News Archive

Mourning for Gerhard Bönisch We mourn the loss of our long-time companion and friend Gerhard Bönisch, who passed away very suddenly on May 6, 2024 at the age of 62 after a long and severe illness. Gerhard was a founding member of the TRY initiative and a member of the Steering Committee. He was responsible for developing and maintaining the data infrastructure and the TRY website. A Physicist by training, he first worked with Wallace Broecker at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University in New York, where he recognized the great importance of professional data management at an early stage and built extensive expertise in this area. In 1999, he joined the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry as Scientific Data Manager. Based on Gerhards proven excellence in data management, in 2007, DIVERSITAS and IGBP asked the MPI-BGC to support the development of a global database of plant traits for ecosystem and biodiversity research. This soon became the TRY Plant Trait Database. Now, the TRY database has reached unprecedented coverage of plant trait data, routinely serves about 20 requests per day, and has contributed to numerous publications. The launch of the TRY initiative in 2007 required vision, trust, dedication, and scientific understanding. But it was Gerhards unique role, his excellence in scientific data management and web service development, that genuinely brought TRY to life and ensured its success. He transformed the concept of a global plant trait database and incentive-based data sharing into a tangible reality. With Gerhard, we have lost a much-loved and always-helpful colleague. We will remember him as a brilliant, polite, cheerful, empathetic, and brave friend and colleague. Farewell, Gerhard, we miss you dearly. Our deepest sympathy goes to his mother, wife and sons. You are warmly invited to participate in Gerhards Kudoboard, filling it with your memories and thoughts of Gerhard or saying “thank you” one last time. The TRY Steering Committee (link)

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EGU General Assembly 2024, 14-19 April in Vienna, Autstria (link)

EGU General Assembly 2024, 14-19 April in Vienna, Autstria (link)

EGU General Assembly 2024, 14-19 April in Vienna, Autstria (link)

EGU General Assembly 2024, 14-19.April in Vienna, Austria (link)

EGU General Assembly: 14-19 April 2024 in Vienna, Austria (link)

Assembly of functional diversity in an oceanic island flora Oceanic island floras are well known for their morphological peculiarities and exhibit striking examples of trait evolution1. These morphological shifts are commonly attributed to insularity and are thought to be shaped by the biogeographical processes and evolutionary histories of oceanic islands. Here the authors describe the functional trait space of the native flora of an oceanic island (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain) using extensive field and laboratory measurements, and relate it to global trade-offs in ecological strategies. They find that the island trait space exhibits a remarkable functional richness but that most plants are concentrated around a functional hotspot dominated by shrubs with a conservative life-history strategy. Their results also suggest that colonization via long-distance dispersal and the interplay between inter-island dispersal and archipelago-level speciation processes drive functional divergence and trait space expansion. By combining biogeography, ecology and evolution, the approach opens new avenues for trait-based insights into how dispersal, speciation and persistence shape the assembly of entire native island floras. (Barajas Barbosa et al. 2023, Nature) (link)

The global spectrum of plant form and function Earth is home to a remarkable diversity of plant forms and life histories, yet comparatively few essential trait combinations have proved evolutionarily viable in todays terrestrial biosphere. By analysing worldwide variation in six major traits critical to growth, survival and reproduction within the largest sample of vascular plant species ever compiled, we found that occupancy of six-dimensional trait space is strongly concentrated, indicating coordination and trade-offs. Three-quarters of trait variation is captured in a two-dimensional global spectrum of plant form and function. One major dimension within this plane reflects the size of whole plants and their parts; the other represents the leaf economics spectrum, which balances leaf construction costs against growth potential. The global plant trait spectrum provides a backdrop for elucidating constraints on evolution, for functionally qualifying species and ecosystems, and for improving models that predict future vegetation based on continuous variation in plant form and function. (Diaz et al. 2016, Nature) (link)

