作者：Yuan, G., Long, H., Liu, J. et al.

Aquatic macrophyte responses and adaptation to water depth and nutrient gradients are of critical importance for understanding the functional ecology of lakes and their restoration when degraded. However, the role of plant trait networks (PTNs), a powerful tool for decoding trait-environment-function relationships, in mediating these adaptations remains unclear, particularly across species and community scales. We conducted cross-scale PTN analyses at species and community levels for aquatic macrophytes, integrating assessments of phylogenetic signals and hierarchical environmental filtering. At species level, aquatic macrophytes exhibited two complementary PTN-based adaptive strategies: trait compartmentalization to enhance stress tolerance and trait integration to optimize resource utilization. Notably, local environmental conditions (rather than phylogenetic signals) dominated the pattern of PTN metrics, highlighting the primacy of immediate habitat constraints over evolutionary relatedness in driving species-specific adaptations. At community level, environmental filtering operated hierarchically, acting sequentially by water depth, nutrient availability, and lake morphology. PTNs further mediated the trade-off between community diversity and productivity, providing a mechanistic link between abiotic filtering and ecosystem function. Our findings advance network theory in functional ecology by extending its application to aquatic systems, bridging longstanding gaps between terrestrial and aquatic PTN research, and offering actionable guidance for eutrophic lake restoration (e.g., by targeting PTN-linked core traits related to nutrient adaptation). Overall, our work provides a cross-scale framework for understanding PTN mediated adaptation of aquatic macrophytes and its implications for ecosystem management.

水生大型植物对水深与营养盐梯度的响应与适应，对于理解湖泊功能生态学及退化湖泊的恢复具有重要意义。然而，植物性状网络（PTNs）——一种解码“性状—环境—功能”关系的有力工具——在介导这些适应过程中的作用仍不清楚，尤其是在物种与群落两个尺度上。对水生大型植物开展了物种和群落水平的跨尺度PTN分析，并结合了系统发育信号与层级化环境滤除的评估。在物种水平上，水生大型植物表现出两种基于PTN的互补适应策略：通过性状分区化（compartmentalization）增强胁迫耐受性，以及通过性状整合化（integration）优化资源利用。值得注意的是，局部环境条件（而非系统发育信号）主导了PTN指标的格局，这凸显了即时生境约束在驱动物种特异性适应方面优先于进化亲缘关系。在群落水平上，环境滤除呈层级化运作，依次按水深、营养盐可得性和湖泊形态发挥作用。PTN进一步介导了群落多样性与生产力之间的权衡，为非生物滤除与生态系统功能之间提供了机制性联系。本研究将网络理论拓展至水生系统，弥合了陆生与水生PTN研究之间的长期空白，推动了功能生态学中的网络理论发展，并为富营养化湖泊恢复提供了可操作的指导（例如针对与营养适应相关的PTN核心性状）。总体而言，本工作为理解PTN介导的水生大型植物适应及其对生态系统管理的启示提供了一个跨尺度框架。

（来源：Global Change Biology 2026 Issue 4  DOI: 10.1111/gcb.70852）