Plant Functional Traits from an Intraspecific Variability Perspective
A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Ecology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2021) | Viewed by 10498
Special Issue Editors
Interests: plant ecophysiology; plant functional trait covariation; plant carbon storage and sequestration; leaf photosynthesis and respiration; photochemical efficiency; plant biomass and productivity; Mediterranean sclerophyllous species ecophysiology
Interests: plant ecology; plant conservation; monitoring of plant species; mediterranean habitats; mediterranean plant
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: plant ecophysiology; abiotic stress tolerance; plant functional traits; phenotypic plasticity; Photosynthesis; Mediterranean semi-deciduous species ecophysiology; macroecology
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Plant functional aspects are described by a suite of phenological, physiological, and morphological traits, i.e., plant functional traits (PFT). In the last two decades, PFT have provided a real breakthrough in the functional ecology field, contributing to enlighten the mechanisms underlying plant adaptive strategies to cope with environmental changes. Plant species success depends on PFT co-variation, and at the same time, distribution of PFT across species allows quantifying community functional diversity. So far, a large amount of data has been collected on this topic, and trait sizeable global databases have been built, which have led to expanding our understanding of plants’ response to environmental factors, allowing to identify a global pattern of trait variation along wide environmental gradients. Nevertheless, despite these important outcomes, many aspects still remain poorly investigated. Among them, the relationship between intraspecific variability (i.e., variability at population level) and functional variation within community needs to be addressed. Studies on PFT variations have usually overlooked intraspecific variability, relying rather on interspecific variation, as this variability is considered higher than the first. Intraspecific variability is established by two mechanisms: genetic differentiation and phenotypic plasticity. In response to environmental changes, these mechanisms could act on a different time and spatial scale. In addition, not all traits show the same plasticity degree. As a consequence, within a given species, populations may differ in trait variation response. This source of variation needs to be better understood as it could lead to redefining the global pattern of PFT variation. Considering that most part of the research on PFT aims to postulate a general theory to predict the plant community response to global climate change, increasing our knowledge of intraspecific variability could improve the predictive response species models based on PFTs.
In this Special Issue original research papers, perspectives, opinions, reviews, modeling approaches, and methods that focus on intraspecific PFT variation in response to environmental factors with particular attention to ecological and ecophysiological aspects are welcome.
Dr. Laura Varone
Dr. Giuseppe Fenu
Dr. Giacomo Puglielli
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- morphological, physiological, phenological plant traits
- reproductive traits
- seed germination traits
- plant trait covariation
- phenotypic plasticity
- acclimation
- adaptation
- environmental gradients
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