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The coverage of species per trait with respect to woodiness (woody versus non-woody incl. semi-woody). The coverage in the GIFT database²⁴⁷,²⁴⁸ a comprehensive baseline of plant growth form, is included for external comparison (see ref. ¹¹ for more details). In parentheses: the number of species with data for the trait and the number of species for which woodiness could be determined.
Source publication
Here we provide the ‘Global Spectrum of Plant Form and Function Dataset’, containing species mean values for six vascular plant traits. Together, these traits –plant height, stem specific density, leaf area, leaf mass per area, leaf nitrogen content per dry mass, and diaspore (seed or spore) mass – define the primary axes of variation in plant form...
Citations
... The remaining ungerminated seeds were tested for viability using the tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining method, with seeds soaked in a 1% TTC solution at 30 °C for 24 hours. Seeds that displayed a reddish color in their embryos were considered viable [29] . For seeds that did not show a clear TTC staining result, manual examination was performed by cutting to check for intact embryos. ...
... Of the 302 taxa identified, this information was not available for the taxa identified at genus level (except for Salix sp. and Crataegus sp., which were identified as FACW and FACU, respectively) and for 6 taxa identified at species level. Three morphological traits -Leaf mass area (LMA), plant height and diaspore (seed or spore) masswere extracted from the species-level trait dataset produced by Díaz et al. (2022). These three independent traits represent three axes of functional trade-offs to explain plant distribution within Westoby's plant ecology strategy scheme (Westoby, 1998). ...
... Seed mass is related to dispersal ability, contrasting light-seeded species that have high seedling mortality with large-seeded species that have long-term seedling survival. For missing values (LMA = 62, Height = 40, Seed = 42), the database was completed by calculating the mean values of traits at the genus level, using all the species available in Díaz et al. (2022), or by extracting information from local floras (for details, see Appendix S1). ...
Questions
How does the type of swamp, that is, riverine vs palustrine, shape understorey and overstorey plant communities? Beyond swamp type, how do spatial, topographic, soil and landscape characteristics determine the taxonomic and functional structure of swamp communities?
Location
Southern Québec, Canada.
Methods
We sampled riverine and palustrine swamp plant communities in two watersheds within two ecoregions with contrasting land use. At the site scale ( n = 56), we analyzed differences between riverine and palustrine swamps in plant richness and cover, species composition, and mean and dispersion values for ecological and morphological traits. At the plot scale ( n = 213), we assessed the relative influence of a set of environmental parameters on species richness and cover, as well as on trait values using mixed models and on species composition using redundancy analysis.
Results
Species composition and the mean value of traits varied significantly between the two types of swamps. While riverine swamps hosted more non‐native species and were composed of more mesophilic species, shorter in height and with dominant resource acquisition strategies, palustrine swamps sheltered more non‐vascular taxa and tall hygrophilous vascular species with more conservative resource strategies. The surrounding landscape and local microtopography within swamps had a significant effect on plant community structure. Species diversity and trait dispersion increased from agricultural‐dominated to forest‐dominated landscapes, and from homogeneous to heterogeneous substrates.
Conclusions
Habitats provided by riverine and palustrine swamps are complementary for wetland biodiversity. Our results underline the need to develop conservation plans to protect a wide variety of freshwater swamp types; for example, management actions that maintain or promote heterogeneous topographic forms at the site scale, and continuity of forest cover at the landscape scale.
... We imported 'The global spectrum of plant form and function' dataset from the TRY data repository (Díaz et al. 2016(Díaz et al. , 2022 and extracted data on LMA and leaf N mass for 6711 species of varied distribution throughout the world. Standardised major axis (SMA) regression was applied to test whether the bivariate relationships between LMA and N mass differed between our Moroccan data and the global dataset, using decimal log transformed data. ...
... By definition, high leaf N area can be achieved by high N mass concentration or high LMA (Wright et al. 2004). In the case FIGURE 5 | Interspecific relationships between leaf N mass and leaf mass per area (LMA) in species from Morocco shown against 'The global spectrum of plant form and function' dataset (Díaz et al. 2016;Díaz et al. 2022). Analysis was conducted on full data sets (a) and on data sets from which Fabaceae had been deleted (b). ...
... See Table 1 for parameter estimates and tests. Díaz et al. (2016) and Díaz et al. (2022). Moroccan LMA values were corrected by multiplying the raw value by 0.897 to account for the effect of press drying on LMA determination. ...
Aim
Warm deserts are characterised by water shortages and high temperature extremes. A commonly reported adaptive strategy in such environments is maximisation of photosynthetic capacity, which allows plants to achieve positive carbon budgets by taking advantage of short periods of water availability and non‐inhibitory temperatures. Considering the well‐supported interspecific covariation between photosynthetic capacity and leaf N concentration, we tested the hypothesis that environmental aridity is related to an elevated leaf nitrogen content.
