essential to our prediction of population persistence, extinction, and diversification. Plants exhibit a wide range of patterns of longevity, growth, and reproduction, but the general determinants of this enormous variation in life history are poorly understood. We use demographic data from 418 plant species in the wild, from annual herbs to supercentennial trees, to examine how growth form, habitat, and phylogenetic relationships structure plant life histories and to develop a framework to predict population performance. We show that 55% of the variation in plant life-history strategies is adequately characterized using two independent axes: the fast-slow continuum, including fast-growing, short-lived pla

SUBMITTER: Salguero-Gomez R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4711876 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature