Within-season variability of functional diversity

Functional diversity (FD) allows ecosystems to provide essential services for society that contribute to human well-being and economic value. With species traits being emphasized as Essential Biodviersity Variables, the importance of FD for international policy will become increasingly important. Not much is known about how FD fluctuates within a growing season, as trait measurements typically occur during peak biomass and are assumed to be constant over time. This assumption introduces error to upscaled models of canopy characteristics and can result in misleading predictions of important functions such as carbon uptake.Vegetation samples were collected in the field every two weeks in a temperate evergreen forest and a tropical savanna woodland transitional zone then analyzed for specific traits. From these, functional diversity metrics were calculated for each time period. Spectra were also obtained from which vegetative traits were derived and compared to the sample-based results. Here we present temporal variability of chlorophyll content, carotenoids, phenolics, carbon, nitrogen, leaf lignin, non-structural carbohydrates, and other traits. We examine their dynamics from May through September and show changes in individual traits, interactions between traits, and how these affect FD dynamics aggregately. We discuss how these findings will impact earth observation models.