A field experiment in a California grassland during the 2017-2018 winter drought suggests that seedling root length is strongly correlated with drought-induced mortality, whereas easily measured adult morphological traits such as specific leaf area are only weakly correlated with seedling mortality, suggesting that easily measurable plant traits may not necessarily be useful in predicting ecosystem-scale responses to environmental stress.
Article #18-18543: "Seedling traits predict drought-induced mortality linked to diversity loss," by Susan P. Harrison and Marina LaForgia.
MEDIA CONTACT: Susan P. Harrison, University of California, Davis, CA; tel: 530-902-1686; e-mail: spharrison@ucdavis.edu
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences