Towards a new generation of trait-flexible vegetation models

Fabio Berzaghi, Ian J. Wright, Koen Kramer, Sylvie Oddou-Muratorio, Friedrich J. Bohn, Christopher P. O. Reyer, Santiago Sabaté, Tanja G. M. Sanders, Florian Hartig

Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 35(3), 191–205 (2020)

Cite this

@article{berzaghi2020towards,
  author = {Fabio Berzaghi and Ian J. Wright and Koen Kramer and Sylvie Oddou-Muratorio and Friedrich J. Bohn and Christopher P. O. Reyer and Santiago Sabaté and Tanja G. M. Sanders and Florian Hartig},
  title = {Towards a new generation of trait-flexible vegetation models},
  journal = {Trends in Ecology & Evolution},
  volume = {35},
  number = {3},
  pages = {191–205},
  year = {2020},
  doi = {10.1016/j.tree.2019.11.006},
}

DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2019.11.006
Cited by 114 (Google Scholar) · 126 (OpenAlex), as of 07 September 2026

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Abstract

Plant trait variability, emerging from eco-evolutionary dynamics that range from alleles to macroecological scales, is one of the most elusive, but possibly most consequential, aspects of biodiversity. Plasticity, epigenetics, and genetic diversity are major determinants of how plants will respond to climate change, yet these processes are rarely represented in current vegetation models. Here, we provide an overview of the challenges associated with understanding the causes and consequences of plant trait variability, and review current developments to include plasticity and evolutionary mechanisms in vegetation models. We also present a roadmap of research priorities to develop a next generation of vegetation models with flexible traits. Including trait variability in vegetation models is necessary to better represent biosphere responses to global change.

What the paper shows and why it matters (AI-generated)

Plant trait variability — plasticity, epigenetics, genetic diversity within a species — may be one of the most consequential things vegetation models get wrong by ignoring it, since it directly shapes how plants will actually respond to a changing climate. This review maps the current state of trait-flexible modelling and sets research priorities for building the next generation of models that represent it, priorities since picked up across crop modelling, Earth system models, and studies of within-crown trait variation under drought.