Global patterns and environmental drivers of forest functional composition

Elise Bouchard; Eric B. Searle; Pierre Drapeau; Jingjing Liang; Javier G.P. Gamarra; Meinrad Abegg; Giorgio Alberti; Angelica Almeyda Zambrano; Esteban Alvarez-Davila; Luciana F. Alves; Valerio Avitabile; Gerardo Aymard; Jean François Bastin; Philippe Birnbaum; Frans Bongers; Olivier Bouriaud; Pedro Brancalion; Eben Broadbent; Filippo Bussotti; Roberto Cazzolla Gatti; Goran Češljar; Chelsea Chisholm; Emil Cienciala; Connie J. Clark; José Javier Corral-Rivas; Thomas W. Crowther; Selvadurai Dayanandan; Mathieu Decuyper; André L. de Gasper; Sergio de-Miguel; Géraldine Derroire; Ben DeVries; Ilija Djordjević; Tran Van Do; Jiri Dolezal; Tom M. Fayle; Jonas Fridman; Lorenzo Frizzera; Damiano Gianelle; Andreas Hemp; Bruno Hérault; Martin Herold; Nobuo Imai; Andrzej M. Jagodziński; Bogdan Jaroszewicz; Tommaso Jucker; Sebastian Kepfer-Rojas; Gunnar Keppel; Mohammed Latif Khan; Hyun Seok Kim; Henn Korjus; Florian Kraxner; Diana Laarmann; Simon Lewis; Huicui Lu; Brian S. Maitner; Eric Marcon; Andrew R. Marshall; Sharif A. Mukul; Gert Jan Nabuurs; María Guadalupe Nava-Miranda; Elena I. Parfenova; Minjee Park; Pablo L. Peri; Sebastian Pfautsch; Oliver L. Phillips; Maria Teresa F. Piedade; Daniel Piotto; John R. Poulsen; Axel Dalberg Poulsen; Hans Pretzsch; Peter B. Reich; Mirco Rodeghiero; Samir Rolim; Francesco Rovero; Purabi Saikia; Christian Salas-Eljatib; Peter Schall; Dmitry Schepaschenko; Jochen Schöngart; Vladimír Šebeň; Plinio Sist; Ferry Slik; Alexandre F. Souza; Krzysztof Stereńczak; Miroslav Svoboda; Nadezhda M. Tchebakova; Hans ter Steege; Elena V. Tikhonova; Vladimir A. Usoltsev; Fernando Valladares; Helder Viana; Alexander C. Vibrans; Hua Feng Wang; Bertil Westerlund; Susan K. Wiser; Florian Wittmann; Verginia Wortel; Tomasz Zawiła-Niedźwiecki; Mo Zhou; Zhi Xin Zhu; Irié C. Zo-Bi; Alain Paquette

doi:10.1111/geb.13790

Global patterns and environmental drivers of forest functional composition

Elise Bouchard, Eric B. Searle, Pierre Drapeau, Jingjing Liang, Javier G.P. Gamarra, Meinrad Abegg, Giorgio Alberti, Angelica Almeyda Zambrano, Esteban Alvarez-Davila, Luciana F. Alves, Valerio Avitabile, Gerardo Aymard, Jean François Bastin, Philippe Birnbaum, Frans Bongers, Olivier Bouriaud, Pedro Brancalion, Eben Broadbent, Filippo Bussotti, Roberto Cazzolla GattiGoran Češljar, Chelsea Chisholm, Emil Cienciala, Connie J. Clark, José Javier Corral-Rivas, Thomas W. Crowther, Selvadurai Dayanandan, Mathieu Decuyper, André L. de Gasper, Sergio de-Miguel, Géraldine Derroire, Ben DeVries, Ilija Djordjević, Tran Van Do, Jiri Dolezal, Tom M. Fayle, Jonas Fridman, Lorenzo Frizzera, Damiano Gianelle, Andreas Hemp, Bruno Hérault, Martin Herold, Nobuo Imai, Andrzej M. Jagodziński, Bogdan Jaroszewicz, Tommaso Jucker, Sebastian Kepfer-Rojas, Gunnar Keppel, Mohammed Latif Khan, Hyun Seok Kim, Henn Korjus, Florian Kraxner, Diana Laarmann, Simon Lewis, Huicui Lu, Brian S. Maitner, Eric Marcon, Andrew R. Marshall, Sharif A. Mukul, Gert Jan Nabuurs, María Guadalupe Nava-Miranda, Elena I. Parfenova, Minjee Park, Pablo L. Peri, Sebastian Pfautsch, Oliver L. Phillips, Maria Teresa F. Piedade, Daniel Piotto, John R. Poulsen, Axel Dalberg Poulsen, Hans Pretzsch, Peter B. Reich, Mirco Rodeghiero, Samir Rolim, Francesco Rovero, Purabi Saikia, Christian Salas-Eljatib, Peter Schall, Dmitry Schepaschenko, Jochen Schöngart, Vladimír Šebeň, Plinio Sist, Ferry Slik, Alexandre F. Souza, Krzysztof Stereńczak, Miroslav Svoboda, Nadezhda M. Tchebakova, Hans ter Steege, Elena V. Tikhonova, Vladimir A. Usoltsev, Fernando Valladares, Helder Viana, Alexander C. Vibrans, Hua Feng Wang, Bertil Westerlund, Susan K. Wiser, Florian Wittmann, Verginia Wortel, Tomasz Zawiła-Niedźwiecki, Mo Zhou, Zhi Xin Zhu, Irié C. Zo-Bi, Alain Paquette

