Linking ecomechanical models and functional traits to understand phenotypic diversity
Date
2021
Authors
Higham, Timothy E.
Ferry, Lara A.
Schmitz, Lars
Irschick, Duncan J.
Starko, Samuel
Anderson, Philip S. L.
Bergmann, Philip J.
Jamniczky, Heather A.
Monteiro, Leandro R.
Navon, Dina
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Trends in Ecology and Evolution
Abstract
Physical principles and laws determine the set of possible organismal phenotypes.
Constraints arising from development, the environment, and evolutionary
history then yield workable, integrated phenotypes. We propose a theoretical
and practical framework that considers the role of changing environments. This
‘ecomechanical approach’ integrates functional organismal traits with the ecological
variables. This approach informs our ability to predict species shifts in
survival and distribution and provides critical insights into phenotypic diversity.
We outline how to use the ecomechanical paradigm using drag-induced bending
in trees as an example. Our approach can be incorporated into existing research
and help build interdisciplinary bridges. Finally, we identify key factors needed
for mass data collection, analysis, and the dissemination of models relevant to
this framework.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Higham, T., Ferry, L., Schmitz, L., Irschick, D., Starko, S., Anderson, P. S. L., Bergmann, P. J., Jamniczky, H. A., Monteiro, L. R., Navon, D., Messier, J., Carrington, E., Farina, S. C., Feilich, K. L., Hernandez, L. P., Johnson, M. A., Kawano, S. M., Law, C. J., Longo, S. J., … Niklas, K. J. (2021). Linking ecomechanical models and functional traits to understand phenotypic diversity. Trends in Ecology and Evolution.