Phylogenetic density dependence and environmental filtering predict seedling mortality in a tropical forest

Negative density dependence (NDD) and environmental filtering (EF) shape community assembly, but their relative importance is poorly understood. Recent studies have shown that seedling's mortality risk is positively related to the phylogenetic relatedness of neighbours. However, natural enemies, whose depredations often cause NDD, respond to functional traits of hosts rather than phylogenetic relatedness per se. To understand the roles of NDD and EF in community assembly, we assessed the effects on seedling mortality of functional similarity, phylogenetic relatedness and stem density of neighbouring seedlings and adults in a species-rich tropical forest. Mortality risks increased for common species when their functional traits departed substantially from the neighbourhood mean, and for all species when surrounded by close relatives. This indicates that NDD affects community assembly more broadly than does EF, and leads to the tentative conclusion that natural enemies respond to phylogenetically correlated traits. Our results affirm the prominence of NDD in structuring species-rich communities.     

Effects of plant traits and the relative abundance of common woody species on seedling herbivory in the Thousand Island Lake region

Aims Plant-herbivore interaction is a hot topic in the study of biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Herbivores can negatively affect seedling growth and therefore can alter the dynamics of plant recruitment. However, previous studies do not fully reveal the relative importance of different plant functional traits on herbivory intensity and rarely link herbivory to the relative abundance of plant species.Methods Here, we measured 11 plant functional traits and the relative abundance of seedlings of 16 common woody species in the subtropical forests on 29 islands in Thousand Island Lake, East China. We then used multivariate regression and variance partitioning to test the contribution of functional traits and the relative abundance to interspecific differences of insect herbivory intensity.Important findings Our study found that both plant functional traits (e.g. carbon nitrogen ratio, leaf thickness) and the relative abundance of woody species played important roles in herbivory intensity, and they jointly contributed 54% of the variance of the interspecific differences. Among these factors, species with higher defensive ability, lower nutrient content and higher relative abundance had lower herbivory intensity. We suggest to consider both individual level traits (functional traits) and community level attributes (the relative abundance) in future herbivory studies.     

Lower Within-Community Variance of Negative Density Dependence Increases Forest Diversity

Local abundance of adult trees impedes growth of conspecific seedlings through host-specific enemies, a mechanism first proposed by Janzen and Connell to explain plant diversity in forests. While several studies suggest the importance of this mechanism, there is still little information of how the variance of negative density dependence (NDD) affects diversity of forest communities. With computer simulations, we analyzed the impact of strength and variance of NDD within tree communities on species diversity. We show that stronger NDD leads to higher species diversity. Furthermore, lower range of strengths of NDD within a community increases species richness and decreases variance of species abundances. Our results show that, beyond the average strength of NDD, the variance of NDD is also crucially important to explain species diversity. This can explain the dissimilarity of biodiversity between tropical and temperate forest: highly diverse forests could have lower NDD variance. This report suggests that natural enemies and the variety of the magnitude of their effects can contribute to the maintenance of biodiversity.     

Trait‐abundance relation in response to nutrient addition in a Tibetan alpine meadow: The importance of species trade‐off in resource conservation and acquisition

In competition‐dominated communities, traits promoting resource conservation and competitive ability are expected to have an important influence on species relative abundance (SRA). Yet, few studies have tested the trait‐abundance relations in the line of species trade‐off in resource conservation versus acquisition, indicating by multiple traits coordination. We measured SRA and key functional traits involving leaf economic spectrum (SLA, specific leaf area; LDMC, leaf dry matter content; LCC, leaf carbon concentration; LNC, leaf nitrogen concentration; LPC, leaf phosphorus concentration; Hs, mature height) for ten common species in all plots subjected to addition of nitrogen fertilizer (N), phosphorus fertilizer (P), or both of them (NP) in a Tibetan alpine meadow. We test whether SRA is positively related with traits promoting plant resource conservation, while negatively correlated with traits promoting plant growth and resource acquisition. We found that species were primarily differentiated along a trade‐off axis involving traits promoting nutrient acquisition and fast growth (e.g., LPC and SLA) versus traits promoting resource conservation and competition ability (e.g., large LDMC). We further found that SRA was positively correlated with plant height, LDMC, and LCC, but negatively associated with SLA and leaf nutrient concentration irrespective of fertilization. A stronger positive height‐SRA was found in NP‐fertilized plots than in other plots, while negative correlations between SRA and SLA and LPC were found in N or P fertilized plots. The results indicate that species trade‐off in nutrient acquisition and resource conservation was a key driver of SRA in competition‐dominated communities following fertilization, with the linkage between SRA and traits depending on plant competition for specific soil nutrient and/or light availability. The results highlight the importance of competitive exclusion in plant community assembly following fertilization and suggest that abundant species in local communities become dominated at expense of growth while infrequent species hold an advantage in fast growth and dispersals to neighbor meta‐communities.     

