During the past two decades plant ecologists have dramatically refined how they conceptually and operationally integrate organismal function into their research programs. Key advances have been the identification of a few major axes of function along which species vary and the apparently widespread functional non-randomness in assemblages through space and time. In this talk, I will outline these advances using examples of my work and the work of others with respect to temperate and tropical tree communities. I will then identify several places where functional trait-based community ecology has failed to meet expectations, why I think these expectations have not been met as of today and I will provide a prospective for how we may advance trait-based ecology in the coming decade conceptually and operationally with a particular focus on questions regarding the dynamics, structure and assembly of communities.