Location
53 locations in the transitional zone spanning the Mediterranean and the Sahara Desert in Morocco. The mean maximal temperature ( T max ) within the area varied between 35.7°C and 43.5°C, and the mean annual precipitation (MAP) was between 12 and 246 mm.
Taxon
225 vascular species representative of local vegetation.
Methods
Leaf samples were collected along a regional aridity gradient and preserved in herbarium presses. The leaf mass per area (LMA) and N concentrations expressed on leaf mass ( N mass ) and area ( N area ) basis were determined. We also obtained LMA and N mass values for 6711 species from a worldwide database for comparative analysis.
Results
Significant increases in mean LMA, N mass and N area accompanied the increase in T max and the decrease in MAP in woody species and in non‐graminoid herbs, but not in graminoids. Considering the overall aridity of our sampling area, we compared the N mass values of Moroccan plants with those from a worldwide database. We found that at a common LMA, the Moroccan plants showed on average elevated N mass relative to global values.
Main Conclusions
These two lines of evidence: regional gradient and global comparison confirm that hot deserts select for high leaf N content. This result suggests the direction of natural selection that will accompany future climate warming and habitat aridification.
... The starting point would be having an empirical trait dataset for all the species in a botanical garden. Alternatively, we can query the list of species of a botanical garden against the GSPFF dataset (available in Díaz et al., 2022 or Carmona et al., 2021), or online databases (e.g. TRY, Kattge et al., 2020;or GIFT, Weigelt et al., 2020), to retrieve trait values. ...
Biodiversity is a multidimensional concept spanning the diversity of organismal form and function (functional diversity) together with taxonomic and genetic diversity. In the case of plants, botanical gardens have historically strived to preserve taxonomic diversity with a global scope. However, their success in preserving global functional diversity lacks testing. Given that living collections in botanical gardens span major global vegetation types and evolutionary histories, it is reasonable to expect that a species assemblage in a botanical garden is a representative random sample of global vegetation. In such a case, botanical gardens should contain global functional diversity. Testing for this could elect botanical gardens as laboratories for studying global plant functional diversity, providing a much‐needed alternative in the way we study global patterns of this diversity facet.
... These CWMs were calculated from trait data in the TRY database 39 and the relative abundances of each taxon within each plot 38 . Díaz et al. 40 recently published an enhanced species-level trait dataset containing the species-mean values of the six major FTs defining the primary axes of trait covariation in the global spectrum of plant form and function as defined in ref. 12 Global trait patterns have also been mapped by complementing plant observations from the global citizen-science project iNaturalist with measurements from TRY 41 . ...
... We compiled a global dataset for 16 FTs (Table 1), including 42,676 plant taxa from 77,074 natural vegetation plots based on the sPlotOpen dataset 38 and the enhanced species-level trait dataset of ref. 40. All FTs in our dataset have plot-level means for each plot; six also have species-level means. ...
... The distinct patterns of SSD among the three plant groups were not evident in the predicted trait values-particularly in non-woody plants, where the previously strong correlation between SSD and LES traits was now absent (Fig. S16a). Trait data used in original PCA and RDA were calculated from the database of Díaz et al. 40 (see Methods) in which observed records for SSD are available only for a few non-woody species; missing values of SSD were imputed via leaf dry matter content (LDMC) 40 , which was found to be closely related to both LMA and N area 9 : perhaps accounting for the strong correlation between (LDMC-derived) SSD and the LES traits. ...
Plant functional traits (FTs) determine growth, reproduction and survival strategies of plants adapted to their growth environment. Exploring global geographic patterns of FTs, their covariation and their relationships to climate are necessary steps towards better-founded predictions of how global environmental change will affect ecosystem composition. We compile an extensive global dataset for 16 FTs and characterise trait-trait and trait-climate relationships separately within non-woody, woody deciduous and woody evergreen plant groups, using multivariate analysis and generalised additive models (GAMs). Among the six major FTs considered, two dominant trait dimensions—representing plant size and the leaf economics spectrum (LES) respectively—are identified within all three groups. Size traits (plant height, diaspore mass) however are generally higher in warmer climates, while LES traits (leaf mass and nitrogen per area) are higher in drier climates. Larger leaves are associated principally with warmer winters in woody evergreens, but with wetter climates in non-woody plants. GAM-simulated global patterns for all 16 FTs explain up to three-quarters of global trait variation. Global maps obtained by upscaling GAMs are broadly in agreement with iNaturalist citizen-science FT data. This analysis contributes to the foundations for global trait-based ecosystem modelling by demonstrating universal relationships between FTs and climate.