Consolidated ‘Plant Growth Form’ data for >200.000 species from the GIFT database now publicly available via TRY The Global Inventory of Floras and Traits (GIFT) database has contributed highly consolidated data for ‘Plant Growth Form’ (tree, shrub, herb) for more than 200.000 species to TRY. These data are now publicly available. The GIFT database is a global archive of regional plant checklists, floras, and plant functional traits. It contains information about the floristic status of 367,854 species across 3,485 geographic regions. Functional trait information is available for 281,836 species and 109 traits. (link)

Consolidated ‘Plant Growth Form’ data for >200,000 species from the GIFT database now publicly available via TRY Highly consolidated data for ‘Plant Growth Form’ (tree, shrub, herb) for more than 200,000 species contributed to TRY by the Global Inventory of Floras and Traits (GIFT) database are now publicly available via TRY. GIFT is a global archive of regional plant checklists and floras, and plant functional traits. It contains information about the floristic status of 367,854 species across 3,485 geographic regions. In addition, functional trait information is available for 281,836 species and 109 traits. (link)

rtry - an R package to process TRY database output files rtry is designed to support the application of plant trait data providing easily applicable functions for the basic steps of data preprocessing, e.g. data import, data exploration, selection of columns and rows, excluding trait data according to different attributes, geocoding, long- to wide-table transformation, and data export. rtry makes use of specific features of data released from the TRY database but can be used for other datasets as well. The use of rtry does not need in-depth knowledge of R. (Lam et al. 2022, CRAN R Archive) (link)

Intercomparison of global foliar trait maps The intercomparison of global foliar trait maps reveals fundamental differences in upscaling approaches. Dechant et al. compare global upscaled foliar trait maps at 0.5° spatial resolution (six maps for SLA, five for N, and three for P). Their findings indicate the importance of within-grid-cell trait variation and of the approach to account for this variation in the upscaling. (Dechant et al. 2023, EarthArXiv) (link)

Citizen science plant observations encode global trait patterns With the increasing popularity of species identification apps, citizen scientists contribute to growing vegetation data collections. Wolf et al. show that global trait patterns can be mapped by complementing vascular plant observations from the global citizen science project iNaturalist with measurements from the plant trait database TRY. The maps are evaluated against traits in the global vegetation plot dataset sPlotOpen and show correlations up to 0.69. As citizen science data collections continue to grow, they expect them to play a significant role in further improving maps of plant functional traits. (Wolf et al. 2022, Nature Ecology & Evolution) (link)

Data release delayed Due to the holiday season and sickness of staff, the release of trait data from the TRY database is currently slowed down and delayed. We are very sorry for this and apologise for the inconvenience. Many thanks for your patience and understanding. (link)

Climatic and soil factors explain the two-dimensional spectrum of global plant trait variation 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. The authors find that these axes persist in a global dataset of 17 traits across more than 20,000 species. The authors 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. (Joswig et al. 2021, Nature Ecology and Evolution) (link)

A reporting format for leaf-level gas exchange data and metadata Leaf-level gas exchange data support the mechanistic understanding of plant fluxes of carbon and water. The high value of these data is exemplified by the many publications that reuse and synthesise gas exchange data. However, the lack of metadata and data reporting conventions makes full and efficient use of these data difficult. The authors propose a reporting format for leaf-level gas exchange data and metadata to guide data contributors on storing data in repositories to maximize their discoverability, facilitate their efficient reuse, and add value to individual datasets (Ely et al. 2021 Ecological Informatics). (link)

Global maps of leaf traits using remote sensing, climatological data, the TRY database, and machine learning Moreno-Martínez et al. have published global high-resolution maps of SLA, LDMC, leaf nitrogen content per area, and leaf phosphorus content per area at the TRY File Archive: https://www.try-db.org/TryWeb/Data.php#59 and https://www.try-db.org/TryWeb/Data.php#60. The data are available at two spatial resolutions: 3km and 1km. The maps are an updated version based on Moreno-Martínez et al. (2018) A methodology to derive global maps of leaf traits using remote sensing and climate data (Remote Sensing of Environment, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2018.09.006). The new algorithm prevents extrapolation and uses an updated categorical trait table. More detailed information at: https://isp.uv.es/code/try.html (link)

