Data from: The unfolding of plant growth form-defence syndromes along elevation gradients

Understanding the functional economics that drives plant investment of resources requires investigating the interface between plant phenotypes and the variation in ecological conditions. While allocation to defence represents a large portion of the carbon budget, this axis is usually neglected in the study of plant economic spectrum. Using a novel geometrical approach, we analysed the co‐variation in a comprehensive set of functional traits related to plant growth strategies, as well as chemical defences against herbivores on all 15 Cardamine species present in the Swiss Alps. By extracting geometrical information of the functional space, we observed clustering of plants into three main syndromes. Those different strategies of growth form and defence were also distributed within distinct elevational bands demonstrating an association between the functional space and the ecological conditions. We conclude that plant strategies converge into clear syndromes that trade off abiotic tolerance, growth and defence within each elevation zone.

要理解驱动植物资源配置的功能经济学原理，需探究植物表型（plant phenotypes）与生态条件变异之间的交互界面。尽管防御投入占据碳预算的较大份额，但这一研究维度在植物经济谱（plant economic spectrum）的研究中常被忽视。我们采用全新的几何分析方法，对瑞士阿尔卑斯山分布的全部15种碎米荠属（Cardamine）植物的生长策略相关综合功能性状，及其抗草食动物的化学防御性状的协同变异（co-variation）展开了分析。通过提取功能空间（functional space）的几何信息，我们发现植物可聚类为三大主要功能综合征（syndromes）。这些具有不同生长型与防御策略的类群，分别分布于不同的海拔带（elevational bands）中，表明功能空间与生态条件之间存在显著关联。我们得出结论：在每个海拔区域内，植物策略会收敛为明确的功能综合征，在非生物耐受（abiotic tolerance）、生长与防御之间形成权衡（trade off）关系。