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Abstract

Aim: 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. Location: Global. Time period: Recent. Major taxa studied: Trees. Methods: We integrated species abundance records from worldwide forest inventories and associated functional traits (wood density, specific leaf area and seed mass) to obtain a data set of 99,953 to 149,285 plots (depending on the trait) spanning all forested continents. We computed community-weighted and unweighted means of trait values for each plot and related them to three broad environmental gradients and their interactions (energy availability, precipitation and soil properties) at two scales (global and biomes). Results: Our models explained up to 60% of the variance in trait distribution. At global scale, the energy gradient had the strongest influence on traits. However, within-biome models revealed different relationships among biomes. Notably, the functional composition of tropical forests was more influenced by precipitation and soil properties than energy availability, whereas temperate forests showed the opposite pattern. Depending on the trait studied, response to gradients was more variable and proportionally weaker in boreal forests. Community unweighted means were better predicted than weighted means for almost all models. Main conclusions: 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. We recommend assessing the sensitivity of tree functional traits to environmental changes in their geographic context. Furthermore, at a given site, the distribution of tree functional traits appears to be driven more by species presence than species abundance.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	303-324
Number of pages	22
Journal	Global Ecology and Biogeography
Volume	33
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13790
Publication status	Published - Feb 2024
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

biogeography
climate
environmental gradients
functional traits
seed mass
species abundance
specific leaf area
trees
wood density

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10.1111/geb.13790Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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Bouchard, E., Searle, E. B., Drapeau, P., Liang, J., Gamarra, J. G. P., Abegg, M., Alberti, G., Zambrano, A. A., Alvarez-Davila, E., Alves, L. F., Avitabile, V., Aymard, G., Bastin, J. F., Birnbaum, P., Bongers, F., Bouriaud, O., Brancalion, P., Broadbent, E., Bussotti, F., ... Paquette, A. (2024). Global patterns and environmental drivers of forest functional composition. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 33(2), 303-324. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13790

@article{aea47583ae064b99a41ea8322ace0b10,

title = "Global patterns and environmental drivers of forest functional composition",

abstract = "Aim: 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. Location: Global. Time period: Recent. Major taxa studied: Trees. Methods: We integrated species abundance records from worldwide forest inventories and associated functional traits (wood density, specific leaf area and seed mass) to obtain a data set of 99,953 to 149,285 plots (depending on the trait) spanning all forested continents. We computed community-weighted and unweighted means of trait values for each plot and related them to three broad environmental gradients and their interactions (energy availability, precipitation and soil properties) at two scales (global and biomes). Results: Our models explained up to 60% of the variance in trait distribution. At global scale, the energy gradient had the strongest influence on traits. However, within-biome models revealed different relationships among biomes. Notably, the functional composition of tropical forests was more influenced by precipitation and soil properties than energy availability, whereas temperate forests showed the opposite pattern. Depending on the trait studied, response to gradients was more variable and proportionally weaker in boreal forests. Community unweighted means were better predicted than weighted means for almost all models. Main conclusions: 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. We recommend assessing the sensitivity of tree functional traits to environmental changes in their geographic context. Furthermore, at a given site, the distribution of tree functional traits appears to be driven more by species presence than species abundance.",

