Trait data set

Abstract

Identifying which functional traits distinguish species’ responses to climate change is essential for estimating future species composition and ecosystem function.

Previous studies on the trait-based approach have attempted to explain plant performance using either aboveground or belowground traits at either the organ or the whole-plant level. To understand the species-specific responses to climate change, however, it is necessary to examine various traits simultaneously and comprehensively, including organ- and whole-plant-level traits both aboveground and belowground, within the same study.

Changes in species’ abundance have been recorded in the alpine snow-meadow of the Taisetsu mountains, northern Japan, over a 40-year period. We examined whether 26 functional traits differed between the species exhibiting an increasing trend and those exhibiting a decreasing trend to understand the underlying mechanism that differentiates the species’ responses to climate change.

We found that the increasing species have larger rhizomes and longer and thinner fine roots, suggesting that drought tolerance may separate the alpine species’ responses to climate warming. 

Our study demonstrates that belowground WP traits, as well as belowground OR traits, play decisive roles in distinguishing the species' responses to climate change. Our findings also indicate that belowground traits may provide better predictions of alpine species abundance in response to climate warming than aboveground traits. Thus, our study suggests that understanding belowground traits at the whole-plant level may contribute to more accurate and efficient predictions of the responses of alpine plants to climate change.

摘要

明确哪些功能性状能够区分物种对气候变化的响应，是预估未来物种组成与生态系统功能的核心前提。

过往基于功能性状的研究多单独采用地上或地下功能性状，分别从器官或整株水平阐释植物的生长表现。然而，若要精准理解物种对气候变化的特异性响应，需在同一研究中同时、全面地考察各类功能性状——涵盖地上与地下的器官水平及整株水平性状。

本研究针对日本北部大雪山山脉的高山雪盖草甸开展了为期40年的监测，记录了物种多度的动态变化。为阐明驱动物种对气候变化响应差异的潜在机制，我们对比了26项功能性状在种群增长型物种与种群衰减型物种间的差异。

研究结果显示，种群增长型物种拥有更为发达的根状茎与更长更纤细的细根，这表明耐旱性可能是区分高山物种对气候变暖响应差异的关键性状。

本研究证实，地下整株水平（whole-plant, WP）性状与地下器官水平（organ, OR）性状均在区分物种对气候变化的响应中发挥决定性作用。同时，相较于地上性状，地下性状能够更精准地预测高山物种多度对气候变暖的响应。综上，本研究表明，解析整株水平的地下功能性状，有助于更准确高效地预估高山植物对气候变化的响应。