A global method for calculating plant CSR ecological strategies applied across biomes

The interface between humans and the remainder of the biosphere is characterised by rapid and drastic ecosystem perturbation, and plants are useful indicators of such changes that ‘sit still and wait to be counted’. Grime’s competitor, stress-tolerator, ruderal (CSR) theory includes a practical classification method that is starting to find applications as a descriptive and predictive tool, but it is calibrated using a national flora. Using the TRY plant functional trait database (www.try-db.org), leaf economics and size data for 3068 tracheophytes (representing 198 families, six continents and all 14 principal biomes) were used to produce a multivariate analysis of trait variability, to generate a globally-calibrated CSR classification tool (‘Stratefy’). Strategies were determined within biomes, plant families and life-forms. Fourth-corner and RLQ analyses highlighted correlations between strategies and environmental data globally and locally. Certain biomes (e.g. tropical moist and dry broadleaf forests) exhibited convergence of CSR strategies but others exhibited strategy divergence (e.g. deserts). Convergence was also evident for certain life-forms (e.g. perennial graminoids) but not others (e.g. perennial forbs). C-, S- and R-selection were variously correlated with different climatic variables worldwide depending on life-form or family. We shall include a practical demonstration of the Stratefy tool.