keywords = "biogeography, climate, environmental gradients, functional traits, seed mass, species abundance, specific leaf area, trees, wood density",

author = "Elise Bouchard and Searle, {Eric B.} and Pierre Drapeau and Jingjing Liang and Gamarra, {Javier G.P.} and Meinrad Abegg and Giorgio Alberti and Zambrano, {Angelica Almeyda} and Esteban Alvarez-Davila and Alves, {Luciana F.} and Valerio Avitabile and Gerardo Aymard and Bastin, {Jean Fran{\c c}ois} and Philippe Birnbaum and Frans Bongers and Olivier Bouriaud and Pedro Brancalion and Eben Broadbent and Filippo Bussotti and Gatti, {Roberto Cazzolla} and Goran {\v C}e{\v s}ljar and Chelsea Chisholm and Emil Cienciala and Clark, {Connie J.} and Corral-Rivas, {Jos{\'e} Javier} and Crowther, {Thomas W.} and Selvadurai Dayanandan and Mathieu Decuyper and {de Gasper}, {Andr{\'e} L.} and Sergio de-Miguel and G{\'e}raldine Derroire and Ben DeVries and Ilija Djordjevi{\'c} and Tran Van Do and Jiri Dolezal and Fayle, {Tom M.} and Jonas Fridman and Lorenzo Frizzera and Damiano Gianelle and Andreas Hemp and Bruno H{\'e}rault and Martin Herold and Nobuo Imai and Jagodzi{\'n}ski, {Andrzej M.} and Bogdan Jaroszewicz and Tommaso Jucker and Sebastian Kepfer-Rojas and Gunnar Keppel and Khan, {Mohammed Latif} and Kim, {Hyun Seok} and Henn Korjus and Florian Kraxner and Diana Laarmann and Simon Lewis and Huicui Lu and Maitner, {Brian S.} and Eric Marcon and Marshall, {Andrew R.} and Mukul, {Sharif A.} and Nabuurs, {Gert Jan} and Nava-Miranda, {Mar{\'i}a Guadalupe} and Parfenova, {Elena I.} and Minjee Park and Peri, {Pablo L.} and Sebastian Pfautsch and Phillips, {Oliver L.} and Piedade, {Maria Teresa F.} and Daniel Piotto and Poulsen, {John R.} and Poulsen, {Axel Dalberg} and Hans Pretzsch and Reich, {Peter B.} and Mirco Rodeghiero and Samir Rolim and Francesco Rovero and Purabi Saikia and Christian Salas-Eljatib and Peter Schall and Dmitry Schepaschenko and Jochen Sch{\"o}ngart and Vladim{\'i}r {\v S}ebe{\v n} and Plinio Sist and Ferry Slik and Souza, {Alexandre F.} and Krzysztof Stere{\'n}czak and Miroslav Svoboda and Tchebakova, {Nadezhda M.} and {ter Steege}, Hans and Tikhonova, {Elena V.} and Usoltsev, {Vladimir A.} and Fernando Valladares and Helder Viana and Vibrans, {Alexander C.} and Wang, {Hua Feng} and Bertil Westerlund and Wiser, {Susan K.} and Florian Wittmann and Verginia Wortel and Tomasz Zawi{\l}a-Nied{\'z}wiecki and Mo Zhou and Zhu, {Zhi Xin} and Zo-Bi, {Iri{\'e} C.} and Alain Paquette",

