Climatic and soil factors explain the two-dimensional spectrum of global plant trait variation

Julia S. Joswig; Christian Wirth; Meredith C. Schuman; Jens Kattge; Björn Reu; Ian J. Wright; Sebastian D. Sippel; Nadja Rüger; Ronny Richter; Michael E. Schaepman; Peter M. van Bodegom; Johannes H. C. Cornelissen; Sandra Díaz; Wesley N. Hattingh; Koen Kramer; Frederic Lens; Ülo Niinemets; Peter B. Reich; Markus Reichstein; Christine Römermann; Franziska Schrodt; Madhur Anand; Michael Bahn; Chaeho Byun; Giandiego Campetella; Bruno E. L. Cerabolini; Joseph M. Craine; Andres Gonzalez-Melo; Alvaro G. Gutiérrez; Tianhua He; Pedro Higuchi; Hervé Jactel; Nathan J. B. Kraft; Vanessa Minden; Vladimir Onipchenko; Josep Peñuelas; Valério D. Pillar; Enio Sosinski; Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia; Evan Weiher; Miguel D. Mahecha

doi:10.1038/s41559-021-01616-8

Climatic and soil factors explain the two-dimensional spectrum of global plant trait variation

Julia S. Joswig^*, Christian Wirth, Meredith C. Schuman, Jens Kattge, Björn Reu, Ian J. Wright, Sebastian D. Sippel, Nadja Rüger, Ronny Richter, Michael E. Schaepman, Peter M. van Bodegom, Johannes H. C. Cornelissen, Sandra Díaz, Wesley N. Hattingh, Koen Kramer, Frederic Lens, Ülo Niinemets, Peter B. Reich, Markus Reichstein, Christine RömermannFranziska Schrodt, Madhur Anand, Michael Bahn, Chaeho Byun, Giandiego Campetella, Bruno E. L. Cerabolini, Joseph M. Craine, Andres Gonzalez-Melo, Alvaro G. Gutiérrez, Tianhua He, Pedro Higuchi, Hervé Jactel, Nathan J. B. Kraft, Vanessa Minden, Vladimir Onipchenko, Josep Peñuelas, Valério D. Pillar, Enio Sosinski, Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia, Evan Weiher, Miguel D. Mahecha

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Plant functional traits can predict community assembly and ecosystem functioning and are thus widely used in global models of vegetation dynamics and land–climate feedbacks. Still, we lack a global understanding of how land and climate affect plant traits. A previous global analysis of six traits observed two main axes of variation: (1) size variation at the organ and plant level and (2) leaf economics balancing leaf persistence against plant growth potential. The orthogonality of these two axes suggests they are differently influenced by environmental drivers. We find that these axes persist in a global dataset of 17 traits across more than 20,000 species. We find a dominant joint effect of climate and soil on trait variation. Additional independent climate effects are also observed across most traits, whereas independent soil effects are almost exclusively observed for economics traits. Variation in size traits correlates well with a latitudinal gradient related to water or energy limitation. In contrast, variation in economics traits is better explained by interactions of climate with soil fertility. These findings have the potential to improve our understanding of biodiversity patterns and our predictions of climate change impacts on biogeochemical cycles.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	36-50
Number of pages	19
Journal	Nature Ecology and Evolution
Volume	6
Issue number	1
Early online date	23 Dec 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01616-8
Publication status	Published - Jan 2022

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Copyright the Author(s) 2021. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

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10.1038/s41559-021-01616-8

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Joswig, J. S., Wirth, C., Schuman, M. C., Kattge, J., Reu, B., Wright, I. J., Sippel, S. D., Rüger, N., Richter, R., Schaepman, M. E., van Bodegom, P. M., Cornelissen, J. H. C., Díaz, S., Hattingh, W. N., Kramer, K., Lens, F., Niinemets, Ü., Reich, P. B., Reichstein, M., ... Mahecha, M. D. (2022). Climatic and soil factors explain the two-dimensional spectrum of global plant trait variation. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 6(1), 36-50. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01616-8

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title = "Climatic and soil factors explain the two-dimensional spectrum of global plant trait variation",

abstract = "Plant functional traits can predict community assembly and ecosystem functioning and are thus widely used in global models of vegetation dynamics and land–climate feedbacks. Still, we lack a global understanding of how land and climate affect plant traits. A previous global analysis of six traits observed two main axes of variation: (1) size variation at the organ and plant level and (2) leaf economics balancing leaf persistence against plant growth potential. The orthogonality of these two axes suggests they are differently influenced by environmental drivers. We find that these axes persist in a global dataset of 17 traits across more than 20,000 species. We find a dominant joint effect of climate and soil on trait variation. Additional independent climate effects are also observed across most traits, whereas independent soil effects are almost exclusively observed for economics traits. Variation in size traits correlates well with a latitudinal gradient related to water or energy limitation. In contrast, variation in economics traits is better explained by interactions of climate with soil fertility. These findings have the potential to improve our understanding of biodiversity patterns and our predictions of climate change impacts on biogeochemical cycles.",

