森林生态系统性状的空间格局与影响因素研究进展——基于中国东部样带的整合分析

性状(Trait)或功能性状(Functional trait)是植物、动物和微生物等对外界环境长期适应和进化后所呈现出来的可量度的特征,也是人们认识自然、利用或改造自然的重要途径和技术手段。近几十年来,科学家对植物、动物和微生物功能性状的研究取得了令人瞩目的成就,尤其在物种水平的植物叶片和根性状的研究领域;然而,自然生态系统是复杂的,植物、动物和微生物自身的多种性状间及其不同生物间性状的相互作用是广泛存在的,因此需要跨学科、系统性、集成式地调查和研究。以中国东部南北样带(NSTEC)森林生态系统为对象开展了植物、微生物和土壤性状的综合测定;基于其核心的研究结论并适当整合NSTEC前期的相关研究成果,希望能给性状研究提供新的调查模式和分析思路。沿NSTEC从热带雨林到寒温带针叶林3700km样带选取了9个地带性森林生态系统,在群落结构调查基础上对群落内所有植物种类(总计1177物种)开展了系统性的性状测定(叶-枝-干-根多元素含量,叶片形态性状-气孔性状-解剖性状-叶绿素含量-多元素含量-非结构性碳水化合物、细根形态性状-解剖性状-多元素含量等),测定了土壤微生物群落结构、酶活性、土壤有机质结构与组成、土壤碳氮周转及其温度敏感性等参数。基于上述数据,不仅按传统途径系统性地探讨了植物、微生物和土壤多种性状的纬度变异规律与影响因素;还从不同角度探讨了"如何科学地将器官水平测定性状推导至天然森林群落水平"科学难题,并从多个性状角度建立了自然森林生态系统中性状与功能的定量关系。在此基础上提出"性状网络"和"生态系统性状"概念,以其更好地用于揭示自然界复杂的森林生态系统,为验证和发展生态学理论、探讨多种性状间协同(权衡)的生态系统生产力优化机制提供重要的数据支撑。希望通过解决性状尺度拓展的技术难题,未来将传统性状研究拓展至群落或生态系统水平,并与高速发展的宏观观测手段(遥感观测、通量观测、模型模拟)有机结合,使性状研究更好地服务于区域乃至全球性的生态环境问题。     

延河流域植物群落功能性状对环境梯度的响应

研究群落水平上的植物功能性状特征及其随环境梯度的变化规律,对认识不同环境梯度下植物群落的形成及其对环境的适应机制具有重要意义。以延河流域不同环境梯度下的稳定的自然植物群落为对象,测量了植物群落组成物种的叶厚度、比叶面积、叶组织密度、比根长、根组织密度、单位质量叶氮含量、单位质量根氮含量、种子质量、种子体积等9个性状,然后以物种重要值为基础加权平均得到各个性状在群落水平上的平均值(即群落性状值);以现有的环境因子栅格图为基础,利用ArcGIS提出各群落对应的环境因子值,同时测定各个群落的土壤水分,分析群落各性状值与环境因子的关系,并建立关系模型。结果表明:在群落水平上,9个植物功能性状分别与13个环境因子存在不同程度的相关性,同时这9个植物功能性状对8个环境因子梯度(土壤水分、年4-10月平均气温、年7-9月总降雨量、降雨季节变化、年平均降雨量、年平均蒸发量、坡度、坡向)的响应特征较好,不同植物功能性状间具有较好相关性。群落水平上植物功能性状及其组合随环境梯度的规律性变化,反映了延河流域植被群落构建过程中环境对功能性状的筛选效应。该研究结果对该区的植被恢复重建的物种选择及植被布局规划具有重要的实践意义。     

