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 Diaz; John B. Dickie; Gregoire 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; Uelo Niinemets; Vladimir Onipchenko; Yusuke Onoda; Josep Penuelas; Valerio 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

Back

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

Journal article

Peer reviewed

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, …

Journal of vegetation science, Vol.25(5), pp.1167-1180

09/2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12190

Abstract

Ecology

Environmental Sciences & Ecology

Forestry

Life Sciences & Biomedicine

Plant Sciences

Science & Technology

Question: Are plant traits more closely correlated with mean annual temperature, or with mean 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 R-2 values for precipitation might reflect the weak link between mean annual precipitation and the availability of water to plants.

Metrics

1 Record Views

See more details

Details

Title: Which is a better predictor of plant traits: temperature or precipitation?
Creators - without role: Angela T. Moles - UNSW Sydney
Sarah E. Perkins - ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science
Shawn W. Laffan - Environmental Earth Sciences
Habacuc Flores-Moreno - UNSW Sydney
Monica Awasthy - UNSW Sydney
Marianne L. Tindall - UNSW Sydney
Lawren Sack - University of California, Los Angeles
Andy Pitman - ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science
Jens Kattge - Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Lonnie W. Aarssen - Queen's University
Madhur Anand - University of Guelph
Michael Bahn - Universität Innsbruck
Benjamin Blonder - University of Arizona
Jeannine Cavender-Bares - University of Minnesota
J. Hans C. Cornelissen - University of Amsterdam
Will K. Cornwell - Supreme Council Of Health
Sandra Diaz - Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal
John B. Dickie - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Gregoire T. Freschet - Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive
Joshua G. Griffiths - UNSW Sydney
Alvaro G. Gutierrez - ETH Zurich
Frank A. Hemmings - UNSW Sydney
Thomas Hickler - Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre
Timothy D. Hitchcock - UNSW Sydney
Matthew Keighery - UNSW Sydney
Michael Kleyer - Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg
Hiroko Kurokawa - Tohoku University
Michelle R. Leishman - Macquarie University
Kenwin Liu - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Uelo Niinemets - Estonian Univ Life Sci, EE-51014 Tartu, Estonia
Vladimir Onipchenko - Lomonosov Moscow State University
Yusuke Onoda - Kyoto University
Josep Penuelas - Centre for Research on Ecology and Forestry Applications
Valerio D. Pillar - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Peter B. Reich - Western Sydney University
Satomi Shiodera - Hokkaido University
Andrew Siefert - Syracuse University
Enio E. Sosinski - Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation
Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia - University of Amsterdam
Emily K. Swaine - University of Aberdeen
Nathan G. Swenson - Michigan State University
Peter M. van Bodegom - University of Amsterdam
Laura Warman - UNSW Sydney
Evan Weiher - University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire
Ian J. Wright - Macquarie University
Hongxiang Zhang - UNSW Sydney
Martin Zobel - University of Tartu
Stephen P. Bonser - UNSW Sydney
Publication Details: Journal of vegetation science, Vol.25(5), pp.1167-1180
Publisher: Wiley
Number of pages: 14
Grant note: DP0984222; DP140102861 / QEII from Australian Research Council; Australian Research Council DP0984222 / Australian Research Council CGL2010-17172/BOS; CSD2008-00040 / Spanish Government CE110001028 / ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science; Australian Research Council 1147292 / Direct For Biological Sciences; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) 479083/2008-8; 306573/2009-1 / CNPq; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPQ) 23370007; 26711025 / Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research; Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT); Japan Society for the Promotion of Science; Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) 1147292 / Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) IUT-8-3 / Estonian Ministry of Science and Education; Ministry of Education and Research, Estonia TRY initiative on plant traits DEB-1234162 / US National Science Foundation Long-Term Ecological Research Program; National Science Foundation (NSF) SGR 2009-458 / Catalan Government UWEC-ORSP European Regional Development Fund (Centre of Excellence FIBIR); European Union (EU) European Commission through the European Regional Fund (Center of Excellence in Environmental Adaptation) UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) DIVERSITAS FZT 118 / German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig - German Science Foundation PIEF-GA-2010-274798 / Marie Curie IEF (FORECOFUN-SSA); Marie Curie Actions; European Union (EU) 20-28 / IUT
Identifiers: 9949804408331
Academic Unit: King Saud University
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article