Global maps of leaf traits using remote sensing, climatological data, the TRY database, and machine learning Moreno-Martínez et al. have published global high-resolution maps of SLA, LDMC, leaf nitrogen content per area, and leaf phosphorus content per area at the TRY File Archive. The maps are an updated version based on Moreno-Martínez et al. (2018) A methodology to derive global maps of leaf traits using remote sensing and climate data (Remote Sensing of Environment, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2018.09.006). The new algorithm prevents extrapolation and uses an updated categorical trait table. The data are available at two spatial resolutions: 3km and 1km, and can be downloaded from: https://www.try-db.org/TryWeb/Data.php#59 and https://www.try-db.org/TryWeb/Data.php#60. More detailed information at: https://isp.uv.es/code/try.html. (link)

Global maps of leaf traits using remote sensing, climatological data, the TRY database, and machine learning Moreno-Martínez et al. have published global high-resolution maps of leaf traits. In particular, they present global maps of specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), leaf nitrogen and phosphorus content per area. The methodology combines MODIS and Landsat data, climatological data, the TRY database and machine learning algorithms. It is an updated version of Moreno-Martínez et al. 2018 (A methodology to derive global maps of leaf traits using remote sensing and climate data. Remote Sensing of Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2018.09.006), which prevents extrapolation and uses an updated categorical trait table. The data are available at two spatial resolutions: 3km and 1km. They can be downloaded from the TRY File Archive: https://www.try-db.org/TryWeb/Data.php#59 and https://www.try-db.org/TryWeb/Data.php#60. (link)

13th Clonal Plant Meeting in Camerino Italy - postponed to 2021 The 13th Clonal plant meeting at Camerino, Italy has been postponed to 2012. Clonal meetings are a series of conferences that were initiated by Jan van Groenendael, Hans de Kroon and Mike Hutchings about 35 years ago, and have addressed primarily the role of clonality in physiology, ecology and evolution of plants. These meetings have been informal gatherings of plant ecologists for exchanging ideas and communication of new achievements in this branch of science. (link)

TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits—almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives. (Kattge et al. 2019 GCB) (link)

TRY - A plant trait database of databases Plant traits, such as height or specific leaf area, are expressions of plant performance and are important indicators of ecosystem function. Here, the TRY plant database is highlighted as the most comprehensive archive of global plant data, with open access to the public (Fraser 2019 Global Change Biology) (link)

TRY - A plant trait database of databases Plant traits, such as height or specific leaf area, are expressions of plant performance and are important indicators of ecosystem function. Here, the TRY plant database is highlighted as the most comprehensive archive of global plant data, with open access to the public (Fraser 2019 Global Change Biology) (link)

Global imprint of mycorrhizal fungi on whole-plant nutrient economics Most plants on Earth form a symbiosis with root-associated (i.e., mycorrhizal) fungi, trading plant photosynthate for fungal-acquired soil nutrients. Ecologists have long thought that different types of mycorrhizal fungi—arbuscular vs. ectomycorrhizal—represent adaptations to high vs. low soil nutrient availability. Here we show that these different mycorrhizal associations are linked to differences in a suite of plant traits related to nutrient economic strategies. Ectomycorrhizal plant species are more nutrient use-conservative than arbuscular mycorrhizal plant species, an effect that is robust to controlling for plant growth form and evolutionary history. These findings bolster emerging theories in ecosystem ecology that leverage the ecology of mycorrhizal fungi to better predict ecosystem carbon-nutrient cycle interactions (Averill et al. 2019 PNAS). (link)

Inferring plant functional diversity from space: the potential of Sentinel-2 Plant functional diversity (FD) is an important component of biodiversity that characterizes the variability of functional traits within a community, landscape, or even large spatial scales. It can influence ecosystem processes and stability. Hence, it is important to understand how and why FD varies within and between ecosystems, along resources availability gradients and climate gradients, and across vegetation successional stages. Usually, FD is assessed through labor-intensive field measurements, while assessing FD from space may provide a way to monitor global FD changes in a consistent, time and resource efficient way. The potential of operational satellites for inferring FD, however, remains to be demonstrated. Here we studied the relationships between FD and spectral reflectance measurements taken by ESAs Sentinel-2 satellite over 117 field plots located in 6 European countries, with 46 plots having in-situ sampled leaf traits and the other 71 using traits from the TRY database. Based on spaceborne observations we could predicted 55% of the variation in the observed FDis. The novelty of this study is the effective integration of spaceborne and in-situ measurements at a continental scale, and hence represents a key step towards achieving rapid global biodiversity monitoring schemes. (Ma et al. 2019 Remote Sensing of Environment) (link)

Inferring plant functional diversity from space: the potential of Sentinel-2 Plant functional diversity (FD) is an important component of biodiversity that characterizes the variability of functional traits within a community, landscape, or even large spatial scales. It can influence ecosystem processes and stability. Hence, it is important to understand how and why FD varies within and between ecosystems, along resource availability gradients and climate gradients, and across vegetation successional stages. Usually, FD is assessed through labor-intensive field measurements, while assessing FD from space may provide a way to monitor global FD changes in a consistent, time and resource-efficient way. The potential of operational satellites for inferring FD, however, remains to be demonstrated. Here we studied the relationships between FD and spectral reflectance measurements taken by ESAs Sentinel-2 satellite over 117 field plots located in 6 European countries, with 46 plots having in-situ sampled leaf traits and the other 71 using traits from the TRY database. Based on spaceborne observations we could predict 55% of the variation in the observed FDis. The novelty of this study is the effective integration of space-borne and in-situ measurements at a continental scale, and hence represents a key step towards achieving rapid global biodiversity monitoring schemes. (link)

Inferring plant functional diversity from space: the potential of Sentinel-2 Plant functional diversity (FD) is an important component of biodiversity that characterizes the variability of functional traits within a community, landscape, or even large spatial scales. It can influence ecosystem processes and stability. Hence, it is important to understand how and why FD varies within and between ecosystems, along resource availability gradients and climate gradients, and across vegetation successional stages. Usually, FD is assessed through labor-intensive field measurements, while assessing FD from space may provide a way to monitor global FD changes in a consistent, time and resource-efficient way. The potential of operational satellites for inferring FD, however, remains to be demonstrated. Here we studied the relationships between FD and spectral reflectance measurements taken by ESAs Sentinel-2 satellite over 117 field plots located in 6 European countries, with 46 plots having in-situ sampled leaf traits and the other 71 using traits from the TRY database. Based on spaceborne observations we could predict 55% of the variation in the observed FDis. The novelty of this study is the effective integration of space-borne and in-situ measurements at a continental scale, and hence represents a key step towards achieving rapid global biodiversity monitoring schemes. (Ma et al. 2019 Remote Sensing of Environment) (link)

A major alien tree filters understory plant traits in novel forest ecosystems The abandonment of agricultural use is a common driver of spontaneous reforestation by alien trees. The N-fixing black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) is a major alien invader of old fields in Europe. In their work, published in the journal Scientific Reports in 2018, the authors show that canopy dominance by this tree may filter the frequency distribution of plant functional traits in the understory of secondary woodlands. Higher soil C/N ratio and available P have been found to be associated with black locust stands, while higher soil phenols associated with native tree stands. These environmental effects result in differences in understory flowering periods, reproduction types and life forms. These findings emphasize the effect of a major alien tree on functional plant trait composition in the early stages of spontaneous reforestation of abandoned lands, implying the development of a novel forest ecosystem on a large geographical scale. (Sitzia et al. 2019 Scientific Reports) (link)

