The unfolding of plant growth form-defence syndromes along elevation gradients

Ecology Letters
Emmanuel DefossezSergio Rasmann

Abstract

Understanding the functional economics that drives plant investment of resources requires investigating the interface between plant phenotypes and the variation in ecological conditions. While allocation to defence represents a large portion of the carbon budget, this axis is usually neglected in the study of plant economic spectrum. Using a novel geometrical approach, we analysed the co-variation in a comprehensive set of functional traits related to plant growth strategies, as well as chemical defences against herbivores on all 15 Cardamine species present in the Swiss Alps. By extracting geometrical information of the functional space, we observed clustering of plants into three main syndromes. Those different strategies of growth form and defence were also distributed within distinct elevational bands demonstrating an association between the functional space and the ecological conditions. We conclude that plant strategies converge into clear syndromes that trade off abiotic tolerance, growth and defence within each elevation zone.

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References

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Citations

Mar 28, 2019·Ecology·John L MaronDouglas W Schemske
Oct 22, 2019·Ecology Letters·Luis Abdala-RobertsChrister Björkman
Feb 9, 2020·Scientific Reports·Alan KergunteuilSergio Rasmann
Jun 2, 2020·The Journal of Heredity·Nicholas J KooyersLiza M Holeski
Sep 28, 2020·The New Phytologist·Moe BakhtiariSergio Rasmann
Nov 13, 2020·Journal of Chemical Ecology·Martin VolfNicole M van Dam
May 23, 2019·Current Opinion in Insect Science·Paul J Ode
Jul 15, 2021·Ecology·Simone FontanaMarco Moretti
Nov 1, 2021·Molecular Biology and Evolution·Xiao-Mei XiaXiao-Quan Wang

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