Integrated research of plant functional traits is important for the understanding of ecosystem processes

Abstract

Interactions between changing precipitation regimes and other aspects of global change are likely to affect natural and managed terrestrial ecosystems. Relatively little research has focused on understanding how ecosystems respond to changes in precipitation regimes, which are expected to have significant impacts for ecosystem functioning, species distribution, species richness and biodiversity especially in arid ecosystems. There is a need for integrated studies to understand the functional ecology of different species in order to predict their success under changing environmental conditions. One example for such an integrated assessment is a study by Xu and Li (this issue) on water-use str..