The genetic dimension of pest pressure in the tropical rainforest

Wet tropical forests are among the most diverse ecosystems on Earth and can host several hundreds of tree species per hectare. To maintain such diversity, the community must contain large numbers of relatively rare species rather than be dominated by a few very common trees, as is often the case in temperate forests. Explaining the mechanisms preventing dominance by common species has been a major task of tropical forest ecology. One of the most promising mechanisms is negative density dependence (NDD) of tree abundance driven by pests, including fungal diseases (‘pest pressure’). NDD entails that the chance of survival of a sapling increases with the distance from a mature tree of the same species, thus preventing species from becoming locally dominant. Curiously, the strength of NDD is negatively correlated with abundance, meaning that tree species that are more common generally show weaker NDD (Comita et al. 2010 ). Interactions between plants and soil pathogens have been shown to play an important role in NDD (Klironomos 2002 ), and rare species are apparently more strongly affected (Mangan et al. 2010 ). However, the genetic mechanisms underlying this phenomenon have remained obscure. In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Marden et al. ( 2017 ) suggest that reduced diversity of the genes involved in pathogen recognition (Resistance genes or R genes) could explain why NDD is stronger in locally rare species.     

Effects of grazing and fertilization on the relationship between species abundance and functional traits in an alpine meadow community on the Tibetan Plateau

Trait‐based approaches can provide a useful tool for linking plant attributes to community structure and ecosystem function. Seed mass and plant height play important roles in the dynamics of plant communities, but few empirical community level studies have tested this, especially in stressful environments. The aim of the present study was to determine if there is a relationship between functional traits (seed mass and plant height) and changes in species relative abundance (SRA) in response to grazing and fertilization. We measured SRA and plant functional traits for 40 common species in a Tibetan Plateau alpine meadow. In the fertilized meadow, seed mass and plant height was significantly positively correlated with the relative abundance of the species. In the grazed meadow, these variables were significantly negatively correlated. Our results demonstrates that plant functional traits can be used to predict the change of SRA in plant community. Grazing promotes the dominance of small‐seeded and short‐stature species, and fertilization facilitates the occurrence of large‐seeded and tall‐stature species.     

Community compensatory trend prevails from tropical to temperate forest

Community compensatory trend (CCT) is thought to facilitate persistence of rare species and thus stabilize species composition in tropical forests. However, whether CCT acts over broad geographical ranges is still in question. In this study, we tested for the presence of negative density dependence (NDD) and CCT in three forests along a tropical-temperate gradient. Inventory data were collected from forest communities located in three different latitudinal zones in China. Two widely used methods were used to test for NDD at the community level. The first method considered relationships between the relative abundance ratio and adult abundance. The second method emphasized the effect of adult abundance on abundance of established younger trees. Evidence for NDD acting on different growth forms was tested by using the first method, and the presence of CCT was tested by checking whether adult abundance of rare species affected that of established younger trees less than did abundance of common species. Both analyses indicated that NDD existed in seedling, sapling and pole stages in all three plant communities and that this effect increased with latitude. However, the extent of NDD varied among understory, midstory and canopy trees in the three communities along the gradient. Additionally, despite evidence of NDD for almost all common species, only a portion of rare species showed NDD, supporting the action of CCT in all three communities. So, we conclude that NDD and CCT prevail in the three recruitment stages of the tree communities studied; rare species achieve relative advantage through CCT and thus persist in these communities; CCT clearly facilitates newly established species and maintains tree diversity within communities across our latitudinal gradient.     

