Species' intrinsic traits inform their range limitations and vulnerability under environmental change

Aim Understanding the factors that govern species' geographical ranges is of utmost importance for predicting potential range shifts triggered by environmental change. Species ranges are partially limited by their tolerances to extrinsic environmental conditions such as climate and habitat. However, they are also determined by the capacity of species to disperse, establish new populations and proliferate, which are in turn dependent on species intrinsic life-history traits. So far, the contribution of intrinsic factors driving species distributions has been inconclusive, largely because intrinsic and extrinsic factors have not been examined simultaneously in a satisfactory way. We investigate how geographical ranges of plants are determined by both extrinsic environmental factors and species intrinsic life-history traits.