Other Plant Sciences Commons^™

Ecological Strategies Begin At Germination: Traits, Plasticity, And Survival In The First Four Days Of Plant Life, Julie E. Larson, Brian L. Anacker, Sara Wanous, Jennifer L. Funk

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

1. We commonly use trait variation to characterize plant function within and among species and understand how vegetation responds to the environment. Seedling emergence is an especially vulnerable window affecting population and community dynamics, yet trait‐based frameworks often bypass this earliest stage of plant life. Here we assess whether traits vary in ecologically‐meaningful ways when seedlings are just days old. How do shared evolutionary history and environmental conditions shape trait expression, and can traits explain which seedlings endure drought?.
2. We measured seedling traits in the first four days of life for 16 annual plant species under two water treatments, exploring trait …