Record‐breaking fire seasons in many regions across the globe raise important questions
about plant community responses to shifting fire regimes (ie, changing fire frequency …

Trait‐based approaches have improved our understanding of plant evolution, community
assembly and ecosystem functioning. A major challenge for the upcoming decades is to …

Seed persistence is the survival of seeds in the environment once they have reached
maturity. Seed persistence allows a species, population or genotype to survive long after the …

The Palaearctic steppes range from the Mediterranean basin towards China, forming one of
the largest continuous terrestrial biomes. The literature on steppe ecology and conservation …

Analyses of functional traits have become fundamental tools for understanding patterns and
processes in plant community ecology. In this context, regenerative seed traits play an …

Soil seed banks represent a critical but hidden stock for potential future plant diversity on
Earth. Here we compiled and analyzed a global dataset consisting of 15,698 records of …

In bet hedging, organisms sacrifice short‐term success to reduce the long‐term variance in
success. Delayed germination is the classic example of bet hedging, in which a fraction of …

Aim Seed traits related to recruitment have direct relevance for plant fitness and persistence.
Trait variation in time and among populations may increase species resilience and …

Environmental conditions are the basis of plant reproduction and are the critical factors
controlling seed dormancy and germination. Global climate change is currently affecting …

Dispersal is essential for species to survive the threats of habitat destruction and climate
change. Combining descriptions of dispersal ability with those of landscape structure, the …