OOS 21: Taking Stock of Trait-Based Community Ecology

Session Organizer(s)

• Marko Spasojevic

  Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California Riverside
  Riverside, CA, USA

Moderator(s)

• Tesa Madsen-McQueen

  Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California Riverside
  Riverside, CA, USA

Volunteer(s)

• Rounak Patra

  Department of Biosystems Engineering & Soil Science, University of Tennessee
  Knoxville, TN, USA

Trait-based ecology was proposed as a way to rebuild community ecology and to resolve much of the context dependency in our understanding of the processes that influence biodiversity patterns. While great advances have been made in the last decade, fulfilling the promise of trait-based ecology requires reflection on where progress has been made and where more progress is needed. The goal of this session is to “take stock” of recent advances in trait-based community ecology and highlight areas where more research efforts are needed to advance the field. We broadly focus on three areas: 1) trait-fitness linkages, 2) unresolved sources of context dependency, and 3) synthesis and scaling of functional diversity. First, we highlight the need for more research focused on the foundations of trait-based community ecology, specifically strengthening the linkages between functional traits and fitness or performance. Second, we highlight unresolved sources of context dependency in trait-based community ecology such as the role of intra- and interspecific trait variation and the impact of vertical species interactions such as small mammal herbivory and mutualisms in influencing pattern of functional diversity. Third, we highlight the need for greater synthesis in trait-based community ecology such as generalizing how functional diversity patterns change along environmental gradients and how to scale patterns of functional diversity from the local plant neighborhood to the continent. By addressing recent advances in these three areas, we will provide a path forward for the field of trait-based community ecology.

Presentations:

• ON DEMAND

  Demographic trade-offs in comparative ecology
  

  Presenting Author: Daniel Laughlin – Botany Department, University of Wyoming
• ON DEMAND

  Disentangling the effect of multiple ecological processes on recruitment in an invaded annual grassland using a trait based approach
  

  Presenting Author: Loralee Larios – Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California-Riverside
• ON DEMAND

  How does functional diversity change along environmental gradients?
  

  Presenting Author: Marko Spasojevic – Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, University of California Riverside
• ON DEMAND

  Linking plant-pollinator networks with traits to understand interaction variation
  

  Presenting Author: Laura Burkle – Department of Ecology, Montana State University
• ON DEMAND

  Revisiting the trait-based filtering framework: Lessons from grassland restoration
  

  Presenting Author: Jennifer Funk – Plant Sciences, University of California Davis
• ON DEMAND

  The functional paradox of dryland plant communities
  

  Presenting Author: Nicolas Gross – French National Research Institute for Agriculture