19
2.5.2 Plant Traits, Community Assembly, and Ecosystem
Function
Considerable evidence supports the perspective that plant traits influence how species sort along environmental gradients and are linked to abiotic environmental filters
that prevent species without the appropriate traits from persisting in a given location.
Traits thus influence the assembly of species in communities—and consequently, the
composition, structure, and function of ecosystems. Variation in traits among individual plants and species within communities indicates differences in resource use
strategies of plants, which have consequences for ecosystem functions, such as productivity and resistance to disturbance, disease, and extreme environmental conditions. Moreover, the distribution of plant traits within communities influences
resource availability for other trophic levels, above- and belowground, which affects
community structure and population dynamics in other trophic levels. A major goal
of functional ecology is to develop predictive rules for the assembly of communities
based on an understanding of which traits or trait combinations (e.g., the leaf-heightseed (LHS) plant ecology strategy, sensu Westoby 1998) are important in a given
environment, how traits are distributed within and among species, and how those
traits relate to mechanisms driving community dynamics and ecosystem function
(Shipley et al. 2017). This predictive framework requires selecting relevant traits;
describing trait variation and incorporating this variation into models; and scaling
trait data to community- and ecosystem-level processes (Funk et al. 2017). Selecting
functional traits for ecological studies is not trivial. Depending on the question, individual traits or trait combinations can be selected that contribute to a mechanistic
understanding of the critical processes examined. One can distinguish response
traits, which influence a species response to its environment, and effect traits, which
influence ecosystem function (Lavorel and Garnier 2002). These may or may not be
different traits. Disturbance or global change factors that influence whether a species
can persist within a habitat or community based on its response traits may impact
ecosystem functions in complex ways (Díaz et al. 2013). Plant traits are at the heart
of understanding how the evolutionary past influences ongoing community assembly
processes and ecosystem function (Fig. 2.3). Traits also influence species interactions, which contribute to continuing evolution. Remotely sensed plant traits, if
detected and mapped (Serbin and Townsend, Chap. 3; Morsdorf et al., Chap. 4) at the
appropriate pixel size and spatial extent (Gamon et al., Chap. 16), can provide a great
deal of insight into these different processes (Fig. 2.4).
2.5.3 Phylogenetic, Functional, and Spectral Dispersion
in Communities
The rise of phylogenetics in community ecology was based on the idea that functional similarity due to shared ancestry should be predictive of environmental
sorting and limiting similarity. These processes depend on physiological tolerances
2 Applying Remote Sensing to Biodiversity Science
2.5.2 Plant Traits, Community Assembly, and Ecosystem
Function
Considerable evidence supports the perspective that plant traits influence how species sort along environmental gradients and are linked to abiotic environmental filters
that prevent species without the appropriate traits from persisting in a given location.
Traits thus influence the assembly of species in communities—and consequently, the
composition, structure, and function of ecosystems. Variation in traits among individual plants and species within communities indicates differences in resource use
strategies of plants, which have consequences for ecosystem functions, such as productivity and resistance to disturbance, disease, and extreme environmental conditions. Moreover, the distribution of plant traits within communities influences
resource availability for other trophic levels, above- and belowground, which affects
community structure and population dynamics in other trophic levels. A major goal
of functional ecology is to develop predictive rules for the assembly of communities
based on an understanding of which traits or trait combinations (e.g., the leaf-heightseed (LHS) plant ecology strategy, sensu Westoby 1998) are important in a given
environment, how traits are distributed within and among species, and how those
traits relate to mechanisms driving community dynamics and ecosystem function
(Shipley et al. 2017). This predictive framework requires selecting relevant traits;
describing trait variation and incorporating this variation into models; and scaling
trait data to community- and ecosystem-level processes (Funk et al. 2017). Selecting
functional traits for ecological studies is not trivial. Depending on the question, individual traits or trait combinations can be selected that contribute to a mechanistic
understanding of the critical processes examined. One can distinguish response
traits, which influence a species response to its environment, and effect traits, which
influence ecosystem function (Lavorel and Garnier 2002). These may or may not be
different traits. Disturbance or global change factors that influence whether a species
can persist within a habitat or community based on its response traits may impact
ecosystem functions in complex ways (Díaz et al. 2013). Plant traits are at the heart
of understanding how the evolutionary past influences ongoing community assembly
processes and ecosystem function (Fig. 2.3). Traits also influence species interactions, which contribute to continuing evolution. Remotely sensed plant traits, if
detected and mapped (Serbin and Townsend, Chap. 3; Morsdorf et al., Chap. 4) at the
appropriate pixel size and spatial extent (Gamon et al., Chap. 16), can provide a great
deal of insight into these different processes (Fig. 2.4).
2.5.3 Phylogenetic, Functional, and Spectral Dispersion
in Communities
The rise of phylogenetics in community ecology was based on the idea that functional similarity due to shared ancestry should be predictive of environmental
sorting and limiting similarity. These processes depend on physiological tolerances
2 Applying Remote Sensing to Biodiversity Science