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Which is a better predictor of plant traits: temperature or precipitation?
Author(s) -
Moles Angela T.,
Perkins Sarah E.,
Laffan Shawn W.,
FloresMoreno Habacuc,
Awasthy Monica,
Tindall Marianne L.,
Sack Lawren,
Pitman Andy,
Kattge Jens,
Aarssen Lonnie W.,
Anand Madhur,
Bahn Michael,
Blonder Benjamin,
CavenderBares Jeannine,
Cornelissen J. Hans C.,
Cornwell Will K.,
Díaz Sandra,
Dickie John B.,
Freschet Grégoire T.,
Griffiths Joshua G.,
Gutierrez Alvaro G.,
Hemmings Frank A.,
Hickler Thomas,
Hitchcock Timothy D.,
Keighery Matthew,
Kleyer Michael,
Kurokawa Hiroko,
Leishman Michelle R.,
Liu Kenwin,
Niinemets Ülo,
Onipchenko Vladimir,
Onoda Yusuke,
Penuelas Josep,
Pillar Valério D.,
Reich Peter B.,
Shiodera Satomi,
Siefert Andrew,
Sosinski Enio E.,
Soudzilovskaia Nadejda A.,
Swaine Emily K.,
Swenson Nathan G.,
Bodegom Peter M.,
Warman Laura,
Weiher Evan,
Wright Ian J.,
Zhang Hongxiang,
Zobel Martin,
Bonser Stephen P.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of vegetation science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1654-1103
pISSN - 1100-9233
DOI - 10.1111/jvs.12190
Subject(s) - precipitation , mean radiant temperature , vegetation (pathology) , ecology , environmental science , climatology , annual plant , physical geography , climate change , biology , geography , meteorology , geology , medicine , pathology
Question Are plant traits more closely correlated with mean annual temperature, or with mean annual precipitation? Location Global. Methods We quantified the strength of the relationships between temperature and precipitation and 21 plant traits from 447,961 species‐site combinations worldwide. We used meta‐analysis to provide an overall answer to our question. Results Mean annual temperature was significantly more strongly correlated with plant traits than was mean annual precipitation. Conclusions Our study provides support for some of the assumptions of classical vegetation theory, and points to many interesting directions for future research. The relatively low R 2 values for precipitation might reflect the weak link between mean annual precipitation and the availability of water to plants.