Global patterns in plant height Export

@article{citeulike:5024036, abstract = {1. Plant height is a central part of plant ecological strategy. It is strongly correlated with life span, seed mass and time to maturity, and is a major determinant of a species' ability to compete for light. Plant height is also related to critical ecosystem variables such as animal diversity and carbon storage capacity. However, remarkably little is known about global patterns in plant height. Here, we use maximum height data for 7084 plant Species נSite combinations to provide the first global, cross-species quantification of the latitudinal gradient in plant height. 2. The mean maximum height of species growing within 15° of the equator (7.8 m) was 29 times greater than the height of species between 60° and 75° N (27 cm), and 31 times greater than the height of species between 45° and 60° S (25 cm). There was no evidence that the latitudinal gradient in plant height was different in the northern hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere (P = 0.29). A 2.4-fold drop in plant height at the edge of the tropics (P = 0.006) supports the idea that there might be a switch in plant strategy between temperate and tropical zones. 3. We investigated 22 environmental variables to determine which factors underlie the latitudinal gradient in plant height. We found that species with a wide range of height strategies were present in cold, dry, low productivity systems, but there was a noticeable lack of very short species in wetter, warmer, more productive sites. Variables that capture information about growing conditions during the harsh times of the year were relatively poor predictors of height. The best model for global patterns in plant height included only one term: precipitation in the wettest month (R2 = 0.256). 4. Synthesis. We found a remarkably steep relationship between latitude and height, indicating a major difference in plant strategy between high and low latitude systems. We also provide new, surprising information about the correlations between plant height and environmental variables.}, address = {Evolution \& Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; School of Mathematics and Statistics and Evolution \& Ecology Research Centre, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; Center for Tropical Forest Science Asia Program, Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02130-3500, USA; School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, 2024 W. Main St., Durham, NC 27705, USA; Department of Biology, University of Missouri, St. Louis, MO 63121-4400, USA; Climate Change Research Centre, Faculty of Science, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia}, author = {Moles, Angela T. and Warton, David I. and Warman, Laura and Swenson, Nathan G. and Laffan, Shawn W. and Zanne, Amy E. and Pitman, Andy and Hemmings, Frank A. and Leishman, Michelle R.}, citeulike-article-id = {5024036}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01526.x}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/122457295/ABSTRACT}, doi = {10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01526.x}, issn = {00220477}, journal = {Journal of Ecology}, keywords = {climate, ecological, latitude, plant, precipitation, strategy, temperature}, month = {June}, number = {9999}, posted-at = {2009-06-30 17:35:21}, priority = {2}, title = {Global patterns in plant height}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01526.x}, volume = {9999}, year = {2009} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:5024036 L3 - citeulike-article-id:5024036 N2 - 1. Plant height is a central part of plant ecological strategy. It is strongly correlated with life span, seed mass and time to maturity, and is a major determinant of a species' ability to compete for light. Plant height is also related to critical ecosystem variables such as animal diversity and carbon storage capacity. However, remarkably little is known about global patterns in plant height. Here, we use maximum height data for 7084 plant Species נSite combinations to provide the first global, cross-species quantification of the latitudinal gradient in plant height. 2. The mean maximum height of species growing within 15° of the equator (7.8 m) was 29 times greater than the height of species between 60° and 75° N (27 cm), and 31 times greater than the height of species between 45° and 60° S (25 cm). There was no evidence that the latitudinal gradient in plant height was different in the northern hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere (P = 0.29). A 2.4-fold drop in plant height at the edge of the tropics (P = 0.006) supports the idea that there might be a switch in plant strategy between temperate and tropical zones. 3. We investigated 22 environmental variables to determine which factors underlie the latitudinal gradient in plant height. We found that species with a wide range of height strategies were present in cold, dry, low productivity systems, but there was a noticeable lack of very short species in wetter, warmer, more productive sites. Variables that capture information about growing conditions during the harsh times of the year were relatively poor predictors of height. The best model for global patterns in plant height included only one term: precipitation in the wettest month (R2 = 0.256). 4. Synthesis. We found a remarkably steep relationship between latitude and height, indicating a major difference in plant strategy between high and low latitude systems. We also provide new, surprising information about the correlations between plant height and environmental variables. IS - 9999 JF - Journal of Ecology SN - 00220477 AD - Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; School of Mathematics and Statistics and Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; Center for Tropical Forest Science Asia Program, Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02130-3500, USA; School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, 2024 W. Main St., Durham, NC 27705, USA; Department of Biology, University of Missouri, St. Louis, MO 63121-4400, USA; Climate Change Research Centre, Faculty of Science, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia TI - Global patterns in plant height VL - 9999 KW - climate KW - ecological KW - latitude KW - plant KW - precipitation KW - strategy KW - temperature AU - Moles, Angela AU - Warton, David AU - Warman, Laura AU - Swenson, Nathan AU - Laffan, Shawn AU - Zanne, Amy AU - Pitman, Andy AU - Hemmings, Frank AU - Leishman, Michelle PY - 2009/06// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01526.x ER -