author = "Joswig, {Julia S.} and Christian Wirth and Schuman, {Meredith C.} and Jens Kattge and Bj{\"o}rn Reu and Wright, {Ian J.} and Sippel, {Sebastian D.} and Nadja R{\"u}ger and Ronny Richter and Schaepman, {Michael E.} and {van Bodegom}, {Peter M.} and Cornelissen, {Johannes H. C.} and Sandra D{\'i}az and Hattingh, {Wesley N.} and Koen Kramer and Frederic Lens and {\"U}lo Niinemets and Reich, {Peter B.} and Markus Reichstein and Christine R{\"o}mermann and Franziska Schrodt and Madhur Anand and Michael Bahn and Chaeho Byun and Giandiego Campetella and Cerabolini, {Bruno E. L.} and Craine, {Joseph M.} and Andres Gonzalez-Melo and Guti{\'e}rrez, {Alvaro G.} and Tianhua He and Pedro Higuchi and Herv{\'e} Jactel and Kraft, {Nathan J. B.} and Vanessa Minden and Vladimir Onipchenko and Josep Pe{\~n}uelas and Pillar, {Val{\'e}rio D.} and Enio Sosinski and Soudzilovskaia, {Nadejda A.} and Evan Weiher and Mahecha, {Miguel D.}",

note = "Copyright the Author(s) 2021. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.",

year = "2022",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1038/s41559-021-01616-8",

language = "English",

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Joswig, JS, Wirth, C, Schuman, MC, Kattge, J, Reu, B, Wright, IJ, Sippel, SD, Rüger, N, Richter, R, Schaepman, ME, van Bodegom, PM, Cornelissen, JHC, Díaz, S, Hattingh, WN, Kramer, K, Lens, F, Niinemets, Ü, Reich, PB, Reichstein, M, Römermann, C, Schrodt, F, Anand, M, Bahn, M, Byun, C, Campetella, G, Cerabolini, BEL, Craine, JM, Gonzalez-Melo, A, Gutiérrez, AG, He, T, Higuchi, P, Jactel, H, Kraft, NJB, Minden, V, Onipchenko, V, Peñuelas, J, Pillar, VD, Sosinski, E, Soudzilovskaia, NA, Weiher, E & Mahecha, MD 2022, 'Climatic and soil factors explain the two-dimensional spectrum of global plant trait variation', Nature Ecology and Evolution, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 36-50. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01616-8

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AU - Joswig, Julia S.

AU - Wirth, Christian

AU - Schuman, Meredith C.

AU - Kattge, Jens

AU - Reu, Björn

AU - Wright, Ian J.

AU - Sippel, Sebastian D.

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AU - van Bodegom, Peter M.

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AU - Díaz, Sandra

AU - Hattingh, Wesley N.

AU - Kramer, Koen

AU - Lens, Frederic

AU - Niinemets, Ülo

AU - Reich, Peter B.

AU - Reichstein, Markus

AU - Römermann, Christine

AU - Schrodt, Franziska

AU - Anand, Madhur

AU - Bahn, Michael

AU - Byun, Chaeho

AU - Campetella, Giandiego

AU - Cerabolini, Bruno E. L.

AU - Craine, Joseph M.

AU - Gonzalez-Melo, Andres

AU - Gutiérrez, Alvaro G.

AU - He, Tianhua

AU - Higuchi, Pedro

AU - Jactel, Hervé

AU - Kraft, Nathan J. B.

AU - Minden, Vanessa

AU - Onipchenko, Vladimir

AU - Peñuelas, Josep

AU - Pillar, Valério D.

AU - Sosinski, Enio

AU - Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A.

AU - Weiher, Evan

AU - Mahecha, Miguel D.

N1 - Copyright the Author(s) 2021. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

PY - 2022/1

Y1 - 2022/1

N2 - Plant functional traits can predict community assembly and ecosystem functioning and are thus widely used in global models of vegetation dynamics and land–climate feedbacks. Still, we lack a global understanding of how land and climate affect plant traits. A previous global analysis of six traits observed two main axes of variation: (1) size variation at the organ and plant level and (2) leaf economics balancing leaf persistence against plant growth potential. The orthogonality of these two axes suggests they are differently influenced by environmental drivers. We find that these axes persist in a global dataset of 17 traits across more than 20,000 species. We find a dominant joint effect of climate and soil on trait variation. Additional independent climate effects are also observed across most traits, whereas independent soil effects are almost exclusively observed for economics traits. Variation in size traits correlates well with a latitudinal gradient related to water or energy limitation. In contrast, variation in economics traits is better explained by interactions of climate with soil fertility. These findings have the potential to improve our understanding of biodiversity patterns and our predictions of climate change impacts on biogeochemical cycles.

AB - Plant functional traits can predict community assembly and ecosystem functioning and are thus widely used in global models of vegetation dynamics and land–climate feedbacks. Still, we lack a global understanding of how land and climate affect plant traits. A previous global analysis of six traits observed two main axes of variation: (1) size variation at the organ and plant level and (2) leaf economics balancing leaf persistence against plant growth potential. The orthogonality of these two axes suggests they are differently influenced by environmental drivers. We find that these axes persist in a global dataset of 17 traits across more than 20,000 species. We find a dominant joint effect of climate and soil on trait variation. Additional independent climate effects are also observed across most traits, whereas independent soil effects are almost exclusively observed for economics traits. Variation in size traits correlates well with a latitudinal gradient related to water or energy limitation. In contrast, variation in economics traits is better explained by interactions of climate with soil fertility. These findings have the potential to improve our understanding of biodiversity patterns and our predictions of climate change impacts on biogeochemical cycles.

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ER -

Climatic and soil factors explain the two-dimensional spectrum of global plant trait variation

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Optimal photosynthetic traits on ecological time-scales

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Climatic and soil factors explain the two-dimensional spectrum of global plant trait variation

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Optimal photosynthetic traits on ecological time-scales

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