Plant Functional Ecology

This book provides a comprehensive exploration of plant functional traits and their critical role in understanding and predicting ecosystem functions in response to environmental changes. By bridging the gap between traditional ecological research and emerging macro-ecological technologies, this book offers an in-depth understanding of how functional traits at various levels, from organs to entire ecosystems, can be utilized to address complex ecological challenges, including global change. The chapters cover a wide range of topics essential to the field of ecology, including the development and application of plant functional traits, the scaling of traits from individual plants to communities, and the integration of these traits into advanced models and remote sensing technologies. Novel frameworks, such as plant community traits, ecosystem traits (ESTs), and plant trait networks (PTNs) are discussed, providing new ways to link species-level traits with ecosystem processes. These concepts are pivotal in expanding the application of trait-based ecology, allowing for more accurate predictions of ecosystem productivity, community assembly, and biodiversity patterns on a regional and global scale. The book also addresses the challenge of linking leaf and root traits to ecosystem functions, offering insights into how these traits can be scaled up and used to understand the adaptation strategies of plants in complex environments. Targeted at undergraduate and graduate students and researchers in ecology, this book is ideal for those seeking both fundamental and advanced knowledge of trait-based research in ecology. Offering valuable insights and practical frameworks that are essential for tackling the ecological challenges, the book is a must-read for anyone interested in the integration of macroecology, geography, and remote sensing to solve current regional ecological problems and global change.