Effects of Plant Traits on Ecosystem and Regional Processes: a Conceptual Framework for Predicting the Consequences of Global Change

Predicting the impact of global climate change

Anthropogenic activities are changing the climate and modifying species composition. Chapin (pp. 455-463) reviews likely ecological impacts of these changes. Effects are thought to be greatest when species change affects the productive capacity of the overall vegetative cover, rate of organic matter decomposition and mineralization processes in the soil.