... All analyses were carried out to the subset of Angiosperms that were classified as woody species (Veresoglou et al., 2024). We obtained data on leaf area, tree height, leaf mass per area (LMA) and seed mass trait values from the Global Spectrum of Plant Form and Function Dataset (Díaz et al., 2022), and wood density information from the International Centre for Research on Agroforestry (World Agroforestry, 2023). The selection of plant traits for our analysis was a compromise between feasibility, yielding information for divergent sets of plant species, and covering the three documented sets of auto-correlated traits: the leaf economics spectrum, the wood economics spectrum, and the root economics spectrum. ...
... We conducted extensive analyses to explore the relationship between trait information from the Global Spectrum of Plant Form and Function Dataset (Díaz et al., 2022) and wood density information (World Agroforestry, 2023) with mycorrhizal association types, assessed at a plant family level (Delavaux et al., 2019). In each case, we performed 1000 ANOVA tests, each with 1000 random observations with complete information. ...
Rarely do we observe competitive exclusion within plant communities, even though plants compete for a limited pool of resources. Thus, our understanding of the mechanisms sustaining plant biodiversity might be limited. In this study, we explore two common ecological strategies, species sorting and character displacement, that promote coexistence by reducing competition. We assess the degree to which woody plants may implement these two strategies to lower belowground competition for nutrients which occurs via nutritional (mostly mycorrhizal) mutualisms. First, we compile data on plant traits and the mycorrhizal association state of woody angiosperms using a global inventory of indigenous flora. Our analysis reveals that species in locations with high mycorrhizal diversity exhibit distinct mean values in leaf area and wood density based on their mycorrhizal type, indicating species sorting. Second, we reanalyse a large dataset on leaf area to demonstrate that in areas with high mycorrhizal diversity, trees maintain divergent leaf area values, showcasing character displacement. Character displacement among plants is considered rare, making our observation significant. In summary, our study uncovers a rare occurrence of character displacement and identifies a common mechanism employed by plants to alleviate competition, shedding light on the complexities of plant coexistence in diverse ecosystems.
... This highlights a a new avenue of research in understanding if this pattern occurs in other serotinous species globally. A large body of research demonstrates that plants display trade-offs, whereby traits appear in combination or opposition, representing adaptations that maximize fitness (Díaz et al., 2022;Southwood, 1988). For example, there are established trade-offs between germination success and seed size (Moles & Westoby, 2004), and seed size and seed output (Henery & Westoby, 2001;Moles & Westoby, 2006;Parker & Ingalls, 2022). ...
Canopy storage of seed (serotiny) is an important persistence strategy in fire‐prone environments. Serotinous populations can be threatened when fire intervals are shorter than the time needed to accumulate seed, or when longer than plant lifespans.
Understanding how fire regimes influence canopy seedbanks requires study of the timing of plant maturity, seed output and germination traits. Research that spans plant functional types, such as resprouters or obligate seeders, helps to understand the mechanisms through which fire has influence.
Using field data collected at 57 sites in a Mediterranean shrubland of southeastern Australia, we modelled how time since fire and mean fire interval influenced infructescence (hereby cone) production. Additionally, seed output, viability and germination speed were assessed in the laboratory.
Reproductively mature resprouters were first observed 2 to 4 years post‐fire in the field, and reproductively mature obligate seeders 6 years post‐fire, depending on the species. Reproductively mature plants were not observed at short mean fire intervals: until 3 and 9 years for resprouters and nine and 18 years for obligate seeders, again, varying by species. When resprouter species reached maturity, we observed a decline in cone production as time since fire increased. This decline was not observed for obligate seeder species.
Fire influenced the number of viable seeds produced within cones for one resprouter species, Allocasuarina paludosa, but we did not detect a relationship for other species.
Germination speed was faster for species that produce few seeds per cone, and slower for species that produce many seeds, indicating a trade‐off between fire‐related seed traits. For example, Hakea rostrata, which holds two seeds per cone, germinated mostly within the first few weeks, while Callitris rhomboidea, which holds many seeds per cone, germinated asynchronously over 9 months.
Short intervals between fires reduce canopy seed production for the serotinous species studied. Obligate seeders were more sensitive to frequent fire than resprouters. In the context of expected increases in wildfire frequency and droughts in Mediterranean ecosystems, our findings suggest that serotinous species' reproduction and recruitment will be differentially impacted depending on a suite of functional traits.
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... Beyond microbial biomass, cross-biome differences in microbial traits may ultimately be more valuable for informing and evaluating models that explicitly represent microbial activity. For example, plant trait variation across environmental gradients may be critical for representing biotic control (and variation) in terrestrial energy, water, and biogeochemical fluxes (Butler et al., 2017;Díaz et al., 2022). Similar information about environmental controls over soil microbial traits will be critical to further developing models that explicitly represent microbial activity. ...
