FUNCTIONAL TRAITS IN

ECOLOGY
Introduction and some definitions
Ecology?
Predict
? effects of global change on biodiversity and the
consequences of these changes on ecosystem functioning

invasion

warming

overgrazing
Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment (2005)
Biodiversity Ecosystem
Before functioning
Before
 Biodiversity Ecosystem
Before functioning
Before
Global change
drivers Biodiversity
after

Ecosystem
functioning
after
1. How are these changes going
to affect biodiversity?

Biodiversity Ecosystem
Before functioning
Before
Global change 1
drivers Biodiversity
after

Ecosystem
functioning
after
1. How are these changes going
to affect biodiversity?

Biodiversity Ecosystem
Before functioning
Before
Global change 1
drivers Biodiversity
after
2

2. How biodiversity changes will

influence ecosystem functions?
Ecosystem
functioning
after
Defining biodiversity
Defining biodiversity
Defining biodiversity
Which components of biodiversity affect ecosystem
services?
Which components of biodiversity affect ecosystem
services?

TRAITS!!
 Why are traits so important?

Hooper et al. 2005 Ecol. Mon. (from Chapin et al. 2000)

 Why are traits so important?

Hooper et al. 2005 Ecol. Mon. (from Chapin et al. 2000)

1. How these changes are going
to affect biodiversity?
before

Global change
drivers 1

after

Changes are expected particularly in terms of

the functional adaptations/traits of species
 before
Ecosystem
functioning
Before
Global change
drivers 1

after

Ecosystem
2. How biodiversity changes will functioning
influence ecosystem functions? after
 The role of the functional components of biodiversity

Diaz et al. 2007 GCTE

 ISI web of Science

Cadotte et al. 2011 J. App. Ecol.

• What is functional diversity?

• What are these traits?

• Functional ecology?

• What to measure? What to

compute?
What do you see in this photo?
What do you see in this photo?
What do you see in this drawing?
 What do you see in this drawing?

Certain perceptions seem more « natural »

The way that we « see » things affects the way that

we interpret and study these phenomena
 Communities composed of individuals that belong to different species

Communities composed of individuals possessing different functional traits

 Community 1 Community 2

Sp1 Sp1
Sp2 Sp5 Sp2 Sp5
Sp4
Sp4
Sp3 Sp3

5 taxonomically different 5 taxonomically different

species species

Who is more diverse???

 Community 1 Community 2

Sp1 Sp1
Sp2 Sp5 Sp2 Sp5
Sp4
Sp4
Sp3
Sp3

5 taxonomically different 5 taxonomically different

species species

Where should
I go?
 Community 1 Community 2

Sp1 Sp1
Sp2 Sp5 Sp2 Sp5
Sp4
Sp4
Sp3
Sp3

5 taxonomically different 5 taxonomically different

species species

Higher diversity of forms

(higher functional diversity)
 Community 1 Community 2

Sp1 Sp1
Sp2 Sp5 Sp2 Sp5
Sp4
Sp4
Sp3
Sp3

5 taxonomically different 5 taxonomically different

species species

Where should
I go?
 Community 1

Sp1 Sp1
Sp2 Sp5 Sp2 Sp5
Sp4
Sp4
Sp3
Sp3

5 taxonomically different 5 taxonomically different

species species

Why are there so many kinds

of species?
(Hutchinson 1959)
Christmas card, picturing Hutchinson in Santa Rosalia, by Shahid Naeem
from Gotelli & Graves (1996)
The form = function concept

The environment and

resources available in site
SELECT for species with traits
that are better adapted to
these conditions
The form = function concept

e.g. Trait = beak type and size

 Form = function

Body size/volume: Allen’s rule 1877

Enlarged appendages in order to increase surface area and hence promote heat loss:
(higher surface/volume in hotter env. e.g. Maasai; low surf./vol. in cold env. Innuit)

Other traits: coloration, hair type

 Christen C. Raunkiær

LIFE FORM
Convergent evolution of a form adapted to cold habitats
 Succulents

Euphorbiaceae
Mesembryanthemaceae

Cactaceae
Garnier et al. 2016
 what is a trait?

any morphological, physiological or phenological

heritable feature measurable at the individual level (cell
to whole organism).
 what is a trait?
any morphological, physiological or
phenological heritable feature
measurable at the individual level
(cell to whole organism).
population growth rate
geographic range size
mortality rate
abundance
 what is a trait?
any morphological, physiological or
phenological heritable feature
measurable at the individual level
(cell to whole organism).