year = "2024",

month = feb,

doi = "10.1111/geb.13790",

language = "English",

volume = "33",

pages = "303--324",

journal = "Global Ecology and Biogeography",

issn = "1466-822X",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd",

number = "2",

}

Bouchard, E, Searle, EB, Drapeau, P, Liang, J, Gamarra, JGP, Abegg, M, Alberti, G, Zambrano, AA, Alvarez-Davila, E, Alves, LF, Avitabile, V, Aymard, G, Bastin, JF, Birnbaum, P, Bongers, F, Bouriaud, O, Brancalion, P, Broadbent, E, Bussotti, F, Gatti, RC, Češljar, G, Chisholm, C, Cienciala, E, Clark, CJ, Corral-Rivas, JJ, Crowther, TW, Dayanandan, S, Decuyper, M, de Gasper, AL, de-Miguel, S, Derroire, G, DeVries, B, Djordjević, I, Van Do, T, Dolezal, J, Fayle, TM, Fridman, J, Frizzera, L, Gianelle, D, Hemp, A, Hérault, B, Herold, M, Imai, N, Jagodziński, AM, Jaroszewicz, B, Jucker, T, Kepfer-Rojas, S, Keppel, G, Khan, ML, Kim, HS, Korjus, H, Kraxner, F, Laarmann, D, Lewis, S, Lu, H, Maitner, BS, Marcon, E, Marshall, AR, Mukul, SA, Nabuurs, GJ, Nava-Miranda, MG, Parfenova, EI, Park, M, Peri, PL, Pfautsch, S, Phillips, OL, Piedade, MTF, Piotto, D, Poulsen, JR, Poulsen, AD, Pretzsch, H, Reich, PB, Rodeghiero, M, Rolim, S, Rovero, F, Saikia, P, Salas-Eljatib, C, Schall, P, Schepaschenko, D, Schöngart, J, Šebeň, V, Sist, P, Slik, F, Souza, AF, Stereńczak, K, Svoboda, M, Tchebakova, NM, ter Steege, H, Tikhonova, EV, Usoltsev, VA, Valladares, F, Viana, H, Vibrans, AC, Wang, HF, Westerlund, B, Wiser, SK, Wittmann, F, Wortel, V, Zawiła-Niedźwiecki, T, Zhou, M, Zhu, ZX, Zo-Bi, IC & Paquette, A 2024, 'Global patterns and environmental drivers of forest functional composition', Global Ecology and Biogeography, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 303-324. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13790

TY - JOUR

T1 - Global patterns and environmental drivers of forest functional composition

AU - Bouchard, Elise

AU - Searle, Eric B.

AU - Drapeau, Pierre

AU - Liang, Jingjing

AU - Gamarra, Javier G.P.

AU - Abegg, Meinrad

AU - Alberti, Giorgio

AU - Zambrano, Angelica Almeyda

AU - Alvarez-Davila, Esteban

AU - Alves, Luciana F.

AU - Avitabile, Valerio

AU - Aymard, Gerardo

AU - Bastin, Jean François

AU - Birnbaum, Philippe

AU - Bongers, Frans

AU - Bouriaud, Olivier

AU - Brancalion, Pedro

AU - Broadbent, Eben

AU - Bussotti, Filippo

AU - Gatti, Roberto Cazzolla

AU - Češljar, Goran

AU - Chisholm, Chelsea

AU - Cienciala, Emil

AU - Clark, Connie J.

AU - Corral-Rivas, José Javier

AU - Crowther, Thomas W.

AU - Dayanandan, Selvadurai

AU - Decuyper, Mathieu

AU - de Gasper, André L.

AU - de-Miguel, Sergio

AU - Derroire, Géraldine

AU - DeVries, Ben

AU - Djordjević, Ilija

AU - Van Do, Tran

AU - Dolezal, Jiri

AU - Fayle, Tom M.

AU - Fridman, Jonas

AU - Frizzera, Lorenzo

AU - Gianelle, Damiano

AU - Hemp, Andreas

AU - Hérault, Bruno

AU - Herold, Martin

AU - Imai, Nobuo

AU - Jagodziński, Andrzej M.

AU - Jaroszewicz, Bogdan

AU - Jucker, Tommaso

AU - Kepfer-Rojas, Sebastian

AU - Keppel, Gunnar

AU - Khan, Mohammed Latif

AU - Kim, Hyun Seok

AU - Korjus, Henn

AU - Kraxner, Florian

AU - Laarmann, Diana

AU - Lewis, Simon

AU - Lu, Huicui

AU - Maitner, Brian S.

AU - Marcon, Eric

AU - Marshall, Andrew R.

AU - Mukul, Sharif A.

AU - Nabuurs, Gert Jan

AU - Nava-Miranda, María Guadalupe

AU - Parfenova, Elena I.

AU - Park, Minjee

AU - Peri, Pablo L.

