title: A global meta-analysis of the relative extent of intraspecific trait variation in plant communities.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Siefert
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR 5175, CNRS - Université de Montpellier - Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier - EPHE - 34293, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Cyrille
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authors.lastname: Violle
authors.affiliation: Université Grenoble Alpes, LECA, F-38000, Grenoble, France.|CNRS, LECA, F-3800, Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Loïc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chalmandrier
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, Avignon Université, IMBE, 13397, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Cécile H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Albert
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR 5175, CNRS - Université de Montpellier - Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier - EPHE - 34293, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Adrien
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authors.lastname: Taudiere
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Ecosistemas de la Patagonia (CIEP) Conicyt-Regional R10C1003, Universidad Austral de Chile, Camino Baguales s/n, Coyhaique, 5951601, Chile.
authors.forename: Alex
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authors.lastname: Fajardo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada.
authors.forename: Lonnie W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Aarssen
authors.affiliation: International Center for Tropical Botany, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.|INRA, UMR Ecologie des Forêts de Guyane, BP 709, 97387, Kourou Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Christopher
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authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, 91501-970, RS, Brazil.|CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, Brasília, DF, 70040-020, Brazil.|Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Evolução, Universidade Federal de Goiás, 74690-900, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcos B
authors.initials: MB
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authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, 74690-900, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil.
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authors.initials: MV
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authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology, University of Campinas, 13083-970, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Vinícius
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authors.lastname: de L Dantas
authors.affiliation: Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, CZ-379 82, Třeboň, Czech Republic.|Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, CZ-370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: de Bello
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, 91501-970, RS, Brazil.
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authors.initials: LD
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authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, 59092-350, Brazil.
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authors.initials: CR
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authors.affiliation: Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, UMR 5175, CNRS - Université de Montpellier - Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier - EPHE - 34293, Montpellier, France.|Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umea, 901 83, Sweden.
authors.forename: Grégoire T
authors.initials: GT
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authors.affiliation: IRSTEA, Unité de Recherche sur les Ecosystèmes Montagnards, BP 76, 38402, St-Martin d'Hères, cedex, France.
authors.forename: Stéphanie
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authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Library Avenue, Bailrigg, LA14AP, Lancaster, UK.
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authors.affiliation: CNRS UMR 6553, ECOBIO, Université de Rennes 1, Rennes, 35042, France.
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authors.affiliation: Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability, United Nations University, 5-53-70 Jingumae, Shibuya, 150-8925, Japan.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Florida, P.O. Box 118525, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.
authors.forename: Masatoshi
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authors.affiliation: Département des sciences biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, H3C3P8, Canada.
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authors.initials: SW
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authors.affiliation: Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umea, 901 83, Sweden.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umea, 901 83, Sweden.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, CZ-370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
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authors.initials: YL
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authors.affiliation: Landcare Research, Private Bag 3127, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand.
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authors.affiliation: Landcare Research, Private Bag 3127, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand.
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authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, 91501-970, RS, Brazil.|Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
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authors.initials: VD
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authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Lund University, Sölvegatan 37, SE-223 62, Lund, Sweden.
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authors.affiliation: Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, 8057, Zürich, Switzerland.
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authors.affiliation: Département de biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, J1K 2R1, Canada.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, SE901 87 Umeå, Sweden.|Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, The Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, 2100, Denmark.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Sölvegatan 12, SE-223 62, Lund, Sweden.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Sölvegatan 12, SE-223 62, Lund, Sweden.
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mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D010641:Phenotype; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D013045:Species Specificity
keywords: community ecology; functional diversity; interspecific variation; intraspecific variability; leaf trait; plant functional trait; trait-based ecology