Plant adaptation and the trait-based prediction of plant distribution and abundance

植物适应以及基于性状的植物分布和丰度预测

• 批准号: 577-2013
• 负责人: Lechowicz, Martin
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: McGill University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2013-01-01 至 2014-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=520278
• 关键词: Plant; adaptation; trait; based; prediction

The ecoregions across Canada provide the diversity underpinning our natural heritage. Their fundamental visual and biological character is set by their vegetation, from barren tundra through expansive grasslands to dense forests. Plant ecology has a long history of descriptive studies classifying vegetation into communities arrayed along environmental gradients. From studies of plant function and adaptation, we also have some idea why species prosper in some environments and die out in others. For example, we understand reasonably well adaptations to factors such as winter temperature or risk of drought that set limits on the geographic ranges of species. We understand much less well the adaptations that affect the structure of plant communities. We can neither predict which species will be common or rare, nor the relative abundance of a species in a particular environmental regime. Such predictions are critical to developing well-founded policies for the sustainable management of our forests and wildlife habitat, and for protecting endangered plant and animal species. Descriptive studies alone are insufficient for predicting how plant communities will respond to challenges such climate change and invasion by non-native species.

加拿大各地的生态区提供了支撑我们自然遗产的多样性。它们的基本视觉和生物学特征是由植被决定的，从贫瘠的苔原到广阔的草原再到茂密的森林。植物生态学有着悠久的描述性研究历史，将植被分类为沿环境梯度排列的群落。通过对植物功能和适应的研究，我们还了解了为什么物种在某些环境中繁荣而在另一些环境中灭绝。例如，我们相当了解对冬季温度或干旱风险等因素的适应，这些因素限制了物种的地理范围。我们对影响植物群落结构的适应知之甚少。我们既无法预测哪些物种会常见或稀有，也无法预测特定环境条件下物种的相对丰度。这些预测对于制定有理有据的政策至关重要，以可持续管理我们的森林和野生动物栖息地，并保护濒临灭绝的动植物物种。仅描述性研究不足以预测植物群落将如何应对气候变化和非本地物种入侵等挑战。