Which is a better predictor of plant traits: Temperature or precipitation?

Angela T. Moles; Sarah E. Perkins; Shawn W. Laffan; Habacuc Flores-Moreno; Monica Awasthy; Marianne L. Tindall; Lawren Sack; Andy Pitman; Jens Kattge; Lonnie W. Aarssen; Madhur Anand; Michael Bahn; Benjamin Blonder; Jeannine Cavender-Bares; J. Hans C. Cornelissen; Will K. Cornwell; Sandra Díaz; John B. Dickie; Grégoire T. Freschet; Joshua G. Griffiths; Alvaro G. Gutierrez; Frank A. Hemmings; Thomas Hickler; Timothy D. Hitchcock; Matthew Keighery; Michael Kleyer; Hiroko Kurokawa; Michelle R. Leishman; Kenwin Liu; Ülo Niinemets; Vladimir Onipchenko; Yusuke Onoda; Josep Penuelas; Valério D. Pillar; Peter B. Reich; Satomi Shiodera; Andrew Siefert; Enio E. Sosinski; Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia; Emily K. Swaine; Nathan G. Swenson; Peter M. van Bodegom; Laura Warman; Evan Weiher; Ian J. Wright; Hongxiang Zhang; Martin Zobel; Stephen P. Bonser

doi:10.1111/jvs.12190

Which is a better predictor of plant traits: Temperature or precipitation?

Angela T. Moles^*, Sarah E. Perkins, Shawn W. Laffan, Habacuc Flores-Moreno, Monica Awasthy, Marianne L. Tindall, Lawren Sack, Andy Pitman, Jens Kattge, Lonnie W. Aarssen, Madhur Anand, Michael Bahn, Benjamin Blonder, Jeannine Cavender-Bares, J. Hans C. Cornelissen, Will K. Cornwell, Sandra Díaz, John B. Dickie, Grégoire T. Freschet, Joshua G. GriffithsAlvaro G. Gutierrez, Frank A. Hemmings, Thomas Hickler, Timothy D. Hitchcock, Matthew Keighery, Michael Kleyer, Hiroko Kurokawa, Michelle R. Leishman, Kenwin Liu, Ülo Niinemets, Vladimir Onipchenko, Yusuke Onoda, Josep Penuelas, Valério D. Pillar, Peter B. Reich, Satomi Shiodera, Andrew Siefert, Enio E. Sosinski, Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia, Emily K. Swaine, Nathan G. Swenson, Peter M. van Bodegom, Laura Warman, Evan Weiher, Ian J. Wright, Hongxiang Zhang, Martin Zobel, Stephen P. Bonser

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

363 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Question: Are plant traits more closely correlated with mean annual temperature, orwithmean annual precipitation? Location: Global. Methods: We quantified the strength of the relationships between temperature and precipitation and 21 plant traits from 447,961 species-site combinations worldwide. We used meta-analysis to provide an overall answer to our question. Results: Mean annual temperature was significantly more strongly correlated with plant traits than was mean annual precipitation. Conclusions: Our study provides support for some of the assumptions of classical vegetation theory, and points to many interesting directions for future research. The relatively low R² values for precipitation might reflect the weak link betweenmean annual precipitation and the availability of water to plants.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1167-1180
Number of pages	14
Journal	Journal of Vegetation Science
Volume	25
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12190
Publication status	Published - 2014
Externally published	Yes

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Moles, A. T., Perkins, S. E., Laffan, S. W., Flores-Moreno, H., Awasthy, M., Tindall, M. L., Sack, L., Pitman, A., Kattge, J., Aarssen, L. W., Anand, M., Bahn, M., Blonder, B., Cavender-Bares, J., Cornelissen, J. H. C., Cornwell, W. K., Díaz, S., Dickie, J. B., Freschet, G. T., ... Bonser, S. P. (2014). Which is a better predictor of plant traits: Temperature or precipitation? Journal of Vegetation Science, 25(5), 1167-1180. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12190

@article{f8a3e608d5b54860aa3536475475116e,

title = "Which is a better predictor of plant traits: Temperature or precipitation?",

abstract = "Question: Are plant traits more closely correlated with mean annual temperature, orwithmean annual precipitation? Location: Global. Methods: We quantified the strength of the relationships between temperature and precipitation and 21 plant traits from 447,961 species-site combinations worldwide. We used meta-analysis to provide an overall answer to our question. Results: Mean annual temperature was significantly more strongly correlated with plant traits than was mean annual precipitation. Conclusions: Our study provides support for some of the assumptions of classical vegetation theory, and points to many interesting directions for future research. The relatively low R2 values for precipitation might reflect the weak link betweenmean annual precipitation and the availability of water to plants.",

keywords = "Climate, Compound leaves, Dispersal syndrome, Functional traits, Leaf life span, Nitrogen fixation, Photosynthetic pathway, Plant height, Plant life span, Seed mass, Specific leaf area, Spinescence",

author = "Moles, {Angela T.} and Perkins, {Sarah E.} and Laffan, {Shawn W.} and Habacuc Flores-Moreno and Monica Awasthy and Tindall, {Marianne L.} and Lawren Sack and Andy Pitman and Jens Kattge and Aarssen, {Lonnie W.} and Madhur Anand and Michael Bahn and Benjamin Blonder and Jeannine Cavender-Bares and Cornelissen, {J. Hans C.} and Cornwell, {Will K.} and Sandra D{\'i}az and Dickie, {John B.} and Freschet, {Gr{\'e}goire T.} and Griffiths, {Joshua G.} and Gutierrez, {Alvaro G.} and Hemmings, {Frank A.} and Thomas Hickler and Hitchcock, {Timothy D.} and Matthew Keighery and Michael Kleyer and Hiroko Kurokawa and Leishman, {Michelle R.} and Kenwin Liu and {\"U}lo Niinemets and Vladimir Onipchenko and Yusuke Onoda and Josep Penuelas and Pillar, {Val{\'e}rio D.} and Reich, {Peter B.} and Satomi Shiodera and Andrew Siefert and Sosinski, {Enio E.} and Soudzilovskaia, {Nadejda A.} and Swaine, {Emily K.} and Swenson, {Nathan G.} and {van Bodegom}, {Peter M.} and Laura Warman and Evan Weiher and Wright, {Ian J.} and Hongxiang Zhang and Martin Zobel and Bonser, {Stephen P.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2014 International Association for Vegetation Science.",

