Towards a New Generation of Trait-Flexible Vegetation Models

Fabio Berzaghi; Ian J Wright; Koen Kramer; Sylvie Oddou-Muratorio; Friedrich J Bohn; Christopher P O Reyer; Santiago Sabaté; Tanja G M Sanders; Florian Hartig

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2019.11.006

Towards a New Generation of Trait-Flexible Vegetation Models

Trends Ecol Evol. 2020 Mar;35(3):191-205. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2019.11.006. Epub 2019 Dec 24.

Authors

Fabio Berzaghi¹, Ian J Wright², Koen Kramer³, Sylvie Oddou-Muratorio⁴, Friedrich J Bohn⁵, Christopher P O Reyer⁶, Santiago Sabaté⁷, Tanja G M Sanders⁸, Florian Hartig⁹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory for Sciences of Climate and Environment (LSCE) - UMR CEA/CNRS/UVSQ, Gif-sur-Yvette 91191, France; Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2022, Australia; Dipartimento per la Innovazione nei sistemi Biologici, Agroalimentari e Forestali, University of Tuscia, Viterbo 01100, Italy. Electronic address: fabio.berzaghi@lsce.ipsl.fr.
² Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2022, Australia.
³ Wageningen University and Research, Droevendaalse steeg 4, 6700AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
⁴ URFM "Ecology of Mediterranean Forests", INRAE, 84000 Avignon, France.
⁵ Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research, Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU), Kreuzeckbahnstrasse 19, Garmisch-Partenkirchen 82467, Germany; Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Permoserstraße 15, Leipzig 04318, Germany.
⁶ Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Member of the Leibniz Association, PO Box 60 12 03, D-14412 Potsdam, Germany.
⁷ Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology, and Environmental Sciences, University of Barcelona (UB), Barcelona 08028, Spain; CREAF (Center for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications), Cerdanyola del Vallès 08193, Spain.
⁸ Thuenen Institut of Forest Ecosystems, Alfred-Moeller-Str. 1, Haus 41/42, 16225 Eberswalde, Germany.
⁹ Theoretical Ecology, Faculty of Biology and Preclinical Medicine, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstraße 3, 93053, Regensburg, Germany.

PMID: 31882280
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2019.11.006

Abstract

Plant trait variability, emerging from eco-evolutionary dynamics that range from alleles to macroecological scales, is one of the most elusive, but possibly most consequential, aspects of biodiversity. Plasticity, epigenetics, and genetic diversity are major determinants of how plants will respond to climate change, yet these processes are rarely represented in current vegetation models. Here, we provide an overview of the challenges associated with understanding the causes and consequences of plant trait variability, and review current developments to include plasticity and evolutionary mechanisms in vegetation models. We also present a roadmap of research priorities to develop a next generation of vegetation models with flexible traits. Including trait variability in vegetation models is necessary to better represent biosphere responses to global change.

Keywords: eco-evolution; intraspecific variation; plant genetics; plant traits; vegetation modeling.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Biodiversity*
Biological Evolution
Climate Change
Phenotype
Plants* / genetics