Call for papers on intra-specific variation of plant traits for Annals of Botany There will be a special issue in Annals of Botany that focuses on the breadth and importance of intraspecific variation in plant traits. Submissions are due by December 1st. More information can be found here: https://www.botany.one/2019/05/call-for-papers-intraspecific-variation-in-plant-functional-traits-for-annals-of-botany/ (link)

TRY Database version 5 is online - Invitation to contribute new datasets for TRY version 6 Version 5 of the TRY Database has been released on March 26, 2019. The number of trait records has increased from about 7 to 12 million, the number of species from about 148000 to 280000. Trait data are now publicly available under a CC BY license. However, access may be restricted temporarily on request, normally for up to years, until data are published in the scientific literature. We are now inviting new datasets for TRY version 6. All contributors of datasets contributed by July 1, 2019 will be offered authorship in a publication to be submitted to Global Change Biology, which is supposed to replace Kattge et al. 2011 as reference for the TRY database. Please upload your dataset(s) at: https://www.try-db.org/TryWeb/Submission.php (link)

International Summer School on Plant Traits in Porquerolles (France), 19-24 May 2019 Between 19 - 24 May 2019 CNRS/CEFE (Montpellier) offers a Summer School on Functional Traits on the island of Porquerolles, France. The course includes lectures from international speakers (e.g. Eric Garnier, Bill Shipley, Monique Weemstra et al.) on various trait-related topics, and field work exercises on trait measurements with a focus on plant traits. The course is open to PhD students, postdocs and permanent staff. The registration costs (see link) include meals and accommodation. Application is open at: https://framaforms.org/application-to-the-international-trait-school-porquerolles-france-19-24-may-2019-1548263189. The deadline of application is 28 March 2019. (link)

Plant Traits at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2019 For the upcoming General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU), 7-12 April 2019 in Vienna, we have organized a session on "Plant traits, adaptation and biogeochemical cycles – from measurements to models" (Conveners: Jens Kattge, Han Wang, Michael Bahn, Oskar Franklin). The session will be on Thursday 11 April, with poster presentations in the morning and oral presentations in the afternoon. (link)

Global trait–environment relationships of plant communities Plant functional traits directly affect ecosystem functions. At the species level, trait combinations depend on trade-offs representing different ecological strategies, but at the community level trait combinations are expected to be decoupled from these trade-offs because different strategies can facilitate co-existence within communities. A key question is to what extent community-level trait composition is globally filtered and how well it is related to global versus local environmental drivers. Here, the authors perform a global, plot-level analysis of trait–environment relationships, using a database with more than 1.1 million vegetation plots and 26,632 plant species with trait information. Although the authors find a strong filtering of 17 functional traits, similar climate conditions support communities differing greatly in mean trait values. The results indicate that, at fine spatial grain, macro-environmental drivers are much less important for functional trait composition than has been assumed from floristic analyses of large grid cells. Instead, trait combinations seem to be predominantly filtered by local-scale factors such as disturbance, soil conditions, niche partitioning and biotic interactions. (Bruelheide et al. 2018 Nature Ecology and Evolution) (link)

Plant functional trait change across a warming tundra biome Until now, the Arctic tundra has been the domain of low-growing grasses and dwarf shrubs. Defying the harsh conditions, these plants huddle close to the ground and often grow only a few centimeters high. But new, taller plant species have been slowly taking over this chilly neighborhood, report an international group of nearly 130 biologists led by scientists from the German Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) today in Nature. This has led to an overall increase in the height of tundra plant communities over the past three decades. (Bjorkman et al. 2018 Nature) (link)

A methodology to derive global maps of leaf traits using remote sensing and climate data This paper introduces a modular processing chain to derive global high-resolution maps of leaf traits. The paper presents global maps at 500 m resolution of specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, leaf nitrogen and phosphorus content per dry mass, and leaf nitrogen/phosphorus ratio. The processing chain exploits machine learning techniques along with optical remote sensing data (MODIS/Landsat) and climate data for gap filling and up-scaling of in-situ measured leaf traits. (Moreno-Martinez et al. 2018 Remote Sensing of Environment) (link)

