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- Title
Integrated screening validates primary axes of specialisation in plants
- Authors
Grime, J. P.
- Abstract
Standardised procedures have been used to measure 67 traits in 43 common plants of the British flora. This paper provides an interpretation of the most consistent patterns in the resulting matrix by means of correlation, ordination and classification analyses. Only a weak coupling was observed between attributes of the regenerative and established phases of the life history. However, within each phase, attributes were strongly aggregated into sets and a high proportion of the variation between species coincided with a single axis. Attributes of the established phase displayed remarkably consistent trends, with a strong 'Axis 1' being identified by three different multivariate methods. There was a marked correlation between foliar concentrations of N, P, K, Ca and Mg, high concentrations of which coincided with the capacity for rapid growth in productive conditions and an inability tosustain yield under limiting supplies of nutrients. A diverse array of other traits, less immediately involving mineral nutrients, were also entrained in Axis 1; these included life history, root and shoot foraging, the morphology, longevity, tensile strength and palatability of leaves, and the decomposition rate of leaf litter. This pattern occurred in both monocotyledons and dicotyledons and appeared to reflect a tradeoff between attributes conferring an ability for high rates of resource acquisition in productive habitats and those responsible for retention of resource capital in unproductive conditions. The second axis of variation evident in the established phase was related to phylogeny and distinguished between monocotyledons and dicotyledons on the basis of a diverse set of traits including genome size, cellsize, root and shoot foraging characteristics and vascular tissues. A third axis was detected in which ephemerals and perennials were separated by differences in attributes such as breeding system, leaf decomposition rate and a set of traits reflecting the small stature of man
- Subjects
CLASSIFICATION; PLANT ecology
- Publication
Oikos, 1997, Vol 79, Issue 2, p259
- ISSN
0030-1299
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2307/3546011