year = "2014",

doi = "10.1111/jvs.12190",

language = "English",

volume = "25",

pages = "1167--1180",

journal = "Journal of Vegetation Science",

issn = "1100-9233",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",

number = "5",

}

Moles, AT, Perkins, SE, Laffan, SW, Flores-Moreno, H, Awasthy, M, Tindall, ML, Sack, L, Pitman, A, Kattge, J, Aarssen, LW, Anand, M, Bahn, M, Blonder, B, Cavender-Bares, J, Cornelissen, JHC, Cornwell, WK, Díaz, S, Dickie, JB, Freschet, GT, Griffiths, JG, Gutierrez, AG, Hemmings, FA, Hickler, T, Hitchcock, TD, Keighery, M, Kleyer, M, Kurokawa, H, Leishman, MR, Liu, K, Niinemets, Ü, Onipchenko, V, Onoda, Y, Penuelas, J, Pillar, VD, Reich, PB, Shiodera, S, Siefert, A, Sosinski, EE, Soudzilovskaia, NA, Swaine, EK, Swenson, NG, van Bodegom, PM, Warman, L, Weiher, E, Wright, IJ, Zhang, H, Zobel, M & Bonser, SP 2014, 'Which is a better predictor of plant traits: Temperature or precipitation?', Journal of Vegetation Science, vol. 25, no. 5, pp. 1167-1180. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12190

TY - JOUR

T1 - Which is a better predictor of plant traits

T2 - Temperature or precipitation?

AU - Moles, Angela T.

AU - Perkins, Sarah E.

AU - Laffan, Shawn W.

AU - Flores-Moreno, Habacuc

AU - Awasthy, Monica

AU - Tindall, Marianne L.

AU - Sack, Lawren

AU - Pitman, Andy

AU - Kattge, Jens

AU - Aarssen, Lonnie W.

AU - Anand, Madhur

AU - Bahn, Michael

AU - Blonder, Benjamin

AU - Cavender-Bares, Jeannine

AU - Cornelissen, J. Hans C.

AU - Cornwell, Will K.

AU - Díaz, Sandra

AU - Dickie, John B.

AU - Freschet, Grégoire T.

AU - Griffiths, Joshua G.

AU - Gutierrez, Alvaro G.

AU - Hemmings, Frank A.

AU - Hickler, Thomas

AU - Hitchcock, Timothy D.

AU - Keighery, Matthew

AU - Kleyer, Michael

AU - Kurokawa, Hiroko

AU - Leishman, Michelle R.

AU - Liu, Kenwin

AU - Niinemets, Ülo

AU - Onipchenko, Vladimir

AU - Onoda, Yusuke

AU - Penuelas, Josep

AU - Pillar, Valério D.

AU - Reich, Peter B.

AU - Shiodera, Satomi

AU - Siefert, Andrew

AU - Sosinski, Enio E.

AU - Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A.

AU - Swaine, Emily K.

AU - Swenson, Nathan G.

AU - van Bodegom, Peter M.

AU - Warman, Laura

AU - Weiher, Evan

AU - Wright, Ian J.

AU - Zhang, Hongxiang

AU - Zobel, Martin

AU - Bonser, Stephen P.

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Question: Are plant traits more closely correlated with mean annual temperature, orwithmean annual precipitation? Location: Global. Methods: We quantified the strength of the relationships between temperature and precipitation and 21 plant traits from 447,961 species-site combinations worldwide. We used meta-analysis to provide an overall answer to our question. Results: Mean annual temperature was significantly more strongly correlated with plant traits than was mean annual precipitation. Conclusions: Our study provides support for some of the assumptions of classical vegetation theory, and points to many interesting directions for future research. The relatively low R2 values for precipitation might reflect the weak link betweenmean annual precipitation and the availability of water to plants.

AB - Question: Are plant traits more closely correlated with mean annual temperature, orwithmean annual precipitation? Location: Global. Methods: We quantified the strength of the relationships between temperature and precipitation and 21 plant traits from 447,961 species-site combinations worldwide. We used meta-analysis to provide an overall answer to our question. Results: Mean annual temperature was significantly more strongly correlated with plant traits than was mean annual precipitation. Conclusions: Our study provides support for some of the assumptions of classical vegetation theory, and points to many interesting directions for future research. The relatively low R2 values for precipitation might reflect the weak link betweenmean annual precipitation and the availability of water to plants.

KW - Climate

KW - Compound leaves

KW - Dispersal syndrome

KW - Functional traits

KW - Leaf life span

KW - Nitrogen fixation

KW - Photosynthetic pathway

KW - Plant height

KW - Plant life span

KW - Seed mass

KW - Specific leaf area

KW - Spinescence

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84919391484&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/jvs.12190

DO - 10.1111/jvs.12190

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84919391484

SN - 1100-9233

VL - 25

SP - 1167

EP - 1180

JO - Journal of Vegetation Science

JF - Journal of Vegetation Science

IS - 5

ER -

Which is a better predictor of plant traits: Temperature or precipitation?

Abstract

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