Plant Functional Traits and the Distribution of West African Rain Forest Trees along the Rainfall Gradient

Plant morphological and physiological traits affect the way plants tolerate environmental stresses and therefore play an important role in shaping species distribution patterns in relation to environmental gradients. Despite our growing knowledge on the role of functional traits in structuring plant communities, few studies have tested their importance at large scales in the wet tropics. Here, we describe the distribution patterns of the most important West African rain forest timber species along the regional rainfall gradient and relate them to their functional traits. We found that the distribution patterns of 25 out of the 31 studied species (80%) were significantly related to mean annual rainfall. Shade tolerance and drought resistance were identified as the main strategy axes of variation. Wood density and leaf deciduousness emerged as the best predictor traits of species position along the rainfall gradient, explaining respectively 32 and 15 percent of the variation. Species traits tended to show stronger relationships with estimated optimum annual rainfall for each species than to the extreme rainfall conditions where they occur. The significant role of rainfall in shaping timber species distribution and the strong relationships between species traits and rainfall indicate that changes in climate, especially declining rainfall, could have strong effects on species composition and abundance in these tropical forests.     

Below- and aboveground traits explain local abundance,and regional,continental and global occurrence frequencies of grassland plants

Plants vary widely in how common or rare they are, but whether commonness of species is associated with functional traits is still debated. This might partly be because commonness can be measured at different spatial scales, and because most studies focus solely on aboveground functional traits. We measured five root traits and seed mass on 241 central European grassland species, and extracted their specific leaf area, height, mycorrhizal status and bud-bank size from databases. Then we tested if trait values are associated with commonness at seven spatial scales, ranging from abundance in 16-m² grassland plots, via regional and European-wide occurrence frequencies, to worldwide naturalization success. At every spatial scale, commonness was associated with at least three traits. The traits explained the greatest proportions of variance for abundance in grassland plots (42%) and naturalization success (41%) and the least for occurrence frequencies in Europe and the Mediterranean (2%). Low root tissue density characterized common species at every scale, whereas other traits showed directional changes depending on the scale. We also found that many of the effects had significant non-linear effects, in most cases with the highest commonness-metric value at intermediate trait values. Across scales, belowground traits explained overall more variance in species commonness (19.4%) than aboveground traits (12.6%). The changes we found in the relationships between traits and commonness, when going from one spatial scale to another, could at least partly explain the maintenance of trait variation in nature. Most importantly, our study shows that within grasslands, belowground traits are at least as important as aboveground traits for species commonness. Therefore, belowground traits should be more frequently considered in studies on plant functional ecology.     

Trait means or variance—What determines plant species' local and regional occurrence in fragmented dry grasslands?

One of the few laws in ecology is that communities consist of few common and many rare taxa. Functional traits may help to identify the underlying mechanisms of this community pattern, since they correlate with different niche dimensions. However, comprehensive studies are missing that investigate the effects of species mean traits (niche position) and intraspecific trait variability (ITV, niche width) on species abundance. In this study, we investigated fragmented dry grasslands to reveal trait‐occurrence relationships in plants at local and regional scales. We predicted that (a) at the local scale, species occurrence is highest for species with intermediate traits, (b) at the regional scale, habitat specialists have a lower species occurrence than generalists, and thus, traits associated with stress‐tolerance have a negative effect on species occurrence, and (c) ITV increases species occurrence irrespective of the scale. We measured three plant functional traits (SLA = specific leaf area, LDMC = leaf dry matter content, plant height) at 21 local dry grassland communities (10 m × 10 m) and analyzed the effect of these traits and their variation on species occurrence. At the local scale, mean LDMC had a positive effect on species occurrence, indicating that stress‐tolerant species are the most abundant rather than species with intermediate traits (hypothesis 1). We found limited support for lower specialist occurrence at the regional scale (hypothesis 2). Further, ITV of LDMC and plant height had a positive effect on local occurrence supporting hypothesis 3. In contrast, at the regional scale, plants with a higher ITV of plant height were less frequent. We found no evidence that the consideration of phylogenetic relationships in our analyses influenced our findings. In conclusion, both species mean traits (in particular LDMC) and ITV were differently related to species occurrence with respect to spatial scale. Therefore, our study underlines the strong scale‐dependency of trait‐abundance relationships.     

