Can we leverage functional traits to predict or control the dynamics of species-rich communities? We just had a new paper come out exploring these ideas. You can read it at Oikos or download a PDF. The paper first surveys the general problem of prediction and control in a community context. It then shows how functional…
New paper: Plant water use theory should incorporate hypotheses about extreme environments, population ecology, and community ecology
How and why do plants use water? We just wrote an opinion piece on this topic, calling for a broader appreciation for the multiple values of water to plants, beyond its utility for instantaneous carbon gain. The piece suggests alternate directions for current theory to move into, and critiques the neoclassical economic assumptions of current…