ArticleNature2016
Plant functional traits have globally consistent effects on competition.
Article in Nature, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 178 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
178 citing papers in PubMed, 939 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ecosystem stability is shaped by resource-trait coordination under multiple interacting global change factors.Nature ecology & evolution · 2026Article
- Fire-embracers possess higher shoot flammability, lower litter flammability and a more acquisitive strategy than fire-tolerators inPlant diversity · 2026Article
- Which, when, and where traits matter: functional trait-mediated species associations shift with microenvironmental and climatic variation.The New phytologist · 2026Article
- From Data to Discovery: Characterizing the Scope and Limitations of Seedling Trait Studies in the U.S. With the EPiC Database.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Biogeographical variation of angiosperm taxonomic traits exhibits a globally consistent structure.Nature plants · 2026Article
- Demographic Bottlenecks and Size-Dependent Competition ShapePlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Functional trait-mediated limiting similarity shapes weed biomass acquisition, fecundity, and reproductive phenology.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Above- and Belowground Traits are Linked Within Species, but Vary Differently Along Environmental Gradients.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Crown architecture traits mediate shade tolerance-dependent trade-offs and neighborhood interactions in a subtropical forest.Plant diversity · 2026Article
- Plant-Trait Syndromes and Environmental Filtering Drive Biomass Ecology in Resource-Limited Forest Ecosystems.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- An experimental test of trait-based restoration to achieve drought tolerance and invasion resistance in two grasslands.Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America · 2026Article
- Macrogenetic Alignment in Ecological Strategies Better Interprets Assembly Processes Than Pre-Determined Functional Groupings.Ecology letters · 2026Article
- Traits Explain Canopy Tree Occurrence Along Regional Environmental Gradients: A Subset Combine to Be Useful.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
- Article
- Impact of canopy vertical height on leaf functional traits in a Cunninghamia lanceolata common garden experiment in Dagangshan.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Competitive interactions during community assembly: how native species identity, diversity, and functional traits affect invasion.Oecologia · 2026Article
- Beyond species means - the intraspecific contribution to global wood density variation.The New phytologist · 2026Article
- Social and structural traits influence species gains while resources influence species losses in a native grassland.Ecology · 2026Article
- Trait-based approaches to restoration ecology: Synthesizing insights from diverse systems.Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America · 2026Review
- Plant Root Architectural Traits Mediate a Trade-Off Between Suppression and Tolerance of Competitors.Ecology and evolution · 2026Article
118 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
36 authors at 20 institutions in 16 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Phenotypic traits and their associated trade-offs have been shown to have globally consistent effects on individual plant physiological functions, but how these effects scale up to influence competition, a key driver of community assembly in terrestrial vegetation, has remained unclear. Here we use growth data from more than 3 million trees in over 140,000 plots across the world to show how three key functional traits--wood density, specific leaf area and maximum height--consistently influence competitive interactions. Fast maximum growth of a species was correlated negatively with its wood density in all biomes, and positively with its specific leaf area in most biomes. Low wood density was also correlated with a low ability to tolerate competition and a low competitive effect on neighbours, while high specific leaf area was correlated with a low competitive effect. Thus, traits generate trade-offs between performance with competition versus performance without competition, a fundamental ingredient in the classical hypothesis that the coexistence of plant species is enabled via differentiation in their successional strategies. Competition within species was stronger than between species, but an increase in trait dissimilarity between species had little influence in weakening competition. No benefit of dissimilarity was detected for specific leaf area or wood density, and only a weak benefit for maximum height. Our trait-based approach to modelling competition makes generalization possible across the forest ecosystems of the world and their highly diverse species composition.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.