生态系统性状对宏生态研究的启示与挑战

功能性状在器官-物种-种群-群落-生态系统水平都具有其特定的适应或功能优化的意义,但目前对功能性状的测定和研究大都局限于器官或物种水平。然而,当前高速发展的宏生态新研究技术和方法(如遥感观测、通量观测、模型模拟)的研究对象都是在生态系统或区域尺度上,如何将传统功能性状与其相连结并服务于生态环境问题和全球变化问题是科学界的一大难题。为了解决传统性状与宏生态研究"尺度不统一"和"量纲不统一"的难题,研究人员最新发展了"生态系统性状(Ecosystem traits, ESTs)"概念体系,并从"理念-数据源-推导方法-应用"等多角度为后续研究提供了可借鉴案例。生态系统性状将传统性状研究从器官水平拓展到了群落和生态系统水平,以单位土地面积为基础构建了传统性状与宏生态研究(或地学研究)的桥梁,开启了性状研究从"器官到群落"、从"经典理论验证到宏观应用"的美好愿景,为多学科交叉提供了新思路。然而,它在方法学和数据源等方面还存在诸多问题与挑战;在此,我们呼吁相关专家从研究方法、概念体系和应用实践上赋予"生态系统性状"更强大的生命力,尤其从动物群落性状和微生物群落性状等角度。本文在深入解读先前生态性状概念体系、理论意义和潜在挑战的基础上,结合最新进展进行了补充,希望通过广泛讨论,完善生态系统性状概念体系,逐步形成"以性状为基础的生态系统生态学"新研究框架,切实推动宏生态研究和区域生态环境问题的解决。     

黄土高原典型小流域草地群落功能性状对土壤水分的响应

植物功能性状可以响应生境的变化并决定生态系统的功能,探究植物功能性状间的关系及其随土壤有效水分梯度的变化规律,对认识不同水分条件下植被在群落水平碳水代谢关系和维持水分平衡的生理生态学机制具有重要意义。以甘肃定西典型半干旱黄土小流域草地群落为研究对象,采用排序分析和回归拟合方法,分析了30个代表性草地样地中7个植物功能性状加权均值对土壤有效水分的响应以及响应性状间的相关关系。结果显示:(1)7个性状中,除叶宽与土壤有效水分无明显相关外,叶长、株高、叶面积、比叶面积、叶厚和叶干物质含量均与土壤有效水分显著性相关,可识别为草地在群落水平对土壤水分的响应性状。(2)草地群落通过降低株高,减小叶长、叶面积和比叶面积,增加叶厚和叶干物质含量以适应土壤有效水分减少;其中叶干物质含量的解释度最大,是土壤水分的最优响应性状。(3)除叶厚与叶长无显著相关外,其余功能性状均存在显著相关,说明草地群落的功能性状在土壤水分梯度上已基本形成了一个相互权衡或协同变化的功能性状组合。     

刈割与施肥干扰下高寒草甸植物功能性状的构建模式

针对目前关于植物群落功能性状构建模式及其驱动因素存在的争议, 研究了33个物种10个功能性状的构建模式。研究结果显示: (1)在刈割-施肥复合梯度上, 这些功能性状主要表现为随机构建模式, 发生随机性和确定性构建的样方比例分别为82.7%和17.3%; (2)在10个功能性状中, 生长型、生活周期、单株地上干质量、叶面积和叶干质量5个功能性状为随机构建模式, 不受试验处理和群落特征(地上净初级生产力、刈割生物量损失、群落高度)变化的影响。植物倾斜度、繁殖方式、固氮性、株高和比叶面积5个功能性状的构建模式与试验处理或群落特征变化有关, 表现出趋同或趋异构建响应。其中, 植物倾斜度和比叶面积的构建模式仅受群落特征影响, 而固氮性、繁殖方式和株高3个性状的构建模式同时还受刈割或施肥处理的影响, 其构建模式因功能性状而异; (3)群落的生物量损失和地上净初级生产力是解释植物功能性状构建模式变化较理想的群落特征; (4)刈割和施肥处理对株高的构建模式具有相反效应, 而刈割和施肥的交互作用对其无显著影响。上述结果说明该研究群落植物功能性状的构建存在不同模式, 以随机构建模式为主, 确定性构建模式居次要地位。确定性构建模式与试验处理和群落特征变化有关, 而且是性状依赖的。相反选择力对趋同和趋异构建模式的平衡效应能引起功能性状发生随机构建。     