Nutrient limitation is widespread in terrestrial ecosystems. Accordingly, representations of nitrogen (N) limitation in land models typically dampen rates of terrestrial carbon (C) accrual, compared with C‐only simulations. These previous findings, however, rely on soil biogeochemical models that implicitly represent microbial activity and physiology. Here we present results from a biogeochemical model testbed that allows us to investigate how an explicit versus implicit representation of soil microbial activity, as represented in the MIcrobial‐MIneral Carbon Stabilization (MIMICS) and Carnegie‐Ames‐Stanford Approach (CASA) soil biogeochemical models, respectively, influence plant productivity, and terrestrial C and N fluxes at initialization and over the historical period. When forced with common boundary conditions, larger soil C pools simulated by the MIMICS model reflect longer inferred soil organic matter (SOM) turnover times than those simulated by CASA. At steady state, terrestrial ecosystems experience greater N limitation when using the MIMICS‐CN model, which also increases the inferred SOM turnover time. Over the historical period, however, warming‐induced acceleration of SOM decomposition over high latitude ecosystems increases rates of N mineralization in MIMICS‐CN. This reduces N limitation and results in faster rates of vegetation C accrual. Moreover, as SOM stoichiometry is an emergent property of MIMICS‐CN, we highlight opportunities to deepen understanding of sources of persistent SOM and explore its potential sensitivity to environmental change. Our findings underscore the need to improve understanding and representation of plant and microbial resource allocation and competition in land models that represent coupled biogeochemical cycles under global change scenarios.
... the trait dataset compiled by(Díaz et al. 2022), which includes six vascular plant traits that de ne the primary axes of variation in plant form and function, and added complementary traits from the TRY database(Kattge et al. 2020). For species that were missing from the Díaz dataset, we extracted functional trait information from the TRY database(Kattge et al. 2020). ...
... We then summarized numerical trait values by calculating the mean of each trait for a given species across studies. Note that, because sample sizes are unavailable for values reported as averages in the TRY andDíaz et al. (2022) data sets, we treated average values as single observations in this averaging process. ...
As global climate change impacts ecosystems, establishing conservation priorities is crucial for managing threatened areas with limited resources. Biodiversity hotspots, typically defined by high degrees of endemism, play a key role in conservation. However, traditional hotspots may not capture the full extent of biodiversity, including functional and phylogenetic biodiversity or biodiversity incorporating traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). This study compares biodiversity hotspots identified by 17 diversity indices in the Pacific Northwest, USA, using data from 318 plant species. We consider species richness, phylogenetic diversity, functional diversity, and TEK-based diversity. Using simulated plant communities, we assess whether indices identify the same biodiversity hotspots. We find biodiversity metrics form two groups based on shared hotspot identification, suggesting single metrics may overlook other forms of biodiversity. Interestingly, TEK metrics cluster with some traditional indices, including species richness. This work offers new insights on integrating biodiversity measures for discerning regional biodiversity hotspots and conservation priorities.
... The initial scope of data mapped to plant growth form was divided into a simpler plant growth form which was focused on the plant's perennating 3-dimensional shape, with ancillary information mapped to plant growth substrate, plant succulence and, in part, a revised stem growth habit and parasitic traits (Fig. 3). Trait concepts that are too broad are a global problem and other trait databases have also recently taken the approach of splitting plant growth form into more tractable traits with a clearly defined 'entity' and scope 7,50 . For the APD, this allowed a considerable reduction in repetitive trait values, such as remapping 'aquatic_herbs'; 'aquatic_shrubs' and 'aquatic_trees' to 'herbs' , 'shrubs' and 'trees' under plant growth form and as 'aquatic' under plant growth substrate. ...
... These resources and many others share the use of 'tree' , 'shrub' and 'herb' , but beyond these terms resources diverge in their list of allowable plant growth form values. Our list uses terms from both of these references as well as many others 7,16,50 , compiling a list onto which all existing AusTraits data could be mapped. Our goal was to balance having enough terms to capture morphological and functional diversity, while allowing for comparative analyses across groupings. ...
Traits with intuitive names, a clear scope and explicit description are essential for all trait databases. The lack of unified, comprehensive, and machine-readable plant trait definitions limits the utility of trait databases, including reanalysis of data from a single database, or analyses that integrate data across multiple databases. Both can only occur if researchers are confident the trait concepts are consistent within and across sources. Here we describe the AusTraits Plant Dictionary (APD), a new data source of terms that extends the trait definitions included in a recent trait database, AusTraits. The development process of the APD included three steps: review and formalisation of the scope of each trait and the accompanying trait description; addition of trait metadata; and publication in both human and machine-readable forms. Trait definitions include keywords, references, and links to related trait concepts in other databases, enabling integration of AusTraits with other sources. The APD will both improve the usability of AusTraits and foster the integration of trait data across global and regional plant trait databases.
