Publication alert! Global patterns and environmental drivers of forest functional composition
Elise Bouchard’s first article from her master’s with the PaqLab has just been published in Global Ecology and Biogeography, in collaboration with Eric Searle (PaqLab alumni) and a large team of co-authors. The article aims to determine the relationships between the functional trait composition of forest communities and environmental gradients across scales and biomes and the role of species relative abundances in these relationships. The massive study uses functional trait (wood density, specific leaf area and seed mass) data from 54 million trees, originating from 30 thousand different species and 1.2 million forest plots across 70 countries. Community-weighted and unweighted means of trait values were computed for each plot and related to three broad environmental gradients at two scales.
At a global scale, it was determined that the energy gradient had the strongest influence on traits. At a biome scale, gradients differentially influenced the functional composition of tropical, temperate, and boreal forests, depending on forest type and functional trait. The study concluded that, worldwide, trees require a large amount of energy (following latitude) to produce dense wood and seeds, while leaves with large surface to weight ratios are concentrated in temperate forests. However, patterns of functional composition within-biome differ from global patterns due to biome specificities such as the presence of conifers or unique combinations of climatic and soil properties.
You can consult the entire article in detail at the link below. A huge congratulations to Elise on all her hard work and persistence!