长期氮添加对典型草原植物多样性与初级生产力的影响及途径

氮(N)沉降对陆地生态系统的结构和功能已产生了重要的影响, N也是中国北方草原植物生长和初级生产力的主要限制性元素。物种多样性和功能多样性是揭示生物多样性对生态系统功能维持机制的关键指标, 然而, 关于长期N添加下草原物种多样性与功能多样性的关系, 及其对初级生产力的影响途径及机制, 尚不十分清楚。为此, 该研究依托在内蒙古典型草原建立的长期N添加实验平台, 实验处理包括1个完全对照(不添加任何肥料)和6个N添加水平(0、1.75、5.25、10.50、17.50和28.00 g·m^-2·a^-1), 研究了长期N添加对典型草原物种多样性、功能多样性和初级生产力的影响大小及途径。结果表明: 1) N添加显著降低了典型草原的物种丰富度和Shannon-Wiener指数, 但对功能多样性(包括功能性状多样性指数和群落加权性状值)无显著的影响。2)结构方程模型分析表明, 功能多样性主要受物种丰富度的影响, 但是物种多样性减少并没有导致功能多样性降低, 其原因主要是功能群组成发生了改变, 即群落内多年生根茎禾草所占比例显著增加, 以致群落加权性状值变化不大。3) N通过影响物种丰富度和功能群组成, 间接影响群落加权性状值, 进而影响群落净初级生产力。其中, 群落加权性状值是最重要的影响因子, 可解释48%的初级生产力变化, 表明初级生产力主要是由群落内优势物种的生物量及功能性状所决定, 因此该研究的结果很好地支持了质量比假说。     

天山森林植物功能性状与碳库沿海拔梯度的变化

植物功能性状是能够将植物个体特征、群落结构和生态系统功能结合起来的良好载体,但关于在环境梯度上如何通过植物功能性状的连续变化来构建群落、以及植物功能性状如何反映生态系统功能等问题尚有较多疑问。为探讨天山森林植物功能性状与其碳库在海拔梯度上的联系,分析了14个群落尺度上的植物功能性状指标和各组分碳密度沿海拔的变化规律及二者之间的关系。结果表明:(1)受海拔梯度上环境因子的影响,群落尺度上植物功能性状和碳密度的垂直分布并不一致:随海拔升高,叶片碳氮比(C/N)逐渐上升,叶片碳含量(C_(leaf))、比根长(SRL)和植株高度(H)升高后降低,叶绿素含量(Chl)、细根磷含量(P_(root))、叶片氮磷比(N/P)逐渐下降,细根碳含量(C_(root))先升高后趋于平缓,细根氮含量(N_(root))先下降后又有所回升,叶片氮含量(N_(leaf))、木质素含量(LLC)、叶干物质含量(LDMC)、细根干物质含量(RDMC)在各海拔段间无显著差异;(2)比根长(SRL)和植株高度(H)通过影响资源的获取和利用,C与P通过对养分的限制和在器官中的分配,从而影响植被光合作用,与天山森林碳密度显著相关;高木质素含量(LLC)导致植物残体分解速率变慢而与土壤碳密度(SCD)和群落总碳密度(TCD)呈显著负相关关系。随海拔升高,植被碳密度(VCD)先升后降,土壤碳密度(SCD)和总碳密度(TCD)逐渐升高。植物功能性状与环境因子和森林的结构功能相互作用、相互影响,三者之间的关系还需在大尺度上进一步验证。     

桂林岩溶石山青冈群落主要木本植物功能性状变异与关联

研究植物功能性状变异以及不同性状之间的关系, 有助于了解植物对环境的适应策略, 对揭示群落构建和生物多样性维持机制具有重要意义。本研究以桂林岩溶石山青冈群落18种主要木本植物为研究对象, 采用单因素方差分析、混合线性模型以及Pearson相关分析和主成分分析等方法探讨了不同生长型和生活型物种的9个枝、叶功能性状(叶绿素含量、叶片厚度、叶面积、叶干质量、比叶面积、叶干物质含量、叶组织密度、小枝干物质含量和小枝组织密度)的变异与关联。结果表明: (1) 9个功能性状的变异程度不同, 叶面积和叶干质量的种内和种间变异系数最大, 小枝干物质含量和小枝组织密度的种内和种间变异系数最小。(2)在生长型水平上, 乔木、灌木和木质藤本的绝大部分功能性状差异显著。(3)对于不同生活型植物, 除叶面积和比叶面积为落叶植物显著大于常绿植物外, 其余7个功能性状皆为常绿植物显著大于落叶植物。(4)不同生长型和生活型植物功能性状的种内和种间变异大小存在差异, 除部分植物功能性状在一些功能型上表现为种内变异高于种间变异, 其余功能性状的种间变异皆高于种内变异。(5)各功能性状之间关系在个体水平和物种水平大致相同, 但是个体水平上的显著相关比例高于物种水平。研究发现, 植物功能性状的种间变异基本高于种内变异, 但种内变异不容忽略。此外, 不同生长型和生活型物种采取不同的生态策略来适应喀斯特生境。今后的研究应基于个体水平采样并结合环境因子从生长型和生活型等不同功能型角度上深入探究植物功能性状在种内和种间等不同尺度上的变异与关联。     

