Ecosystem Traits Linking Functional Traits to Macroecology

Most processes related to effects of global change must be understood and dealt with at regional or global scales, requiring the linkage between traditional traits and macroecology. We propose a framework for quantifying ecosystem traits to broaden the applicability of functional traits to macroecology. Ecosystem traits are quantities informative of environmental adaptation and the optimization function of organisms at whole community or ecosystem, standardized on the intensity (or density) per unit land area. Using data sets from tropical to cold-temperate forests, we developed an approach for scaling up and scale-matching traits measured for use as ecosystem traits per land area. Ecosystem traits can integrate data from field investigations, eddy-flux, remote sensing, and ecological models, and provide new resolution of the responses and feedback at regional to global change. As the range of studies on macroecology and functional traits expands, integration of traits into higher-level approaches offers new opportunities to improve clarification of larger-scale patterns and their mechanisms and predictions using models. Here, we propose a framework for quantifying ‘ecosystem traits’ and means to address the challenges of broadening the applicability of functional traits to macroecology. Ecosystem traits are traits or quantitative characteristics of organisms (plants, animals, and microbes) at the community level expressed as the intensity (or density) normalized per unit land area. Ecosystem traits can inter-relate and integrate data from field trait surveys, eddy-flux observation, remote sensing, and ecological models, and thereby provide new resolution of the responses and feedback at regional to global scale. As the range of studies on macroecology and functional traits expands, integration of traits into higher-level approaches offers new opportunities to improve clarification of larger-scale patterns and their mechanisms and predictions using models. Here, we propose a framework for quantifying ‘ecosystem traits’ and means to address the challenges of broadening the applicability of functional traits to macroecology. Ecosystem traits are traits or quantitative characteristics of organisms (plants, animals, and microbes) at the community level expressed as the intensity (or density) normalized per unit land area. Ecosystem traits can inter-relate and integrate data from field trait surveys, eddy-flux observation, remote sensing, and ecological models, and thereby provide new resolution of the responses and feedback at regional to global scale. the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time [36Dansereau P.M. Biogeography. An Ecological Perspective. The Ronald Press Company, 1957Google Scholar]. an abstract, usually mathematical, representation of an ecological system (ranging in scale from an individual population, to a community, or even an entire biome), which is studied to better understand the real system [37Halfon E. Ecosystem modeling.Bioscience. 1978; 28: 405Crossref Google Scholar]. a key atmospheric measurement technique to measure and calculate vertical turbulent fluxes within atmospheric boundary layers [38Aubinet M. et al.Eddy Covariance: A Practical Guide to Measurement and Data Analysis. Springer, 2012Crossref Google Scholar]. morpho-physio-phenological traits that impact fitness indirectly via their effects on growth, reproduction, and survival, the three components of individual performance [2Violle C. et al.Let the concept of trait be functional.Oikos. 2007; 116: 882-892Crossref Scopus (2831) Google Scholar]. the subfield of ecology that deals with the study of relationships between organisms and their environment at large spatial scales to characterize or explain statistical patterns of productivity, abundance, distribution, and diversity [12Blackburn T.M. Gaston K.J. Macroecology is distinct from biogeography.Nature. 2002; 418: 723Crossref PubMed Scopus (15) Google Scholar, 39Brown J.H. Maurer B.A. Macroecology: the division of food and space among species on continents.Science. 1989; 243: 1145-1150Crossref PubMed Scopus (534) Google Scholar]. the use of satellite- or aircraft-based sensor technologies to detect and classify objects on Earth, including on the surface and in the atmosphere and oceans, based on propagated signals (e.g., electromagnetic radiation) [40Schowengerdt R.A. Remote Sensing: Models and Methods for Image Processing. Academic Press, 1997Crossref Google Scholar].