Trait-based ecology focuses on plant acclimation and adaptation strategies to their growth environment by analysing trait distributions along environmental gradients at multiple spatial scales and levels of biological organization, providing general rules matching trait patterns to environmental conditions. By crossing taxonomic boundaries, trait-based ecology provides a powerful framework to generalize ecological patterns and processes including species sorting along environmental gradients, community assembly, and ecosystem functioning. These insights can provide predictive expectations about how vegetation might respond to environmental changes, an urgent concern for plants in the Anthropocene. However, interpreting patterns and processes emerging from trait-based approaches ultimately requires knowledge of the species under examination, resulting in an entanglement with vegetation ecology. This Topical Collection aims to bridge vegetation- and trait-based ecology by welcoming studies investigating trait-based patterns and processes using conceptual and methodological frameworks pertinent to vegetation ecology. Finally, we envision a Topical collection that can provide a hub for developing a comprehensive understanding of plant diversity at multiple spatial scales and levels of biological organization. For this reason, we encourage submissions exploring trade-offs in species' ecological strategies and their variability from species to communities, as well as new conceptual and methodological frameworks proposing new ways forward for bridging vegetation- and trait-based ecology. Contributions examining the effects of conservation and restoration practices on species, communities, and ecosystems are also welcome, as they offer valuable insights for advancing biodiversity protection in natural, and semi-natural ecosystems.