亚热带常绿阔叶林荷树-厚壳桂群落的碳、氮及水分状况的垂直分布

亚热带常绿阔叶林荷树-厚壳桂群落乔木层植物叶片的单位面积干重较灌木层植物高。群落植物叶氮含量多为12-20mg/g干重,叶磷含量以0.4-1.0mg/g干重占叶的比例最大。叶氮(单位面积含量)和叶磷(单位干重含量)随群落垂直高度增高而增大。叶片叶绿素含量和光合速率亦随垂直增高而增大。群落乔木层植物较灌木层植物有较低的叶片水势。群落乔木层植物较高的碳氮投资和较高的光合速率,构成群落生产力的主要部分。这种群落结构有利于光及其它资源利用,以达到高的生物效益。     

Variation and correlation in functional traits of main woody plants in the Cyclobalanopsis glauca community in the karst hills of Guilin,southwest China

研究植物功能性状变异以及不同性状之间的关系, 有助于了解植物对环境的适应策略, 对揭示群落构建和生物多样性维持机制具有重要意义。本研究以桂林岩溶石山青冈群落18种主要木本植物为研究对象, 采用单因素方差分析、混合线性模型以及Pearson相关分析和主成分分析等方法探讨了不同生长型和生活型物种的9个枝、叶功能性状(叶绿素含量、叶片厚度、叶面积、叶干质量、比叶面积、叶干物质含量、叶组织密度、小枝干物质含量和小枝组织密度)的变异与关联。结果表明: (1) 9个功能性状的变异程度不同, 叶面积和叶干质量的种内和种间变异系数最大, 小枝干物质含量和小枝组织密度的种内和种间变异系数最小。(2)在生长型水平上, 乔木、灌木和木质藤本的绝大部分功能性状差异显著。(3)对于不同生活型植物, 除叶面积和比叶面积为落叶植物显著大于常绿植物外, 其余7个功能性状皆为常绿植物显著大于落叶植物。(4)不同生长型和生活型植物功能性状的种内和种间变异大小存在差异, 除部分植物功能性状在一些功能型上表现为种内变异高于种间变异, 其余功能性状的种间变异皆高于种内变异。(5)各功能性状之间关系在个体水平和物种水平大致相同, 但是个体水平上的显著相关比例高于物种水平。研究发现, 植物功能性状的种间变异基本高于种内变异, 但种内变异不容忽略。此外, 不同生长型和生活型物种采取不同的生态策略来适应喀斯特生境。今后的研究应基于个体水平采样并结合环境因子从生长型和生活型等不同功能型角度上深入探究植物功能性状在种内和种间等不同尺度上的变异与关联。     

A global meta‐analysis of the relative extent of intraspecific trait variation in plant communities

Recent studies have shown that accounting for intraspecific trait variation (ITV) may better address major questions in community ecology. However, a general picture of the relative extent of ITV compared to interspecific trait variation in plant communities is still missing. Here, we conducted a meta‐analysis of the relative extent of ITV within and among plant communities worldwide, using a data set encompassing 629 communities (plots) and 36 functional traits. Overall, ITV accounted for 25% of the total trait variation within communities and 32% of the total trait variation among communities on average. The relative extent of ITV tended to be greater for whole‐plant (e.g. plant height) vs. organ‐level traits and for leaf chemical (e.g. leaf N and P concentration) vs. leaf morphological (e.g. leaf area and thickness) traits. The relative amount of ITV decreased with increasing species richness and spatial extent, but did not vary with plant growth form or climate. These results highlight global patterns in the relative importance of ITV in plant communities, providing practical guidelines for when researchers should include ITV in trait‐based community and ecosystem studies.     

