PREreviews of “Alternative designs lead to similar performance when traits and performance vary on different axes” | PREreview

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Alternative designs lead to similar performance when traits and performance vary on different axes

by Kristen M. Nolting and Kent E. Holsinger

Posted: October 8, 2022
Server: bioRxiv
DOI: 10.1101/2022.10.05.511045

Abstract

Plants differ from one another in size, architecture, water relations, and resource uptake, and these differences often lead to differences in performance. Yet within a community species that differ markedly in these traits often have similar performance. Here we use a simple model to show that when the major axes of trait covariation do not align with the axis of performance variation, large differences among species in structural traits may have similar performance, i.e., ‘alternative designs.’ We further illustrate this phenomenon using trait and performance data from co-occurringProteaspecies in the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa. Long-term coexistence of species within a community requires both similar levels of performance, so that some species are not excluded by competition, and niche differentiation, so that multiple species can coexist. Thus, misalignment between the axis of performance variation and the major axes of trait variation may be common, just as genetic variation may be maintained within a population when the selection gradient does not align with the major axes of the genetic variance-covariance matrix.

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1 Rapid PREreview

by Robin J. Fales

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Aggregated Rapid PREreviews
Question	Yes	Unsure	N/A	No
Are the findings novel?	0%	100%	0%	0%
Are the results likely to lead to future research?	100%	0%	0%	0%
Is sufficient detail provided to allow reproduction of the study?	100%	0%	0%	0%
Are the methods and statistics appropriate for the analysis?	100%	0%	0%	0%
Are the principal conclusions supported by the data and analysis?	100%	0%	0%	0%
Does the manuscript discuss limitations?	0%	0%	0%	100%
Have the authors adequately discussed ethical concerns?	0%	100%	0%	0%
Does the manuscript include new data?	0%	0%	0%	100%
Are the data used in the manuscript available?	0%	0%	0%	100%
Is the code used in the manuscript available?	0%	0%	0%	100%
Would you recommend this manuscript to others?	100%	0%	0%	0%
Do you recommend this manuscript for peer review?	100%	0%	0%	0%

1 PREreview

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PREreview by Robin J. Fales

Authored by Robin J. Fales

This review was performed by a pre-review journal club of ecologists including grad students, post docs, and faculty. We were excited to review this paper because we are interested in functional traits and ecological theory.
Review authors: Fiona Boardman, Robin Fales, Monica Sheffer, Olivia …

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