Effects of Tree Genotypic Diversity and Species Diversity on the Arthropod Community Associated with Big‐leaf Mahogany

Despite potential interactive effects of plant species and genotypic diversity (SD and GD, respectively) on consumers, studies have usually examined these effects separately. We evaluated the individual and combined effects of tree SD and mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) GD on the arthropod community associated with mahogany. We conducted this study within the context of a tree diversity experiment consisting of 74 plots with 64 saplings/plot. We sampled 24 of these plots, classified as monocultures of mahogany or polycultures of four species (including mahogany). Within each plot type, mahogany was represented by either one or four maternal families. We surveyed arthropods on mahogany and estimated total arthropod abundance and species richness, as well as abundance and richness separately for herbivorous and predatory arthropods. Overall tree SD and mahogany GD had positive effects on total arthropod species richness and abundance on mahogany, and also exerted interactive effects on total species richness (but not abundance). Analyses conducted by trophic level group showed contrasting patterns; SD positively influenced herbivore species richness but not abundance, and did not affect either predator richness or abundance. GD influenced predator species richness but not abundance, and did not influence herbivore abundance or richness. There were interactive effects of GD and SD only for predator species richness. These results provide evidence that intra‐ and inter‐specific plant diversity exert interactive controls on associated consumer communities, and that the relative importance of SD and GD may vary among higher trophic levels, presumably due to differences in the underlying mechanisms or consumer traits.     

Grazing alters species relative abundance by affecting plant functional traits in a Tibetan subalpine meadow

Domestic livestock grazing has caused dramatic changes in plant community composition across the globe. However, the response of plant species abundance in communities subject to grazing has not often been investigated through a functional lens, especially for belowground traits. Grazing directly impacts aboveground plant tissues, but the relationships between above‐ and belowground traits, and their influence on species abundance are also not well known. We collected plant trait and species relative abundance data in the grazed and nongrazed meadow plant communities in a species‐rich subalpine ecosystem of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. We measured three aboveground traits (leaf photosynthesis rate, specific leaf area, and maximum height) and five belowground traits (root average diameter, root biomass, specific root length, root tissue density, and specific root area). We tested for shifts in the relationship between species relative abundance and among all measured traits under grazing compared with the nongrazed meadow. We also compared the power of above‐ and belowground traits to predict species relative abundance. We observed a significant shift from a resource conservation strategy to a resource acquisition strategy. Moreover, this resource conservation versus resource acquisition trade‐off can also determine species relative abundance in the grazed and nongrazed plant communities. Specifically, abundant species in the nongrazed meadow had aboveground and belowground traits that are associated with high resource conservation, whereas aboveground and belowground traits that are correlated with high resource acquisition determined species relative abundance in the grazed meadow. However, belowground traits were found to explain more variances in species relative abundance than aboveground traits in the nongrazed meadow, while aboveground and belowground traits had comparable predictive power in the grazed meadow. We show that species relative abundance in both the grazed and the nongrazed meadows can be predicted by both aboveground traits and belowground traits associated with a resource acquisition versus conservation trade‐off. More importantly, we show that belowground traits have higher predictive power of species relative abundance than aboveground traits in the nongrazed meadow, whereas in the grazed meadows, above‐ and belowground traits had comparable high predictive power.     

高原鼠兔干扰对高寒草甸植物物种和功能性状beta多样性的影响

采用野外空间多点同步取样,分析了高原鼠兔干扰对高寒草甸植物物种beta多样性和植物功能性状beta多样性的影响,确定了高原鼠兔干扰下高寒草甸植物物种和功能性状beta多样性的变化途径,分别提出了高原鼠兔干扰区域内,基于植物物种多样性和功能性状多样性的高寒草甸植物多样性维持策略。结果表明,高原鼠兔干扰使高寒草甸植物物种相似性显著降低了28.1%,植物功能相似性降低了28.7%。尽管高原鼠兔干扰没有改变高寒草甸植物物种和功能性状beta多样性的变化途径,且对植物物种和功能性状的嵌套组分不存在显著影响,但高原鼠兔干扰显著降低了植物物种和功能性状周转组分所占的比例,降幅分别为36.6%和34.3%。高原鼠兔干扰区域内,高寒草甸植物物种beta多样性的变化以周转为主导(周转占比81.4%;嵌套占比:18.6%),植物功能性状beta多样性的变化以嵌套为主导(嵌套占比64.9%;周转占比35.1%)。因此,针对划定的高原鼠兔干扰区,需要同时保护区域内所有高原鼠兔栖息地(多位点保护),以达到维持植物物种多样性的目的,而可以仅通过保护该区域内植物功能性状丰富的位点,即可维持较高的植物功能多样性。     

