Traits of neighbouring plants and space limitation determine intraspecific trait variability in semi-arid shrublands
Journal of Ecology103: 1647-16572015
Le Bagousse-Pinguet Y., Börger L., Quéro J-L., Garcia-Gomez M., Soriano S., Maestre F.T., Gross N.
PDFUnderstanding how intraspecific trait variability (ITV) responds to both abiotic and biotic constraints is crucial to predict how individuals are assembled in plant communities. Our results highlighted that abiotic and biotic constraints are both substantial sources of trait variations at the individual level, and can blur processes underlying changes in ITV. Considering and disentangling combined sources with an individual perspective would help to refine our predictions for community assembly and functional ecology.