Aim: More powerful tests of biodiversity theories need to move beyond species richness and
explicitly focus on mechanisms generating diversity via trait composition. The rise of trait …

A component of metabolic scaling theory has worked towards understanding the influence of
metabolism over the generation and maintenance of biodiversity. Specific models within this …

Scaling approaches in ecology assume that traits are the main attributes by which
organisms influence ecosystem functioning. However, several recent empirical papers have …

Aims Patterns of species richness, such as the remarkable biodiversity of tropical regions,
have been documented and studied for centuries. However, their underlying evolutionary …

Functional traits and associated trait‐based concepts have driven rapid innovation in
ecology over recent years, with most progress based on insights from plants. However …

Global environmental change can influence ecosystem processes directly or through
changes in the trait composition of natural communities. Traits are individual‐level features …

Environmental change is as multifaceted as are the species and communities that respond
to these changes. Current theoretical approaches to modeling ecosystem response to …

Few facets of biology vary more than functional traits and life‐history traits. To explore this
vast variation, functional ecologists and population ecologists have developed independent …

Biodiversity is defined by trait differences between organisms, and biologists have long
sought to predict associations among ecologically important traits. Why do some traits trade …

Trait-based approaches are increasingly recognized as a tool for understanding ecosystem
re-assembly and function under intensifying global change. Here we synthesize trait-based …