1. |
- Kattge, Jens, et al.
(author)
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TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access
- 2020
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In: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 26:1, s. 119-188
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.
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2. |
- Li, Yuanzhi, et al.
(author)
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Habitat filtering determines the functional niche occupancy of plant communities worldwide
- 2018
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In: Journal of Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0022-0477 .- 1365-2745. ; 106:3, s. 1001-1009
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- How the patterns of niche occupancy vary from species-poor to species-rich communities is a fundamental question in ecology that has a central bearing on the processes that drive patterns of biodiversity. As species richness increases, habitat filtering should constrain the expansion of total niche volume, while limiting similarity should restrict the degree of niche overlap between species. Here, by explicitly incorporating intraspecific trait variability, we investigate the relationship between functional niche occupancy and species richness at the global scale. We assembled 21 datasets worldwide, spanning tropical to temperate biomes and consisting of 313 plant communities representing different growth forms. We quantified three key niche occupancy components (the total functional volume, the functional overlap between species and the average functional volume per species) for each community, related each component to species richness, and compared each component to the null expectations. As species richness increased, communities were more functionally diverse (an increase in total functional volume), and species overlapped more within the community (an increase in functional overlap) but did not more finely divide the functional space (no decline in average functional volume). Null model analyses provided evidence for habitat filtering (smaller total functional volume than expectation), but not for limiting similarity (larger functional overlap and larger average functional volume than expectation) as a process driving the pattern of functional niche occupancy. Synthesis. Habitat filtering is a widespread process driving the pattern of functional niche occupancy across plant communities and coexisting species tend to be more functionally similar rather than more functionally specialized. Our results indicate that including intraspecific trait variability will contribute to a better understanding of the processes driving patterns of functional niche occupancy.
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3. |
- Ni, Yuanzhi, et al.
(author)
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Toward Reliable and Scalable Internet-of-Vehicles : Performance Analysis and Resource Management
- 2020
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In: Proceedings of the IEEE. - New York, NY : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). - 0018-9219 .- 1558-2256. ; 108:2, s. 324-340
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Reliable and scalable wireless transmissions for Internet-of-Vehicles (IoV) are technically challenging. Each vehicle, from driver-assisted to automated one, will generate a flood of information, up to thousands of times of that by a person. Vehicle density may change drastically over time and location. Emergency messages and real-time cooperative control messages have stringent delay constraints while infotainment applications may tolerate a certain degree of latency. On a congested road, thousands of vehicles need to exchange information badly, only to find that service is limited due to the scarcity of wireless spectrum. Considering the service requirements of heterogeneous IoV applications, service guarantee relies on an in-depth understanding of network performance and innovations in wireless resource management leveraging the mobility of vehicles, which are addressed in this article. For single-hop transmissions, we study and compare the performance of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) beacon broadcasting using random access-based (IEEE 802.11p) and resource allocation-based (cellular vehicle-to-everything) protocols, and the enhancement strategies using distributed congestion control. For messages propagated in IoV using multihop V2V relay transmissions, the fundamental network connectivity property of 1-D and 2-D roads is given. To have a message delivered farther away in a sparse, disconnected V2V network, vehicles can carry and forward the message, with the help of infrastructure if possible. The optimal locations to deploy different types of roadside infrastructures, including storage-only devices and roadside units with Internet connections, are analyzed. © 2019 IEEE
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4. |
- Siefert, Andrew, et al.
(author)
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A global meta-analysis of the relative extent of intraspecific trait variation in plant communities
- 2015
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In: Ecology Letters. - : Wiley. - 1461-023X .- 1461-0248. ; 18:12, s. 1406-1419
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recent studies have shown that accounting for intraspecific trait variation (ITV) may better address major questions in community ecology. However, a general picture of the relative extent of ITV compared to interspecific trait variation in plant communities is still missing. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis of the relative extent of ITV within and among plant communities worldwide, using a data set encompassing 629 communities (plots) and 36 functional traits. Overall, ITV accounted for 25% of the total trait variation within communities and 32% of the total trait variation among communities on average. The relative extent of ITV tended to be greater for whole-plant (e.g. plant height) vs. organ-level traits and for leaf chemical (e.g. leaf N and P concentration) vs. leaf morphological (e.g. leaf area and thickness) traits. The relative amount of ITV decreased with increasing species richness and spatial extent, but did not vary with plant growth form or climate. These results highlight global patterns in the relative importance of ITV in plant communities, providing practical guidelines for when researchers should include ITV in trait-based community and ecosystem studies.
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