ORCID Profile
0000-0002-5426-2562
Current Organisations
Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid
,
University of Oxford
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Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-12-2019
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.14904
Abstract: Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to bio ersity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits—almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on in idual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-06-2014
DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS5087
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41586-019-1128-0
Abstract: The identity of the dominant root-associated microbial symbionts in a forest determines the ability of trees to access limiting nutrients from atmospheric or soil pools
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 04-01-2018
DOI: 10.1101/242834
Abstract: Cooperative interactions among species, termed mutualisms, have played a crucial role in the evolution of life on Earth. However, despite key potential benefits to partners, there are many cases where two species cease to cooperate, and mutualisms break down. What factors drive the evolutionary breakdown of mutualism? We examined the pathways towards breakdowns of the mutualism between plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. Using a comparative approach, we identify ~25 independent cases of complete mutualism breakdown across global seed plants. We found that breakdown of cooperation was only stable when host plants either: (i) partner with other root symbionts or (ii) evolve alternative resource acquisition strategies. Our results suggest that key mutualistic services are only permanently lost if hosts evolve alternative symbioses or adaptations. Cooperative interactions among species – mutualisms – are major sources of evolutionary innovation. However, despite their importance, two species that formerly cooperated sometimes cease their partnership. Why do mutualisms breakdown? We asked this question in the partnership between arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and their plant hosts, one of the most ancient mutualisms. We analyse two potential trajectories towards evolutionary breakdown of their cooperation, symbiont switching and mutualism abandonment. We find evidence that plants stop interacting with AM fungi when they switch to other microbial mutualists or when they evolve alternative strategies to extract nutrients from the environment. Our results show vital cooperative interactions can be lost - but only if successful alternatives evolve.
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 30-04-2018
Abstract: Cooperative interactions among species—mutualisms—are major sources of evolutionary innovation. However, despite their importance, two species that formerly cooperated sometimes cease their partnership. Why do mutualisms break down? We asked this question in the partnership between arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and their plant hosts, one of the most ancient mutualisms. We analyze two potential trajectories toward evolutionary breakdown of their cooperation, symbiont switching and mutualism abandonment. We find evidence that plants stop interacting with AM fungi when they switch to other microbial mutualists or when they evolve alternative strategies to extract nutrients from the environment. Our results show vital cooperative interactions can be lost, but only if successful alternatives evolve.
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 03-06-2015
Abstract: Understanding the origins and evolutionary trajectories of symbiotic partnerships remains a major challenge. Why are some symbioses lost over evolutionary time whereas others become crucial for survival? Here, we use a quantitative trait reconstruction method to characterize different evolutionary stages in the ancient symbiosis between legumes ( Fabaceae ) and nitrogen-fixing bacteria, asking how labile is symbiosis across different host clades. We find that more than half of the 1,195 extant nodulating legumes analyzed have a high likelihood ( %) of being in a state of high symbiotic persistence, meaning that they show a continued capacity to form the symbiosis over evolutionary time, even though the partnership has remained facultative and is not obligate. To explore patterns associated with the likelihood of loss and retention of the N 2 -fixing symbiosis, we tested for correlations between symbiotic persistence and legume distribution, climate, soil and trait data. We found a strong latitudinal effect and demonstrated that low mean annual temperatures are associated with high symbiotic persistence in legumes. Although no significant correlations between soil variables and symbiotic persistence were found, nitrogen and phosphorus leaf contents were positively correlated with legumes in a state of high symbiotic persistence. This pattern suggests that highly demanding nutrient lifestyles are associated with more stable partnerships, potentially because they “lock” the hosts into symbiotic dependency. Quantitative reconstruction methods are emerging as a powerful comparative tool to study broad patterns of symbiont loss and retention across erse partnerships.
Location: Netherlands
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Gijsbert Werner.