TY - JOUR
T1 - Raunkiæran shortfalls
T2 - Challenges and perspectives in trait-based ecology
AU - de Bello, Francesco
AU - Fischer, Felícia M.
AU - Puy, Javier
AU - Shipley, Bill
AU - Verdú, Miguel
AU - Götzenberger, Lars
AU - Lavorel, Sandra
AU - Moretti, Marco
AU - Wright, Ian J.
AU - Berg, Matty P.
AU - Carmona, Carlos Pérez
AU - Cornelissen, J. Hans C.
AU - Dias, André T.C.
AU - Gibb, Heloise
AU - Lepš, Jan
AU - Madin, Joshua S.
AU - Majeková, Maria
AU - Pausas, Juli G.
AU - Segrestin, Jules
AU - Sobral, Mar
AU - Zanne, Amy E.
AU - Garnier, Eric
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Author(s). Ecological Monographs published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Ecological Society of America.
PY - 2025/5
Y1 - 2025/5
N2 - Trait-based ecology, a prominent research field identifying traits linked to the distribution and interactions of organisms and their impact on ecosystem functioning, has flourished in the last three decades. Yet, the field still grapples with critical challenges, broadly framed as Raunkiæran shortfalls. Recognizing and interconnecting these limitations is vital for designing and prioritizing research objectives and mainstreaming trait-based approaches across a variety of organisms, trophic levels, and biomes. This strategic review scrutinizes eight major limitations within trait-based ecology, spanning scales from organisms to the entire biosphere. Challenges range from defining and measuring traits (SF 1), exploring intraspecific variability within and across individuals and populations (SF 2), understanding the complex relationships between trait variation and fitness (SF 3), and discerning trait variations with underlying evolutionary patterns (SF 4). This review extends to community assembly (SF 5), ecosystem functioning and multitrophic relationships (SFs 6 and 7), and global repositories and scaling (SF 8). At the core of trait-based ecology lies the ambition of scaling up processes from individuals to ecosystems by exploring the ecological strategies of organisms and connecting them to ecosystem functions across multiple trophic levels. Achieving this goal necessitates addressing key limitations embedded in the foundations of trait-based ecology. After identifying key SFs, we propose pathways for advancing trait-based ecology, fortifying its robustness, and unlocking its full potential to significantly contribute to ecological understanding and biodiversity conservation. This review underscores the significance of systematically evaluating the performance of organisms in standardized conditions, encompassing their responses to environmental variation and effects on ecosystems. This approach aims to bridge the gap between easily measurable traits, species ecological strategies, their demography, and their combined impacts on ecosystems.
AB - Trait-based ecology, a prominent research field identifying traits linked to the distribution and interactions of organisms and their impact on ecosystem functioning, has flourished in the last three decades. Yet, the field still grapples with critical challenges, broadly framed as Raunkiæran shortfalls. Recognizing and interconnecting these limitations is vital for designing and prioritizing research objectives and mainstreaming trait-based approaches across a variety of organisms, trophic levels, and biomes. This strategic review scrutinizes eight major limitations within trait-based ecology, spanning scales from organisms to the entire biosphere. Challenges range from defining and measuring traits (SF 1), exploring intraspecific variability within and across individuals and populations (SF 2), understanding the complex relationships between trait variation and fitness (SF 3), and discerning trait variations with underlying evolutionary patterns (SF 4). This review extends to community assembly (SF 5), ecosystem functioning and multitrophic relationships (SFs 6 and 7), and global repositories and scaling (SF 8). At the core of trait-based ecology lies the ambition of scaling up processes from individuals to ecosystems by exploring the ecological strategies of organisms and connecting them to ecosystem functions across multiple trophic levels. Achieving this goal necessitates addressing key limitations embedded in the foundations of trait-based ecology. After identifying key SFs, we propose pathways for advancing trait-based ecology, fortifying its robustness, and unlocking its full potential to significantly contribute to ecological understanding and biodiversity conservation. This review underscores the significance of systematically evaluating the performance of organisms in standardized conditions, encompassing their responses to environmental variation and effects on ecosystems. This approach aims to bridge the gap between easily measurable traits, species ecological strategies, their demography, and their combined impacts on ecosystems.
KW - biodiversity
KW - ecosystem functioning
KW - functional groups
KW - functional traits
KW - growth form
KW - intraspecific trait variability
KW - life history
KW - phylogeny
KW - traits databases
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U2 - 10.1002/ecm.70018
DO - 10.1002/ecm.70018
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:105005869870
SN - 0012-9615
VL - 95
SP - 1
EP - 26
JO - Ecological Monographs
JF - Ecological Monographs
IS - 2
M1 - e70018
ER -