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Plant functional traits are any morphological, physiological and phenological features, which indirectly affect plant fitness through their three basic components of plant individual performance - growth, reproduction and survival. These features represent also a keystone for plant functional groups, which are similar in three aspects - function on the level of organism, response to environmental factors and effect on ecosystems. Functional approach in ecology and vegetation study enables to evaluate plant communities on the base of species function in a community, and to relate functional structure of plant communities to particular environmental gradients. Species plasticity has many aspects that mirror species adaptations to the environmental conditions and which then also translate into functional structuring of plant communities. This approach is thus a novel and exciting mode how to carry on plant ecology, both in research and education at universities.

The landfill waste of leached ore residue represents a serious environmental risk and may also negatively affect the appearance, growth and development of vegetation. Here we focused on the evaluation of functional traits of selected plant species Populus alba, Calamagrostis epigejos, and Diplotaxis muralis growing in an unfavourable environment. We determined different adaptive strategies of selected species to extreme conditions. For Diplotaxis muralis the highest values of the leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and the lowest values of the specific leaf area (SLA) were determined, while for Calamagrostis epigejos these two traits correlated in opposite directions. Populus alba reached the lowest value of the water saturation deficit (WSD), suggesting that this species was most affected by soil water deficiency. The leaf water content (LWC) correlated negatively with the LDMC and positively with the SLA (narrow leaf blade). Although each plant species belongs to a different strategic group (therophyte, hemicryptophyte and phanerophyte in the juvenile stage), they are all very plastic and therefore suitable for remediation. Despite the unfavourable conditions, selected plant species were able to adapt to poor conditions and form more or less vital populations, which indicate the revegetation as a key measure for remediation of landfill waste from nickel smelter.

Purpose: To compare the effect of different ecological conditions (one control and three experimental sites in Bratislava, Slovakia) on the plasticity of medicinal plant species, and on the plant functional groups based on the selected leaf functional traits – SLA (specific leaf area) and LDMC (leaf dry matter content).Methods: In assessment were tested thirteen medicinal plant species – Aegopodium podagraria L., Fragaria vesca L., Galium odoratum (L.) Scop., Geum urbanum L., Glechoma hederacea L., Hedera helix L., Hypericum perforatum L., Impatiens glandulifera Royle, Plantago lanceolata L., Prunella vulgaris L., Solidago gigantea Aiton, Tussilago farfara L. and Urtica dioica L. For the formation of plant functional groups according to different leaf characteristics, the metric multidimensional scaling (MDS) ordination diagram was applied.Results: Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) had a more significant effect on studied leaf traits than humus content (their coefficients of determination had values 0.55 and 0.11). Studied species were also characterized according to plant strategies. U. dioica and G. urbanum possessed the greatest plasticity of all studied species. Based on the functional groups we predict the response of the studied medicinal plant species to different ecological conditions. Conclusion: Traits and attributes of plants in plant communities are the outcome of adaptation of species to the environment and acclimation to environmental conditions changing in space and time. Identification of plant functional groups in plant community can provide a better understanding and functional comparison of several communities than the classical approach based on taxonomy.