title: Fast-slow continuum and reproductive strategies structure plant life-history variation worldwide.
abstract: The identification of patterns in life-history strategies across the tree of life is essential to our prediction of population persistence, extinction, and diversification. Plants exhibit a wide range of patterns of longevity, growth, and reproduction, but the general determinants of this enormous variation in life history are poorly understood. We use demographic data from 418 plant species in the wild, from annual herbs to supercentennial trees, to examine how growth form, habitat, and phylogenetic relationships structure plant life histories and to develop a framework to predict population performance. We show that 55% of the variation in plant life-history strategies is adequately characterized using two independent axes: the fast-slow continuum, including fast-growing, short-lived plant species at one end and slow-growing, long-lived species at the other, and a reproductive strategy axis, with highly reproductive, iteroparous species at one extreme and poorly reproductive, semelparous plants with frequent shrinkage at the other. Our findings remain consistent across major habitats and are minimally affected by plant growth form and phylogenetic ancestry, suggesting that the relative independence of the fast-slow and reproduction strategy axes is general in the plant kingdom. Our findings have similarities with how life-history strategies are structured in mammals, birds, and reptiles. The position of plant species populations in the 2D space produced by both axes predicts their rate of recovery from disturbances and population growth rate. This life-history framework may complement trait-based frameworks on leaf and wood economics; together these frameworks may allow prediction of responses of plants to anthropogenic disturbances and changing environments.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia QLD 4072, Australia; Evolutionary Demography Laboratory, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock 18057, Germany; r.salguero@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Salguero-Gómez
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Odense Center on the Biodemography of Aging, University of Southern Denmark, Odense M 5230, Denmark; Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense M 5230, Denmark;
authors.forename: Owen R
authors.initials: OR
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Ecology and Physiology, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6500 GL, The Netherlands;
authors.forename: Eelke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jongejans
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia QLD 4072, Australia;
authors.forename: Simon P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Blomberg
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Tremough TR10 9EZ, United Kingdom;
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hodgson
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Plymouth University, Plymouth PL4 8AA, United Kingdom;
authors.forename: Cyril
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mbeau-Ache
authors.affiliation: Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen 6700 AA, The Netherlands;
authors.forename: Pieter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Zuidema
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Plant Ecology, Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University, Nijmegen 6500 GL, The Netherlands;
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: de Kroon
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia QLD 4072, Australia; School of Natural Sciences Trinity College Dublin, University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland; Trinity Centre for Biodiversity Research, Zoology, Trinity College Dublin, University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
authors.forename: Yvonne M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Buckley
mesh_terms: D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D010802:Phylogeny; D063245:Plant Development; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000254:growth & development; D010944:Plants / Q000145:classification*; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011158:Population Growth; D012098:Reproduction; D014934:Wood / Q000254:growth & development
keywords: generation time; iteroparity; life history strategy; matrix population model; phylogenetic signal