Functional Traits Are Good Predictors of Tree Species Abundance Across 101 Subtropical Forest Species in China.

ABSTRACT: What causes variation in species abundance for a given site remains a central question in community ecology. Foundational to trait-based ecology is the expectation that functional traits determine species abundance. However, the relative success of using functional traits to predict relative abundance is questionable. One reason is that the diversity in plant function is greater than that characterized by the few most commonly and easily measurable traits. Here, we measured 10 functional traits and the stem density of 101 woody plant species in a 200,000 m² permanent, mature, subtropical forest plot (high precipitation and high nitrogen, but generally light- and phosphorus-limited) in southern China to determine how well relative species abundance could be predicted by functiona

SUBMITTER: Li R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8278196 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature