Long‐term warming affects ecosystem functioning through species turnover and intraspecific trait variation

Oikos ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 129 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiina Salo ◽  
Johanna Mattila ◽  
Johan Eklöf
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Species Turnover ◽  
Trait Variation ◽  
Intraspecific Trait Variation

scholarly journals Intraspecific variation shapes community-level behavioural responses to urbanisation in spiders: from traits to function

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxime Dahirel ◽  
Jasper Dierick ◽  
Maarten De Cock ◽  
Bonte Dries
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Environmental Gradients ◽  
Species Turnover ◽  
Community Level ◽  
List Type ◽  
Trait Variation ◽  
Behavioural Responses ◽  
Intraspecific Trait Variation

SummaryApproaches based on functional traits have proven especially valuable to understand how communities respond to environmental gradients. Until recently, they have, however, often ignored the potential consequences of intraspecific trait variation (ITV). This position becomes potentially more problematic when studying animals and behavioural traits, as behaviours can be altered very flexibly at the individual level to track environmental changes.Urban areas are an extreme example of human-changed environments, exposing organisms to multiple, strong, yet relatively standardized, selection pressures. Adaptive behavioural responses are thought to play a major role in animals’ success or failure in these new environments. The consequences of such behavioural changes for ecosystem processes remain understudied.Using 62 sites of varying urbanisation level, we investigated how species turnover and ITV influenced community-level behavioural responses to urbanisation, using orb web spiders and their webs as models of foraging behaviour.ITV explained around 30% of the total trait variation observed among communities. Spiders altered their web-building behaviour in cities in ways that increase the capture efficiency of webs. These traits shifts were partly mediated by species turnover, but ITV increased their magnitude. The importance of ITV varied depending on traits and on the spatial scale at which urbanisation was considered. Available prey biomass decreased with urbanisation; the corresponding decrease in prey interception by spiders was less important when ITV in web traits was accounted for.By facilitating trait-environment matching despite urbanisation, ITV thus helps communities to buffer the effects of environmental changes on ecosystem functioning. Despite being often neglected from community-level analyses, our results highlight the importance of accounting for intraspecific trait variation to fully understand trait responses to (human-induced) environmental changes and their impact on ecosystem functioning.

scholarly journals Intraspecific trait variation and species functional turnover in successional tropical forests: assessing gap-filling for community weighted means

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Aaron Hogan ◽  
Han Xu ◽  
Christopher Baraloto
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Forest ◽  
Species Turnover ◽  
Specific Root Length ◽  
Plant Ecology ◽  
Primary Forest ◽  
Forest Age ◽  
Gap Filling ◽  
Trait Variation ◽  
Intraspecific Trait Variation ◽  
Age Related

Abstract Accounting for intraspecific trait variation (ITV) is central to plant ecology and crucial for vegetation modeling efforts. ITV can be substantial; however, it remains unclear how ITV influences community-weighted mean (CWM) trait estimates. We use leaf and root trait data from 423 trees of 72 species from 15 Angiosperm families in combination with community data from 164 small plots comprising 582 species to evaluate the contribution of ITV to CWMs, comparing unlogged, primary forest to selectively-logged and clear-cut secondary forest. We examine the effect of gap-filling missing trait values via phylogenetic generalized linear modeling (PhyloPars) on CWMs. For six of seven traits, ITV negatively covaried with species turnover to generate larger CWM differences than observed if ITV was not integrated. For example, plot average CWM specific leaf area was 10.7 and 10.4 m2 kg− 1 for primary and secondary forest, not accounting for ITV, but shifted to 9.8 and 11.1 m2 kg− 1 after doing so. Specific root length showed a similar trend. Our results from 72-species assemblages were supported by the results from the gap-filled analysis using the entire community, where the contribution of ITV to CWMs ranged from 25 to 75%, with nearly all trait variation due to forest type attributable to ITV. Therefore, CWM trait estimates became more-conservative with forest age, whereas ITV for many traits showed an acquisitive shift, and because of negative covariation between ITV and species turnover, forest age-related CWM differences increased. Differences were unaffected, if not strengthened, by gap-filling incomplete functional trait matrices.

scholarly journals Urban driven phenotypic changes: empirical observations and theoretical implications for eco-evolutionary feedback

2017 ◽  
Vol 372 (1712) ◽  
pp. 20160029 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Alberti ◽  
John Marzluff ◽  
Victoria M. Hunt
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Function ◽  
Urban Ecosystems ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Phenotypic Trait ◽  
Trait Variation ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Phenotypic Changes ◽  
Intraspecific Trait Variation ◽  
Behavioural Characteristics

Emerging evidence that cities drive micro-evolution raises the question of whether rapid urbanization of Earth might impact ecosystems by causing systemic changes in functional traits that regulate urban ecosystems' productivity and stability. Intraspecific trait variation—variation in organisms' morphological, physiological or behavioural characteristics stemming from genetic variability and phenotypic plasticity—has significant implications for ecological functions such as nutrient cycling and primary productivity. While it is well established that changes in ecological conditions can drive evolutionary change in species' traits that, in turn, can alter ecosystem function, an understanding of the reciprocal and simultaneous processes associated with such interactions is only beginning to emerge. In urban settings, the potential for rapid trait change may be exacerbated by multiple selection pressures operating simultaneously. This paper reviews evidence on mechanisms linking urban development patterns to rapid phenotypic changes, and differentiates phenotypic changes for which there is evidence of micro-evolution versus phenotypic changes which may represent plasticity. Studying how humans mediate phenotypic trait changes through urbanization could shed light on fundamental concepts in ecological and evolutionary theory. It can also contribute to our understanding of eco-evolutionary feedback and provide insights for maintaining ecosystem function over the long term. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Human influences on evolution, and the ecological and societal consequences’.

scholarly journals Intraspecific trait variation alters the outcome of competition in freshwater ciliates

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Flöder ◽  
Joanne Yong ◽  
Toni Klauschies ◽  
Ursula Gaedke ◽  
Tobias Poprick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trait Variation ◽  
Intraspecific Trait Variation ◽  
Freshwater Ciliates

scholarly journals Intraspecific trait variation drives grassland species richness and productivity under changing precipitation

Ecosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Meifeng Deng ◽  
Weixing Liu ◽  
Ping Li ◽  
Lin Jiang ◽  
Shaopeng Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Trait Variation ◽  
Grassland Species ◽  
Intraspecific Trait Variation

scholarly journals Intraspecific trait variation across scales: implications for understanding global change responses

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily V. Moran ◽  
Florian Hartig ◽  
David M. Bell
Keyword(s):  
Global Change ◽  
Trait Variation ◽  
Intraspecific Trait Variation

scholarly journals Predicting intraspecific trait variation among California's grasses

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brody Sandel ◽  
Claire Pavelka ◽  
Thomas Hayashi ◽  
Lachlan Charles ◽  
Jennifer Funk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trait Variation ◽  
Intraspecific Trait Variation

scholarly journals Intraspecific Trait Variation Is Correlated with Establishment Success of Alien Mammals

2015 ◽  
Vol 185 (6) ◽  
pp. 737-746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuela González-Suárez ◽  
Sven Bacher ◽  
Jonathan M. Jeschke
Keyword(s):  
Trait Variation ◽  
Establishment Success ◽  
Intraspecific Trait Variation
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