AU - Pfautsch, Sebastian

AU - Phillips, Oliver L.

AU - Piedade, Maria Teresa F.

AU - Piotto, Daniel

AU - Poulsen, John R.

AU - Poulsen, Axel Dalberg

AU - Pretzsch, Hans

AU - Reich, Peter B.

AU - Rodeghiero, Mirco

AU - Rolim, Samir

AU - Rovero, Francesco

AU - Saikia, Purabi

AU - Salas-Eljatib, Christian

AU - Schall, Peter

AU - Schepaschenko, Dmitry

AU - Schöngart, Jochen

AU - Šebeň, Vladimír

AU - Sist, Plinio

AU - Slik, Ferry

AU - Souza, Alexandre F.

AU - Stereńczak, Krzysztof

AU - Svoboda, Miroslav

AU - Tchebakova, Nadezhda M.

AU - ter Steege, Hans

AU - Tikhonova, Elena V.

AU - Usoltsev, Vladimir A.

AU - Valladares, Fernando

AU - Viana, Helder

AU - Vibrans, Alexander C.

AU - Wang, Hua Feng

AU - Westerlund, Bertil

AU - Wiser, Susan K.

AU - Wittmann, Florian

AU - Wortel, Verginia

AU - Zawiła-Niedźwiecki, Tomasz

AU - Zhou, Mo

AU - Zhu, Zhi Xin

AU - Zo-Bi, Irié C.

AU - Paquette, Alain

PY - 2024/2

Y1 - 2024/2

N2 - Aim: 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. Location: Global. Time period: Recent. Major taxa studied: Trees. Methods: We integrated species abundance records from worldwide forest inventories and associated functional traits (wood density, specific leaf area and seed mass) to obtain a data set of 99,953 to 149,285 plots (depending on the trait) spanning all forested continents. We computed community-weighted and unweighted means of trait values for each plot and related them to three broad environmental gradients and their interactions (energy availability, precipitation and soil properties) at two scales (global and biomes). Results: Our models explained up to 60% of the variance in trait distribution. At global scale, the energy gradient had the strongest influence on traits. However, within-biome models revealed different relationships among biomes. Notably, the functional composition of tropical forests was more influenced by precipitation and soil properties than energy availability, whereas temperate forests showed the opposite pattern. Depending on the trait studied, response to gradients was more variable and proportionally weaker in boreal forests. Community unweighted means were better predicted than weighted means for almost all models. Main conclusions: 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. We recommend assessing the sensitivity of tree functional traits to environmental changes in their geographic context. Furthermore, at a given site, the distribution of tree functional traits appears to be driven more by species presence than species abundance.

AB - Aim: 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. Location: Global. Time period: Recent. Major taxa studied: Trees. Methods: We integrated species abundance records from worldwide forest inventories and associated functional traits (wood density, specific leaf area and seed mass) to obtain a data set of 99,953 to 149,285 plots (depending on the trait) spanning all forested continents. We computed community-weighted and unweighted means of trait values for each plot and related them to three broad environmental gradients and their interactions (energy availability, precipitation and soil properties) at two scales (global and biomes). Results: Our models explained up to 60% of the variance in trait distribution. At global scale, the energy gradient had the strongest influence on traits. However, within-biome models revealed different relationships among biomes. Notably, the functional composition of tropical forests was more influenced by precipitation and soil properties than energy availability, whereas temperate forests showed the opposite pattern. Depending on the trait studied, response to gradients was more variable and proportionally weaker in boreal forests. Community unweighted means were better predicted than weighted means for almost all models. Main conclusions: 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. We recommend assessing the sensitivity of tree functional traits to environmental changes in their geographic context. Furthermore, at a given site, the distribution of tree functional traits appears to be driven more by species presence than species abundance.

KW - biogeography

KW - climate

KW - environmental gradients

KW - functional traits

KW - seed mass

KW - species abundance

KW - specific leaf area

KW - trees

KW - wood density

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85182844125&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/geb.13790

DO - 10.1111/geb.13790

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85182844125

SN - 1466-822X

VL - 33

SP - 303

EP - 324

JO - Global Ecology and Biogeography

JF - Global Ecology and Biogeography

IS - 2

ER -

Global patterns and environmental drivers of forest functional composition

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