Climate change is threatening the persistence of many tree species via independent and interactive effects on abiotic and biotic conditions. In addition, changes in temperature, precipitation, and insect attacks can alter the traits of these trees, disrupting communities and ecosystems. For foundation species such as Populus , phytochemical traits are key mechanisms linking trees with their environment and are likely jointly d...

Efforts to maintain the function of critical ecosystems under climate change often begin with foundation species. In the southwestern United States, cottonwood trees support diverse communities in riparian ecosystems that are threatened by rising temperatures. Genetic variation within cottonwoods shapes communities and ecosystems, but these effects may be modified by phenotypic plasticity, where genotype traits change in respo...

Community genetics aims to understand the effects of intraspecific genetic variation on community composition and diversity, thereby connecting community ecology with evolutionary biology. Thus far, research has shown that plant genetics can underlie variation in the composition of associated communities (e.g., insects, lichen and endophytes), and those communities can therefore be considered as extended phenotypes. This work,...

Aim The mechanisms of plant trait adaptation and acclimation are still poorly understood and, consequently, lack a consistent representation in terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs). Despite the increasing availability of geo‐referenced trait observations, current databases are still insufficient to cover all vegetation types and environmental conditions. In parallel, the growing number of continuous eddy‐covariance observations...

Climate change and insect outbreaks are key factors contributing to regional and global patterns of increased tree mortality. While links between these environmental stressors have been established, our understanding of the mechanisms by which elevated temperature may affect tree–insect interactions is limited. Using a forest warming mesocosm, we investigated the influence of elevated temperature on phytochemistry, tree resist...