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Integrating abiotic covariates, functional trait diversity and consequences of important processes on the ecosystem level
Predictions of the effects of global change are notoriously difficult across ecological systems, because these systems differ considerably in the taxonomic composition of species. One possibility to overcome this challenge is to use traits of species for comparative analyses of ecosystems that differ in taxonomic composition. The proposed project aims at linking trait diversity of communities with herbivory and other ecological processes along environmental gradients (climate and land-use change). The ultimate aim is to understand the resistance of two target ecosystem functions biomass production and water fluxes to environmental changes. To achieve this, we will 1) carry out experimental work to investigate how herbivory and the traits of herbivores changes along environmental gradients. 2) We will use a trait-based approach to integrate all abiotic covariates, trait and process data collected in the proposed research unit. This will allow us to understand the role of traits and their distribution within communities for the level of herbivory. Furthermore, we will provide a statistical synthesis on the importance of traits to predict the effects of climate and land-use changes on multiple ecological processes and functions using a response–effect framework (REF). Relating these community responses to biotic interactions and associated ecosystem processes and functions along environmental gradients will provide insights into a system’s ability to resist environmental change.