title: Reinforcing loose foundation stones in trait-based plant ecology.
abstract: The promise of "trait-based" plant ecology is one of generalized prediction across organizational and spatial scales, independent of taxonomy. This promise is a major reason for the increased popularity of this approach. Here, we argue that some important foundational assumptions of trait-based ecology have not received sufficient empirical evaluation. We identify three such assumptions and, where possible, suggest methods of improvement: (i) traits are functional to the degree that they determine individual fitness, (ii) intraspecific variation in functional traits can be largely ignored, and (iii) functional traits show general predictive relationships to measurable environmental gradients.
authors.affiliation: Département de Biologie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, J1K 2R1, Canada. Bill.Shipley@USherbrooke.ca.
authors.forename: Bill
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shipley
authors.affiliation: FdB Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Dukelská 135, 379 82, Třeboň, Czech Republic.|Department of Botany, University of South Bohemia, Na Zlaté Stoce 1, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De Bello
authors.affiliation: Systems Ecology, Department of Ecological Science, FALW, VU University, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J Hans C
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cornelissen
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche en Biologie Végétale (IRBV), Université de Montréal, 4101 Sherbrooke Est, Montréal, QC, H1X 2B1, Canada.
authors.forename: Etienne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Laliberté
authors.affiliation: Environmental Research Institute and School of Science, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, 3240, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Daniel C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Laughlin
authors.affiliation: Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA.|Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Reich
mesh_terms: D004463:Ecology; D004777:Environment; D010641:Phenotype; D010944:Plants; D013045:Species Specificity
keywords: Comparative ecology; Environmental gradients; Functional ecology; Intraspecific variation