海南尖峰岭热带山地雨林林冠层树种功能多样性特征

以海南尖峰岭热带山地雨林3块1 hm²样地为研究对象,利用11个林冠功能性状结合样地地形及林冠乔木树种样地清查数据,分别基于单维性状和多维性状比较物种多度加权对群落功能离散度指数——平均成对距离(MPD)和平均最近类群距离(MNTD)的影响;同时分析林冠层功能丰富度(FRic)与物种丰富度之间的关系,最后利用零模型探讨不同生境类型下标准化效应MPD和MNTD(经过物种多度加权且剔除群落物种丰富度差异影响)的变化,进而评价林冠层群落水平功能多样性格局及其对局域生境异质性的响应.结果表明: 功能性状维度和物种多度对MPD的影响强烈,不同维度功能性状多度加权前后MPD相关性较弱(R=0.359～0.628);但对MNTD的影响相对较弱,不同维度功能性状多度加权前后MNTD相关性较强(R=0.746～0.820);未经物种多度加权的MPD和MNTD均普遍高估了林冠层的功能离散度.林冠层功能丰富度与物种丰富度基本呈指数相关关系(F=128.20;R²=0.632;AIC=97.72;P＜0.001),且功能丰富度很有可能存在一定的物种丰富度阈值.基于不同维度功能性状的林冠层功能多样性格局及其生境响应存在一定的差异性.在生物竞争激烈的低沟生境中,林冠层功能多样性倾向于比预期零模型随机产生的功能多样性高,林冠树种功能性状表现出离散分布;而在其他生境类型中,林冠层功能多样性倾向于接近或低于随机产生的功能多样性,林冠树种功能性状随机或聚集分布.     

A trait‐based plant economic framework can help increase the value of reforestation for conservation

While reforestation is gaining momentum to moderate climate change via carbon sequestration, there is also an opportunity to use tree planting to confront declining global biodiversity. Where tree species vary in support of diversity, selecting appropriate species for planting could increase conservation effectiveness. We used a common garden experiment in Borneo using 24 native tree species to examine how variation among tree species in their support of beetle diversity is predicted by plant traits associated with “acquisitive” and “conservative” resource acquisition strategies. We evaluate three hypotheses: (1) beetle communities show fidelity to host identity as indicated by variation in abundance and diversity among tree species, (2) the leaf economic spectrum partially explains this variation as shown by beetle preferences for plant species that are predicted by plant traits, and (3) a small number of selected tree species can capture higher beetle species richness than a random tree species community. We found high variation among tree species in supporting three highly intercorrelated metrics of beetle communities: abundance, richness, and Shannon diversity. Variation in support of beetle communities was predicted by plant traits and varied by plant functional groups; within the dipterocarp family, high beetle diversity was predicted by conservative traits such as high wood density and slow growth, and in non‐dipterocarps by the acquisitive traits of high foliar K and rapid growth. Using species accumulation curves and extrapolation to twice the original sample size, we show that 48 tree species were not enough to reach asymptote levels of beetle richness. Nevertheless, species accumulation curves of the six tree species with the highest richness had steeper slopes and supported 33% higher richness than a random community of tree species. Reforestation projects concerned about conservation can benefit by identifying tree species with a disproportional capacity to support biodiversity based on plant traits.     

Linking grazing response of species abundance to functional traits in the Tibetan alpine meadow

Whether grazing response of species abundance can be predicted by plant functional trait remains a challenge untested in a specific ecosystem. We measured species abundance and relevant functional traits for 30 common component species in a moderately grazed and a control community over 3 years (2005, 2006 and 2007) in a Kobresia capillifolia dominated alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau. Our objective was to examine species response to grazing and to test the relationship between the response of species abundance and functional traits in grazed and control habitats. Our results showed: i) in terms of species relative abundance and saturated height (the maximum height of an adult individual), most component species significantly decrease in response to moderate grazing and the effect differed among species and between functional groups. ii) The response of species abundance was significantly negatively correlated with saturated height, but not correlated with specific leaf area or seed size. We concluded that the response direction of species abundance to grazing can be predicted by functional traits, whereas it is a weak predictor of the extent of grazing response in species abundance.     