Functional traits composition predict macrophytes community productivity along a water depth gradient in a freshwater lake

Functional trait composition of plant communities has been proposed as a helpful key for understanding the mechanisms of biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning. In this study, we applied a step‐wise modeling procedure to test the relative effects of taxonomic diversity, functional identity, and functional diversity on macrophytes community productivity along water depth gradient. We sampled 42 plots and 1513 individual plants and measured 16 functional traits and abundance of 17 macrophyte species. Results showed that there was a significant decrease in taxonomic diversity, functional identity (i.e., stem dry mass content, leaf [C] and leaf [N]), and functional diversity (i.e., floating leaf, mean Julian flowering date and rooting depth) with increasing water depth. For the multiple‐trait functional diversity (FD) indices, functional richness decreased, while functional divergence increased with water depth gradient. Macrophyte community productivity was strongly determined by functional trait composition within community, but not significantly affected by taxonomic diversity. Community‐weighted means (CWM) showed a two times higher explanatory power relative to FD indices in determining variations in community productivity. For nine of sixteen traits, CWM and FD showed significant correlations with community productivity, although the strength and direction of those relations depended on selected trait. Furthermore, functional composition in a community affected productivity through either additive or opposite effects of CWM and FD, depending on the particular traits being considered. Our results suggested both mechanisms of mass ratio and niche complementarity can operate simultaneously on variations in community productivity, and considering both CWM and FD would lead to a more profound understanding of traits–productivity relationships.     

Revisiting the Holy Grail: using plant functional traits to understand ecological processes

One of ecology's grand challenges is developing general rules to explain and predict highly complex systems. Understanding and predicting ecological processes from species' traits has been considered a ‘Holy Grail’ in ecology. Plant functional traits are increasingly being used to develop mechanistic models that can predict how ecological communities will respond to abiotic and biotic perturbations and how species will affect ecosystem function and services in a rapidly changing world; however, significant challenges remain. In this review, we highlight recent work and outstanding questions in three areas: (i) selecting relevant traits; (ii) describing intraspecific trait variation and incorporating this variation into models; and (iii) scaling trait data to community‐ and ecosystem‐level processes. Over the past decade, there have been significant advances in the characterization of plant strategies based on traits and trait relationships, and the integration of traits into multivariate indices and models of community and ecosystem function. However, the utility of trait‐based approaches in ecology will benefit from efforts that demonstrate how these traits and indices influence organismal, community, and ecosystem processes across vegetation types, which may be achieved through meta‐analysis and enhancement of trait databases. Additionally, intraspecific trait variation and species interactions need to be incorporated into predictive models using tools such as Bayesian hierarchical modelling. Finally, existing models linking traits to community and ecosystem processes need to be empirically tested for their applicability to be realized.     

高光谱遥感技术在植物功能性状监测中的应用与展望

植物功能性状作为指示植物对环境适应和进化的可量度特征,其变异格局和驱动机制是植物生态学和地球系统建模的重要研究内容。传统野外测定方法费时费力费钱,且通常关注生长季和优势物种,使得功能性状的尺度延展和时空覆盖存在极大挑战。近些年兴起的多尺度高光谱遥感技术为解决当前植物功能性状数据时空覆盖度差的问题提供了新的思路和方法。该文在概述高光谱遥感技术监测植物功能性状的基本原理和发展简史的基础上,详细介绍了当前光谱-性状关系的主要建模方法,即经验或半经验方法、物理模型反演方法,其中以经验统计模型方法中的偏最小二乘回归使用最为广泛。进一步结合实例,重点讨论了高光谱遥感技术在叶片、群落和景观尺度监测植物功能性状的应用及存在的主要问题。最后,为促进高光谱技术在植物功能性状及其多样性监测方面的研究,提出以下4个未来应该重点关注的方向:1)检验光谱-性状模型的普适性,并解析其背后的调控机理;2)发展光谱-性状关系尺度延展的方法体系;3)解析植物功能性状及其多样性的时空变异和调控机制; 4)探究环境-植物功能多样性-生物多样性-生态系统功能间的关联。     

Filling the gap in functional trait databases: use of ecological hypotheses to replace missing data