Independent of environment
or organization level
 what is a trait?
any morphological, physiological or
phenological heritable feature
measurable at the individual level
(cell to whole organism).

Independent of environment
or organization level

Height
Leaf area
…
Mycorrhizal status
 what is a trait?
any morphological, physiological or
phenological heritable feature
measurable at the individual level
(cell to whole organism).

Attributes
(trait values)

Height (5.5 m)
Leaf area (22 cm2)
…
Mycorrhizal status (M)
 what is a trait?
any morphological, physiological or
phenological heritable feature
measurable at the individual level
(cell to whole organism).

Attributes change along environmental

gradients (and time)

H (2 m) H (3 m) H (7 m)
LA (12 cm2) LA (15 cm2) LA (35 cm2)
… … …
MS (M) MS (M) MS (NM)

soil nutrient availability

what is a functional trait?

a trait that is linked to the performance of individuals

[or ecosystem functions]

measurement difficulty
 why all the hype?
conceptual advantages:
1. response to environmental changes
2. species interactions
3. effect on ecosystem processes

methodological advantages:
• traits as a common currency (comparative ecology)
• at any scale (individuals/communities/world)
 What do we consider functional traits?

A characteristic of an organism, measurable at the

individual level, which has demonstrable links to the
organism’s fitness [and effects on ecosystems] (Violle et
al. 2007 Oikos)

Competition Growth/biomass
Simple trait 1
Simple trait 2 Nutrient acquisit.
Simple trait 3 Fecundity Reproduction Fitness
Simple trait 4 Recruitment
Simple trait 5 Life cycle
Simple trait X Tolerance to x&y Survival

Easy to measure Difficult to measure

 What do we consider functional traits?

Hard traits Soft traits

(Lavorel et al. 2007 GCTE)

 Functional traits are related to fitness

Adler P B et al. PNAS 2014;111:740-745

©2014 by National Academy of Sciences

Piston et al. in rev
Piston et al. in rev
 Meadows
4.15

4.10
Vegetative reproduction
4.05

4.00

3.95

3.90

3.85

3.80
10 20 30 40

SLA

Piston et al. in rev

Response traits Effect traits
 What do we consider functional traits?

VIOLLE et al. 2007:

The form = function concept

The environment and

resources available in site
SELECT for species better
adapted to these conditions

Traits as RESPONSE to environment

Which components of biodiversity affect ecosystem
services?

TRAITS!!
Traits as EFFECT on ecosystem
Lavorel & Krigulis 2012 J. Ecol.
 TRAITS AS RESPONSE TRAITS AS EFFECT
Community average plant height

Soil protection from erosion

Water stress Community average
plant height
 TRAITS AS RESPONSE

variance

Mean and variance in Height and Specific leaf area are filtered
along an altitudinal gradient

de Bello et al. 2013 Ecography

 TRAITS AS EFFECT

Litter decomposition
100

Leaves
Significance (p-value) of SMA shifts in elevation
Leaf Fine stem Fine root
Fine stems
Fine stem < 0.001
Fine root < 0.001 < 0.05 R2 = 0.82
Coarse stem < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.05
Fine roots
10 Coarse stems R 2 = 0.62 †

Coarse roots
T1/2 (y)

R 2 = 0.82

R 2 = 0.53
(a)
0.1
1 10 100
Lignin (%)

Predictive power of traits on litter decomposition

Lavorel & Garnier 2002 Func. Ecol.
Functional trait determines

1. the organism’s response to

environmenat (Response
trait),
2. and/or its effects on
ecosystem processes or
services (Effect trait)
 Trait data base free in internet (for plants)

Just google:
• LEDA
• BiolFlor
• CloPla

= good info for plants in

central Europe but…
 In this course:
• Functional trait composition metrics
• Functional trait diversity metrics
• Environmental filtering
• Solution to common problems (missing data)
• Trait databases
• Trait evolution and phylogeny
• Community assembly and null models
• Intraspecific variability (implications for
sampling and including it into analyses)