Habitat-islands in the coastal Atacama Desert: loss of functional redundancy,but not of functional diversity,with decreased precipitation

Background and AimsAridity is increasing in many regions of the world, but microclimatic conditions may buffer plant communities from the direct effects of decreased precipitation, creating habitat islands. However, reduced precipitation can also impact these communities indirectly by decreasing the suitability of the surrounding habitat, thus limiting incoming propagules and increasing the chances of population decline and species loss. We test whether decreased precipitation results in loss of species and functional diversity within habitat islands, evaluating in particular whether declines in species diversity and abundance are less likely to result in loss of functional diversity if species/individual loss is stochastic (i.e. independent of species/individual traits) and communities/populations are functionally redundant.MethodsLomas communities are discrete plant communities embedded in the Atacama Desert, maintained by the microclimatic conditions created by fog. We recorded species and functional diversity in six Lomas communities along a 500 km long precipitation gradient in northern Chile. Functional traits were measured in 20 individuals per species, in those species that accounted for approx. 75 % of the abundance at each site. We calculated functional diversity and functional redundancy of the community, and intraspecific functional variation.Key ResultsDecreased precipitation was associated with lower species diversity and lower species abundances. However, no traits or functional strategies increased or decreased consistently with precipitation, suggesting stochastic species/individual loss. Species with stress-tolerant strategies were predominant in all sites. Although species diversity decreased with decreasing precipitation, functional diversity remained unchanged. Lower functional redundancy in the drier sites suggests that mainly functionally redundant species were lost. Likewise, intraspecific functional variation was similar among communities, despite the lower species abundance in drier sites.ConclusionsDecreased precipitation can impact habitat island communities indirectly by decreasing the suitability of the surrounding habitat. Our results support the idea that a stochastic loss of species/individuals from functionally redundant communities and populations does not result in loss of functional diversity.     

物种多样性和功能性状驱动高寒草原地上生物量对长期禁牧的响应

围封对草地生物多样性和初级生产力的影响是草地生态学研究的热点问题之一。基于2013—2021年在青藏高原东北部紫花针茅(Stipa purpurea)高寒草原围栏内外植物群落长期调查数据,从物种多样性、功能性状的角度解析了高寒草原地上生物量对长期围封的生态响应过程。结果表明：(1)围封处理对高寒草原物种多样性的负效应具有强烈的时间依赖性。围封处理显著提高地上生物量,但也显著降低了生物量稳定性和异步性,意味着高寒草原稳定的、可持续的生态系统服务功能被长期围封处理削弱。(2)植物功能性状对长期围封处理表现出差异性响应模式;与叶绿素性状相比,叶形态性状对长期围封处理表现出更强的敏感性。(3)物种多样性和功能性状与地上生物量之间均存在显著相关关系,并且物种多样性的影响被功能性状调控进而对地上生物量发挥间接效应,群落加权性状和功能分异度共同对草地生物量发挥直接的主导效应。研究结果证明了植物功能性状通过介导物种多样性与其共同驱动高寒草原地上生物量对长期围封的响应。因此,在未来草地管理过程中,同步研究植物物种和功能属性对于全面揭示生态系统的响应机制至关重要。     

Functional traits associated with plant colonizing and competitive ability influence species abundance during secondary succession: Evidence from subalpine meadows of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau

It is widely recognized that colonists and competitors dominate early and late succession, respectively, with selected species having different colonizing and competitive abilities. However, it remains unknown whether colonizing and competitive ability can determine species abundance directly over succession. The data for five key functional traits were collected (photosynthesis rate, leaf turgor loss point, leaf proline content, seed mass, and seed germination rate), which are direct indicators of plant competitive and colonizing abilities including growth, drought and cold stress resistance, dispersal, and seed dormancy. Here, we tested the effects of colonizing and competitive abilities on species abundance, by employing a linear mixed‐effects model to examine the shifts in the relationship between species abundance and these five colonization and competition‐related traits in species‐rich subalpine secondary successional meadows (at 4, 6, 10, 13 years of age, and undisturbed, respectively) of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. The abundant species at the early‐successional meadows tend to have high photosynthetic rate, high leaf proline content, low seed mass, and seed germination rate for having high colonizing ability, but low competitive ability. By contrast, late‐successional communities tend to be dominated by species with high competitive ability, but low colonizing ability, indicated by large seeds, high seed germination rate, low photosynthetic rate, and leaf proline content. The observed directional shifts in the relationships between traits (photosynthetic rate, leaf proline content, seed mass, and seed germination rate) and abundance with successional age, bring two new understandings of community assembly during succession of subalpine meadows in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. First, it discloses that the differences in species abundance over succession can be directly attributed to differences in colonizing and competitive abilities of different species. Second, it expands the effects of multiple life historical differences including growth, resource competitive ability, cold stress resistance, dispersal, and seed germination strategy, represented by functional traits on community assembly along succession, that is, from the species to the community level.