Functional trait databases are powerful tools in ecology, though most of them contain large amounts of missing values. The goal of this study was to test the effect of imputation methods on the evaluation of trait values at species level and on the subsequent calculation of functional diversity indices at community level using functional trait databases. Two simple imputation methods (average and median), two methods based on ecological hypotheses, and one multiple imputation method were tested using a large plant trait database, together with the influence of the percentage of missing data and differences between functional traits. At community level, the complete‐case approach and three functional diversity indices calculated from grassland plant communities were included. At the species level, one of the methods based on ecological hypothesis was for all traits more accurate than imputation with average or median values, but the multiple imputation method was superior for most of the traits. The method based on functional proximity between species was the best method for traits with an unbalanced distribution, while the method based on the existence of relationships between traits was the best for traits with a balanced distribution. The ranking of the grassland communities for their functional diversity indices was not robust with the complete‐case approach, even for low percentages of missing data. With the imputation methods based on ecological hypotheses, functional diversity indices could be computed with a maximum of 30% of missing data, without affecting the ranking between grassland communities. The multiple imputation method performed well, but not better than single imputation based on ecological hypothesis and adapted to the distribution of the trait values for the functional identity and range of the communities. Ecological studies using functional trait databases have to deal with missing data using imputation methods corresponding to their specific needs and making the most out of the information available in the databases. Within this framework, this study indicates the possibilities and limits of single imputation methods based on ecological hypothesis and concludes that they could be useful when studying the ranking of communities for their functional diversity indices.     

Scaling up functional traits for ecosystem services with remote sensing: concepts and methods

Ecosystem service‐based management requires an accurate understanding of how human modification influences ecosystem processes and these relationships are most accurate when based on functional traits. Although trait variation is typically sampled at local scales, remote sensing methods can facilitate scaling up trait variation to regional scales needed for ecosystem service management. We review concepts and methods for scaling up plant and animal functional traits from local to regional spatial scales with the goal of assessing impacts of human modification on ecosystem processes and services. We focus our objectives on considerations and approaches for (1) conducting local plot‐level sampling of trait variation and (2) scaling up trait variation to regional spatial scales using remotely sensed data. We show that sampling methods for scaling up traits need to account for the modification of trait variation due to land cover change and species introductions. Sampling intraspecific variation, stratification by land cover type or landscape context, or inference of traits from published sources may be necessary depending on the traits of interest. Passive and active remote sensing are useful for mapping plant phenological, chemical, and structural traits. Combining these methods can significantly improve their capacity for mapping plant trait variation. These methods can also be used to map landscape and vegetation structure in order to infer animal trait variation. Due to high context dependency, relationships between trait variation and remotely sensed data are not directly transferable across regions. We end our review with a brief synthesis of issues to consider and outlook for the development of these approaches. Research that relates typical functional trait metrics, such as the community‐weighted mean, with remote sensing data and that relates variation in traits that cannot be remotely sensed to other proxies is needed. Our review narrows the gap between functional trait and remote sensing methods for ecosystem service management.     

Intraspecific plant–soil feedback and intraspecific overyielding in Arabidopsis thaliana

Understanding the mechanisms of community coexistence and ecosystem functioning may help to counteract the current biodiversity loss and its potentially harmful consequences. In recent years, plant–soil feedback that can, for example, be caused by below‐ground microorganisms has been suggested to play a role in maintaining plant coexistence and to be a potential driver of the positive relationship between plant diversity and ecosystem functioning. Most of the studies addressing these topics have focused on the species level. However, in addition to interspecific interactions, intraspecific interactions might be important for the structure of natural communities. Here, we examine intraspecific coexistence and intraspecific diversity effects using 10 natural accessions of the model species Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. We assessed morphological intraspecific diversity by measuring several above‐ and below‐ground traits. We performed a plant–soil feedback experiment that was based on these trait differences between the accessions in order to determine whether A. thaliana experiences feedback at intraspecific level as a result of trait differences. We also experimentally tested the diversity–productivity relationship at intraspecific level. We found strong differences in above‐ and below‐ground traits between the A. thaliana accessions. Overall, plant–soil feedback occurred at intraspecific level. However, accessions differed in the direction and strength of this feedback: Some accessions grew better on their own soils, some on soils from other accessions. Furthermore, we found positive diversity effects within A. thaliana: Accession mixtures produced a higher total above‐ground biomass than accession monocultures. Differences between accessions in their feedback response could not be explained by morphological traits. Therefore, we suggest that they might have been caused by accession‐specific accumulated soil communities, by root exudates, or by accession‐specific resource use based on genetic differences that are not expressed in morphological traits. Synthesis. Our results provide some of the first evidence for intraspecific plant–soil feedback and intraspecific overyielding. These findings may have wider implications for the maintenance of variation within species and the importance of this variation for ecosystem functioning. Our results highlight the need for an increased focus on intraspecific processes in plant diversity research to fully understand the mechanisms of coexistence and ecosystem functioning.