Functional types

Important background on plant functional types

• Grime JP, Hodgson JG, Hunt R. 1988. Comparative Plant Ecology: a Functional Approach to Common British Species

  pp. ix + 742, Unwin Hyman, London, Reprinted 1996. Second edition: pp. ix + 752, Castlepoint Press, 2007. Cited by 4026 (2023)

• Grime JP, Hodgson JG, Hunt R. 1990. The Abridged Comparative Plant Ecology

  pp. ix + 399, Unwin Hyman, London. Cited by 128 (2023)

  Sources from this website

• Understand J P Grime's C-S-R plant functional types
  Find out how the C-S-R system is constructed and what it can do; download a PowerPoint tutorial here.

• How to allocate C-S-R plant functional types in Europe - a soft approach to a hard problem
  Download a .pdf version of the 1999 Oikos paper here. Warning: this is copyright material for personal and private study only.

• Allocate C-S-R functional types for yourself
  Go forward here to all the necessary information and techniques from the 1999 Oikos paper.

• Redescribe your vegetation samples in terms of C-S-R functional types
  Go forward here to find all the necessary information and techniques.

• How to allocate C-S-R plant functional types in biomes world-wide
  Download a .pdf version of the 2017 Functional Ecology paper here. Warning: this is copyright material for personal and private study only.

• See a worldwide validation of C-S-R functional types in 2025
  “How plants play the game of survival” and navigate the twin challenges of stress (like nutrient and or water limitation) and disturbance (like grazing, mowing, or fire).