Late Quaternary climate legacies in contemporary plant functional composition Climate may determine functional composition if there is variation in the rates of immigration and exclusion linked to functional traits. The authors show strong Pleistocene legacies on the contemporary functional composition in the New World plant assemblages consistent with slow community assembly processes. (Blonder et al. 2018 Global Change Biology) (link)

AGU 2018 Session: Plant Traits, Biogeochemical Cycles and Optimality Driven Model Development (B11E posters, B13D oral) A session on plant traits at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) 10-14 Dec 2018 in Washington, D.C., titled: "Plant Traits, Biogeochemical Cycles and Optimality Driven Model Development". Plant traits extend the range of earth observations to the level of individual organisms, providing a link to ecosystem function and modeling in the context of rapid global changes. However, overcoming the differences in temporal and spatial scales between plant trait data and biogeochemical cycles remains a challenge. This session will address the role of plant species, biodiversity, acclimation and adaptation in the biogeochemical cycles of water, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. Conceptual, observational, experimental and modeling approaches, and studies from the local to the global scale, including e.g. remote sensing observations are welcome. (link)

Symbiont switching and alternative resource acquisition strategies drive mutualism breakdown Cooperative interactions among species — mutualisms — are major sources of evolutionary innovation. However, despite their importance, two species that formerly cooperated sometimes cease their partnership. Why do mutualisms break down? We asked this question in the partnership between arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and their plant hosts, one of the most ancient mutualisms. We analyze two potential trajectories toward evolutionary breakdown of their cooperation, symbiont switching and mutualism abandonment. We find evidence that plants stop interacting with AM fungi when they switch to other microbial mutualists or when they evolve alternative strategies to extract nutrients from the environment. Our results show vital cooperative interactions can be lost, but only if successful alternatives evolve. (link)

Symbiont switching and alternative resource acquisition strategies drive mutualism breakdown Cooperative interactions among species—mutualisms—are major sources of evolutionary innovation. However, despite their importance, two species that formerly cooperated sometimes cease their partnership. Why do mutualisms break down? We asked this question in the partnership between arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and their plant hosts, one of the most ancient mutualisms. We analyze two potential trajectories toward evolutionary breakdown of their cooperation, symbiont switching and mutualism abandonment. We find evidence that plants stop interacting with AM fungi when they switch to other microbial mutualists or when they evolve alternative strategies to extract nutrients from the environment. Our results show vital cooperative interactions can be lost, but only if successful alternatives evolve. (Werner et al. 2018 PNAS) (link)

10th International Conference on Ecological Informatics (Call Open for Poster and Computer Demonstration - Submission Deadline July 15th, 2018) The 10th International Conference on Ecological Informatics: “Translating Ecological Data into Knowledge and Decisions in a Rapidly Changing World” aims to bring together researchers interested in data-intensive ecology – both from an ecological and a computer science point of view. After successful biennial conferences in France, Australia, Italy, South Korea, United States, Mexico, Belgium, Brazil, and China, the 10th International Conference on Ecological Informatics will be hosted in Jena, Germany, 24-28 September. Several sessions related to “Plant Traits” have been organized. Additional information is provided on the conference website: http://icei2018.uni-jena.de/ . In case of interest to present a poster or computer demonstration please submit your abstract by July 15 at: http://icei2018.uni-jena.de/calls/ (link)

10th International Conference on Ecological Informatics (Call Open for Poster and Computer Demonstration - Submission Deadline July 15th, 2018) The 10th International Conference on Ecological Informatics: “Translating Ecological Data into Knowledge and Decisions in a Rapidly Changing World” aims to bring together researchers interested in data-intensive ecology – both from an ecological and a computer science point of view. After successful biennial conferences in France, Australia, Italy, South Korea, United States, Mexico, Belgium, Brazil, and China, the Conference will be hosted in Jena, Germany, 24-28 September. Additional information is provided on the conference website: http://icei2018.uni-jena.de. Several sessions related to “Plant Traits” have been organized. In case of interest to present a poster or a computer demonstration please submit your abstract by July 15 at: http://icei2018.uni-jena.de/calls/ (link)

