Recent studies have shown that accounting for intraspecific trait variation (ITV) may better address major questions in community ecology. However, a general picture of the relative extent of ITV compared to interspecific trait variation in plant communities is still missing. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of the relative extent of ITV within and among plant communities worldwide, using a data set encompassing 629 communities (plots) and 36 functional traits. Overall, ITV accounted for 25% of the total trait variation within communities and 32% of the total trait variation among communities on average. The relative extent of ITV tended to be greater for whole-plant (e.g. plant height) vs. organ-level traits and for leaf chemical (e.g. leaf N and P concentration) vs. leaf morphological (e.g. leaf area and thickness) traits. The relative amount of ITV decreased with increasing species richness and spatial extent, but did not vary with plant growth form or climate. These results highlight global patterns in the relative importance of ITV in plant communities, providing practical guidelines for when researchers should include ITV in trait-based community and ecosystem studies.

Aix Marseille Université CNRS IRD Avignon Université IMBE 13397 Marseille France

CAPES Foundation Ministry of Education of Brazil Brasília DF 70040 020 Brazil

Center for Macroecology Evolution and Climate The Natural History Museum of Denmark University of Copenhagen Copenhagen 2100 Denmark

Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive UMR 5175 CNRS Université de Montpellier Université Paul Valéry Montpellier EPHE 34293 Montpellier France

Centre d'étude biologique de Chizé CNRS Université La Rochelle F 79360 Villiers en Bois France

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Library Avenue Bailrigg LA14AP Lancaster UK

Centro de Investigación en Ecosistemas de la Patagonia Conicyt Regional R10C1003 Universidad Austral de Chile Camino Baguales s n Coyhaique 5951601 Chile

CNRS LECA F 3800 Grenoble France

CNRS UMR 6553 ECOBIO Université de Rennes 1 Rennes 35042 France

Departamento de Ecologia Universidade Federal de Goiás 74690 900 Goiânia Goiás Brazil

Departamento de Ecologia Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte Natal RN 59092 350 Brazil

Departamento de Ecologia Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Porto Alegre Brazil

Département de biologie Université de Sherbrooke Sherbrooke QC J1K 2R1 Canada

Département des sciences biologiques Université du Québec à Montréal Montréal Québec H3C3P8 Canada

Department of Biology Algoma University Sault Ste Marie Ontario P6A 2G4 Canada

Department of Biology Lund University Sölvegatan 37 SE 223 62 Lund Sweden

Department of Biology Queen's University Kingston Ontario K7L 3N6 Canada

Department of Biology University of Florida P O Box 118525 Gainesville FL 32611 USA

Department of Biology University of Maryland College Park MD 20742 USA

Department of Botany Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia Branišovská 31 CZ 370 05 České Budějovice Czech Republic

Department of Ecology and Environmental Science Umeå University SE901 87 Umeå Sweden

Department of Evolution and Ecology University of California Davis CA 95616 USA

Department of Forest Ecology and Management Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Umea 901 83 Sweden

Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science Lund University Sölvegatan 12 SE 223 62 Lund Sweden

Department of Plant Biology University of Campinas 13083 970 Campinas São Paulo Brazil

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Arizona 1041 E Lowell Street Tucson AZ 85721 USA

Graduate School of Frontier Sciences University of Tokyo 5 1 5 Kashiwanoha Kashiwa Chiba 277 8563 Japan

Graduate School of Life Sciences Tohoku University Aoba Sendai 980 8578 Japan

INRA UMR Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane BP 709 97387 Kourou Cedex France

INRA USC1339 Chizé F 79360 Villiers en Bois France

Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability United Nations University 5 53 70 Jingumae Shibuya 150 8925 Japan

Institute of Botany Czech Academy of Sciences CZ 379 82 Třeboň Czech Republic

Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies University of Zurich 8057 Zürich Switzerland

Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla CSIC Sevilla 41080 Spain

International Center for Tropical Botany Department of Biological Sciences Florida International University Miami FL 33199 USA

IRSTEA Unité de Recherche sur les Ecosystèmes Montagnards BP 76 38402 St Martin d'Hères cedex France

Landcare Research PO Box 69040 Lincoln 7640 New Zealand

Landcare Research Private Bag 3127 Hamilton 3240 New Zealand

Programa de Pós Graduação em Ecologia e Evolução Universidade Federal de Goiás 74690 900 Goiânia Goiás Brazil

Programa de Pós Graduação em Ecologia Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Porto Alegre 91501 970 RS Brazil

Université Grenoble Alpes LECA F 38000 Grenoble France

Citace poskytuje Crossref.org

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