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Variation in habitat suitability does not always relate to variation in species' plant functional traits

Thuiller, W. and Albert, C. H. and Dubuis, A. and Randin, C. and Guisan, A.. (2010) Variation in habitat suitability does not always relate to variation in species' plant functional traits. Biology letters, Vol. 6, no. 1. pp. 120-123.

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Official URL: http://edoc.unibas.ch/dok/A6001774

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Abstract

Habitat suitability models, which relate species occurrences to environmental variables, are assumed to predict suitable conditions for a given species. If these models are reliable, they should relate to change in plant growth and function. In this paper, we ask the question whether habitat suitability models are able to predict variation in plant functional traits, often assumed to be a good surrogate for a species' overall health and vigour. Using a thorough sampling design, we show a tight link between variation in plant functional traits and habitat suitability for some species, but not for others. Our contrasting results pave the way towards a better understanding of how species cope with varying habitat conditions and demonstrate that habitat suitability models can provide meaningful descriptions of the functional niche in some cases, but not in others.
Faculties and Departments:05 Faculty of Science > Departement Umweltwissenschaften > Ehemalige Einheiten Umweltwissenschaften > Pflanzenökologie (Körner)
UniBasel Contributors:Randin, Christophe
Item Type:Article, refereed
Article Subtype:Research Article
Publisher:The Royal Society
ISSN:1744-957X
Note:Publication type according to Uni Basel Research Database: Journal article
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Last Modified:08 Nov 2012 16:22
Deposited On:08 Nov 2012 16:15

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