Future global productivity will be affected by plant trait response to climate Plant traits are both responsive to local climate and strong predictors of primary productivity. The authors hypothesized that future climate change might promote a shift in global plant traits resulting in changes in Gross Primary Productivity (GPP). They characterized the relationship between key plant traits, namely Specific Leaf Area (SLA), height, and seed mass, and local climate and primary productivity. They found that by 2070, tropical and arid ecosystems will be more suitable for plants with relatively lower canopy height, SLA and seed mass, while far northern latitudes will favor woody and taller plants than at present. Using a network of tower eddy covariance CO2 flux measurements and the extrapolated plant trait maps, thet estimated the global distribution of annual GPP under current and projected future plant community distribution. They predict that annual GPP in northern biomes (≥45 °N) will increase by 31% (+8.1 ± 0.5 Pg C), but this will be offset by a 17.9% GPP decline in the tropics (−11.8 ± 0.84 Pg C). These findings suggest that regional climate changes will affect plant trait distributions, which may in turn affect global productivity patterns. (link)

Future global productivity will be affected by plant trait response to climate Plant traits are both responsive to local climate and strong predictors of primary productivity. The authors hypothesized that future climate change might promote a shift in global plant traits resulting in changes in Gross Primary Productivity (GPP). They characterized the relationship between key plant traits, local climate and primary productivity. Using a network of tower eddy covariance CO2 flux measurements and the extrapolated plant trait maps, they predict that by 2070 annual GPP in northern biomes (≥45 °N) will increase by 31% (+8.1 ± 0.5 Pg C), but this will be offset by a 17.9% GPP decline in the tropics (−11.8 ± 0.84 Pg C). These findings suggest that regional climate changes will affect plant trait distributions, which may in turn affect global productivity patterns. (Madani et al. 2018 Scientific Reports) (link)

Spatial patterns and climate relationships of major plant traits in the New World differ between woody and herbaceous species A new paper by Irena Simova and Coauthors, published in Journal of Biogeography, reports that trait variations of woody and herbaceous assemblages reflect alternative strategies and differing environmental constraints. They conclude that the strikingly different biogeographic patterns indicate the needed for a synthetic framework addressing how suites of traits within and across broad functional groups respond to the environment. Despite several recent efforts to map plant traits and to identify their climatic drivers, there are still major gaps. Global trait patterns for major functional groups, in particular, the differences between woody and herbaceous plants, have yet to be identified. Using the largest currently available databases of plant occurrences and traits, they provide maps of 200 × 200 km grid-cell trait means and variances for both woody and herbaceous species and identify environmental drivers related to these patterns. They focus for six plant traits: maximum plant height, specific leaf area, seed mass, wood density, leaf nitrogen concentration and leaf phosphorus concentration. They find a strong climate signal for both means and variances of most of the studied traits for woody plants, consistent with strong environmental filtering. In contrast, for herbaceous assemblages, spatial patterns of trait means and variances are more variable and the climate signal is often different and weaker. (link)

Spatial patterns and climate relationships of major plant traits in the New World differ between woody and herbaceous species A new paper by Irena Simova and Coauthors, published in Journal of Biogeography, reports that trait variations of woody and herbaceous assemblages seem to reflect alternative strategies and differing environmental constraints. Using the largest currently available databases of plant occurrences and traits, they provide maps of 200 × 200 km grid-cell trait means and variances for both woody and herbaceous species and identify environmental drivers related to these patterns. They focus for six plant traits: maximum plant height, specific leaf area, seed mass, wood density, leaf nitrogen concentration and leaf phosphorus concentration. They find a strong climate signal for both means and variances of most of the studied traits for woody plants, consistent with strong environmental filtering. In contrast, for herbaceous assemblages, spatial patterns of trait means and variances are more variable and the climate signal is often different and weaker. (Simova et al. 2018 Journal of Biogeography) (link)

