Advancing trait-based plant ecology: understanding the causes and consequences of trait covariation across biological scales

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As anthropogenic environmental changes are leading to a 6th mass extinction, Ecology's place in society is more central than ever. Studying ~9 million species with unique genes and traits, generality is both a central goal and challenge of ecology. To that end, plant ecology has recently shifted toward a trait-based approach. Measuring traits common to all plants, this approach provides a common currency to compare species. Trait-based plant ecology has made significant progress toward improving generality by describing trait dimensions, major axes of variation in plant form and function organizing diversity worldwide, each representing multiple correlated traits. My research has highlighted two crucial gaps in our understanding of trait covariation at local scales which this research will address. The long-term goal of my program is to improve our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary (i) causes and (ii) consequences of plant trait covariation across biological scales. First, strong at global scales, trait dimensions can disappear at more local scales and we do not know why. We do not know how local-scale processes affect the mechanisms underpinning global patterns of trait covariation. Second, the effects of trait-trait interactions on plant performance across environments is currently not taken into account in trait-based ecology. To address these gaps, I will examine the coordination among carbon- and water-use traits in model, crop and commercial temperate tree species. My short-term objectives (O) are to: O1. Determine the local causes of intraspecific covariation in carbon-use foliar traits; O2. Assess the role of water-use traits in modulating relationships among carbon-use foliar traits; O3. Assess how intraspecific covariation in carbon- and water-use traits constrain the response of tree species to climate change. The research is of broad interest for ecology and evolution as, no matter the results, it will produce globally significant advances in our understanding of the causes of trait-function relationships across scales. O1 uses an innovative cross-scale approach rarely adopted in ecology that assesses the relative role of different causes of integration. O2 is novel because trait-based ecology has paid little attention to how water-use traits affect relationships among carbon-economic traits, shown to affect ecological processes from tree growth to ecosystem function. O3 will improve our ability to predict how trees respond to climate change, which is essential to mitigate the effects of climate change on forest ecosystems. Covering over 40% of Canada and strongly impacted by climate change, forests provide the basic habitats for other organisms and are a resource critical to the forestry industry and social well-being of Canadians. Trainees will gain valuable professional and technical skills in ecology and ecophysiology that will advance their careers in consulting, scientific communication, education or research.