Traditional plant functional groups explain variation in economic but not size‐related traits across the tundra biome

Thomas, H J D; Myers‐Smith, I H; Bjorkman, A D; et al; Prevéy, J S; Rixen, C; Schaepman-Strub, G

doi:10.5167/uzh-182520

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Thomas, H. J. D., Myers‐Smith, I. H., Bjorkman, A. D., et al, Prevéy, J. S., Rixen, C., & Schaepman-Strub, G. (2019). Traditional plant functional groups explain variation in economic but not size‐related traits across the tundra biome. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 28, 78–95. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12783

Abstract

Aim: Plant functional groups are widely used in community ecology and earth system modelling to describe trait variation within and across plant communities. However, this approach rests on the assumption that functional groups explain a large proportion of trait variation among species. We test whether four commonly used plant functional groups represent variation in six ecologically important plant traits. Location: Tundra biome. Time period: Data collected between 1964 and 2016. Major taxa studied: 295 tundra vascular plant species