Global leaf nitrogen and phosphorus stoichiometry and their scaling exponent Leaf nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations reflect photosynthetic and metabolic processes, growth, and productivity of plants. In this study (published in National Science Review) Tian Di and coauthors compiled a global data set of leaf N and P concentrations and N:P ratios. The global overall mean leaf N and P concentrations show higher concentrations in herbaceous than woody plants. Both leaf N and P showed higher concentrations at high than low latitudes. The scaling exponents of N:P concentrations of herbaceous and woody plants were 0.659 and 0.705, respectively, with significant latitudinal patterns decreasing from tropical to temperate to boreal zones. At sites with a sample size > 9, the values fluctuated from 0.366 to 1.928, with an average of 0.841. (Tian et al. 2017 National Science Review) (link)

Advances in flowering phenology across the Northern Hemisphere are explained by functional traits Numerous studies have reported changes in first flowering day (FFD-changes) in response to changes in climate. However, regarding the direction (advances versus delays) and the intensity of FFD-changes, species show differences even when observed in the same location. Patrizia König, Susanne Tautenhahn, Christine Römermann and coauthors compiled literature data from eighteen sites distributed over the Northern Hemisphere for 562 species (published in Global Ecology and Biogeography). They related FFD-changes to changes in climate, to local site conditions and plant traits. Of all FDD-changes, 80.4% were FFD-advances, 10.5% exceeding 5 days/decade. FFD-advances were strongest in polar tundra and in dry and warm habitats. The intensity of FFD-advances (number of days/decade) could be explained by predictor variables from all three groups. Overall, decreasing precipitation was more important than increasing temperature. Traits related to competition and growth rate contributed substantially to explain variation of FFD-change intensity, with highest importance for trees and grasses, while for herbs they were of equal importance with changes in climate. For shrubs, site conditions best explained the variation of FFD-advance intensities. (König et al. 2018 Global Ecology and Biogeography) (link)

Mapping local and global variability in plant trait distributions A new paper by Ethan Butler et al. has been published in PNAS, providing global maps of plant trait distributions. Using data from the TRY database and state of the art Bayesian modeling, the authors created fine-grained global maps of plant trait distributions that can be applied to Earth system models. Focusing on a set of plant traits closely coupled to photosynthesis and foliar respiration - specific leaf area and dry mass-based concentrations of leaf nitrogen and phosphorus - they characterize how traits vary within and among over 50,000 50x50 km cells across the entire vegetated land surface. The maps reveal that the most diverse grid cells possess trait variability close to the range of global means. (Butler et al. 2017 PNAS) (link)

Call for abstracts: Plant Traits at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2018 The European Geosciences Union (EGU) has opened abstract submission for its General Assembly 2018 (8–13 April 2018, in Vienna, Austria). We have organized a session on plant traits and biogeochemical cycles. This session will address the role of plant species, biodiversity and adaptation / acclimation in the biogeochemical cycles of water, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. We welcome conceptual, observational, experimental and modeling approaches, and studies from the local to the global scale, including e.g. remote sensing observations. The session is co-organized with a session on optimality, acclimation and adaptation in land ecosystem models. We therefore expect an interesting range of oral and poster contributions. The abstract submission deadline is 10 January 2018, 13:00 CET. (link)

TRY 4.0 - the new release of the TRY database The new release of the TRY Database (TRY version 4.0) has been published in July 2017. It is based on 329 contributed datasets and provides 6.9 million trait records for 148,333 plant taxa (mostly species) and 1832 traits. In addition TRY version 4 is based on an improved data curation: Taxon names are consolidated against The Plant List using the Taxon Name Resolution Service. Traits are defined according to the Thesaurus Of Plant Characteristics. (link)