Fundamental axes of variation in plant traits result from trade-offs between costs and benefits of resource-use strategies at the leaf scale. However, it is unclear whether similar trade-offs propagate to the ecosystem level. Here, we test whether trait correlation patterns predicted by three well-known leaf- and plant-level coordination theories - the leaf economics spectrum, the global spectrum of plant form and function, and the least-cost hypothesis - are also observed between community mean traits and ecosystem processes. We combined ecosystem functional properties from FLUXNET sites, vegetation properties, and community mean plant traits into three corresponding principal component analyses. We find that the leaf economics spectrum (90 sites), the global spectrum of plant form and function (89 sites), and the least-cost hypothesis (82 sites) all propagate at the ecosystem level. However, we also find evidence of additional scale-emergent properties. Evaluating the coordination of ecosystem functional properties may aid the development of more realistic global dynamic vegetation models with critical empirical data, reducing the uncertainty of climate change projections.

Andorra Research Innovation; Avinguda Rocafort 21 23 Edifici Molí 3r pis AD600 Sant Julià de Lòria Andorra

Bioclimatology University of Göttingen Büsgenweg 2 37077 Göttingen Germany

CEFE Univ Montpellier CNRS EPHE IRD Montpellier France

Chair of Plant and Crop Science Estonian University of Life Sciences Kreutzwaldi 1 51006 Tartu Estonia

CREAF Cerdanyola del Vallès Barcelona 08193 Catalonia Spain

CSIC Global Ecology Unit CREAF CSIC UAB Bellaterra Barcelona 08193 Catalonia Spain

Department of Biological Sciences Andong National University Andong 36729 Republic of Korea

Department of Biology University of Copenhagen Universitetsparken 15 2100 Copenhagen Ø Denmark

Department of Biology Vrije Universiteit Brussel Pleinlaan 2 1050 Brussel Belgium

Department of Environmental Systems Science ETH Zurich Zurich Switzerland

Department of Forest Resources University of Minnesota St Paul MN 55108 USA

Department of Forestry Engineering University of Córdoba Edif Leonardo da Vinci Campus de Rabanales s n 14071 Córdoba Spain

Department of Matter and Energy Fluxes Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences Bělidla 986 4a 603 00 Brno Czech Republic

Dipartimento di Scienze Università Roma TRE 5 le Marconi 446 00146 Roma Italy

Discipline of Botany School of Natural Sciences Trinity College Dublin Dublin Ireland

Ecology and Conservation Biology Institute of Plant Sciences Faculty of Biology and Preclinical Medicine University of Regensburg Universitaetsstrasse 31 D 93053 Regensburg Germany

Environmenal Research Institute University of Waikato Private Bag 3105 Hamilton New Zealand

European Commission Joint Research Centre Ispra 21027 VA Italy

Faculty of Land and Food Systems University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada

Faculty of Science and Technology Free University of Bolzano Piazza Università 5 39100 Bolzano Italy

Fundación Centro de Estudios Ambientales del Mediterráneo Paterna Spain

German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle Jena Leipzig Leipzig Germany

Graduate School of Agriculture Kyoto University Oiwake Kitashirakawa Kyoto 606 8502 Japan

Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment Western Sydney University Penrith NSW 2753 Australia

Institute for Global Change Biology and School for Environment and Sustainability University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI 48109 USA

Institute of Biology Leipzig University Leipzig Germany

Institute of Ecology and Evolution Friedrich Schiller University Jena Philosophenweg 16 07743 Jena Germany

Institute of Environmental Sciences Leiden University Einsteinweg 2 2333 CC Leiden the Netherlands

Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems ETH Zurich Zurich Switzerland

Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry Hans Knöll Str 10 07745 Jena Germany

National Research Council of Italy Metaponto 75012 Italy

National Research Council of Italy Naples 80055 Italy

Remote Sensing Centre for Earth System Research Leipzig University 04103 Leipzig Germany

Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology the University of Tokyo 4 6 1 Komaba Meguro Tokyo 153 8904 Japan

Santa Catarina State University Agroveterinary Center Forestry Department Av Luiz de Camões 2090 Conta Dinheiro 88 520 000 Lages SC Brazil

School of Earth Environment and Society and McMaster Centre for Climate Change McMaster University Hamilton ON Canada

School of Natural Sciences Macquarie University Macquarie Park NSW 2109 Australia

Technical University of Denmark Environmental Engineering and Resource Management Bygningstorvet 115 2800 Kgs Lyngby Denmark

The Department of Earth and Environmental Systems The University of the South Sewanee TN USA

Universität Innsbruck Institut für Ökologie Innsbruck Austria

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