scholarly journals Informing trait-based ecology by assessing remotely sensed functional diversity across a broad tropical temperature gradient

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. eaaw8114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra M. Durán ◽  
Roberta E. Martin ◽  
Sandra Díaz ◽  
Brian S. Maitner ◽  
Yadvinder Malhi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Elevation Gradient ◽  
Imaging Spectroscopy ◽  
Environmental Filtering ◽  
Remotely Sensed ◽  
Scale Dependency ◽  
Trait Variation ◽  
Functional Richness ◽  
Foliar Traits

Spatially continuous data on functional diversity will improve our ability to predict global change impacts on ecosystem properties. We applied methods that combine imaging spectroscopy and foliar traits to estimate remotely sensed functional diversity in tropical forests across an Amazon-to-Andes elevation gradient (215 to 3537 m). We evaluated the scale dependency of community assembly processes and examined whether tropical forest productivity could be predicted by remotely sensed functional diversity. Functional richness of the community decreased with increasing elevation. Scale-dependent signals of trait convergence, consistent with environmental filtering, play an important role in explaining the range of trait variation within each site and along elevation. Single- and multitrait remotely sensed measures of functional diversity were important predictors of variation in rates of net and gross primary productivity. Our findings highlight the potential of remotely sensed functional diversity to inform trait-based ecology and trait diversity-ecosystem function linkages in hyperdiverse tropical forests.

scholarly journals Pattern of functional diversity along the elevation gradient in the dry evergreen Afromontane forest of Hararghe Highland, Southeast Ethiopia

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-264
Author(s):  
M. Teshome ◽  
Z. Asfaw ◽  
M. Mohammed
Keyword(s):  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Environmental Gradients ◽  
Elevation Gradient ◽  
Environmental Filtering ◽  
Diversity Indices ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Diversity Pattern ◽  
Afromontane Forest ◽  
Functional Richness ◽  
Functional Diversity Indices

Understanding plant species distribution patterns along environmental gradients is fundamental to managing ecosystems, particularly when habitats are fragmented due to intensive human land use pressure. The variation pattern of functional diversity of plant communities along the elevation gradient in the Dindin dry evergreen Afromontane forest was tested. Fifty four plots of 20 x 20 m (400 m2) were established at 200 m intervals starting 2,300–2,900 m a. s. l. and woody species composition, and environmental variables were recorded. Nine functional diversity indices based on functional distances were employed to esimate functional diversity. The mixed effect model was used to determine the effect of elevation, aspect and slope on functional diversity indices. The results showed that functional diversity in communities varied greatly; functional diversity revealed a decrease with increasing elevation and a‘‘humped’’ pattern, with peak diversity appearing at middle elevation. Functional diversity was significantly correlated with elevation, slope, and aspect. Functional diversity was significantly correlated with species richness and evenness. Environmental filtering was important to the functional diversity pattern; the nine indices were all successful in the analysis of functional diversity in the plant community with different effectiveness, and modified functional attribute diversity, plot-based functional diversity, community based functional diversity, functional richness, and community weight mean of woody density performed better than the other four indices in this study.

scholarly journals Leaf trait variation in species-rich tropical Andean forests

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jürgen Homeier ◽  
Tabea Seeler ◽  
Kerstin Pierick ◽  
Christoph Leuschner
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Gradients ◽  
Elevation Gradient ◽  
Environmental Filtering ◽  
Leaf Thickness ◽  
Community Level ◽  
Plant Performance ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Trait Variation ◽  
Leaf Trait ◽  
Foliar N

AbstractScreening species-rich communities for the variation in functional traits along environmental gradients may help understanding the abiotic drivers of plant performance in a mechanistic way. We investigated tree leaf trait variation along an elevation gradient (1000–3000 m) in highly diverse neotropical montane forests to test the hypothesis that elevational trait change reflects a trend toward more conservative resource use strategies at higher elevations, with interspecific trait variation decreasing and trait integration increasing due to environmental filtering. Analysis of trait variance partitioning across the 52 tree species revealed for most traits a dominant influence of phylogeny, except for SLA, leaf thickness and foliar Ca, where elevation was most influential. The community-level means of SLA, foliar N and Ca, and foliar N/P ratio decreased with elevation, while leaf thickness and toughness increased. The contribution of intraspecific variation was substantial at the community level in most traits, yet smaller than the interspecific component. Both within-species and between-species trait variation did not change systematically with elevation. High phylogenetic diversity, together with small-scale edaphic heterogeneity, cause large interspecific leaf trait variation in these hyper-diverse Andean forests. Trait network analysis revealed increasing leaf trait integration with elevation, suggesting stronger environmental filtering at colder and nutrient-poorer sites.

scholarly journals Quantifying productivity at landscape scale using remotely-sensed foliar traits and canopy structure

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Wieczynski ◽  
Sandra Diaz ◽  
Sandra M. Duran ◽  
Nikolaos Fyllas ◽  
Norma Salinas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Net Primary Productivity ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Elevation Gradient ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Functional Model ◽  
Canopy Structure ◽  
Remotely Sensed ◽  
Effective Manner ◽  
Foliar Traits

Abstract Forests are integral to global carbon cycling but are threatened by anthropogenic degradation and climate change. Assessing this global threat has been hindered by a lack of clear, flexible, and easy-to-use productivity models along with a lack of functional trait and productivity data for parameterizing and testing those models. Current productivity models are either extremely complex requiring up to hundreds of parameters, many sub-models, and considerable computational expense or rely on statistical trait-growth relationships that can be hard to extrapolate to new systems or climates. Here we provide a simple alternative: a remote sensing canopy functional model (RS-CFM) that uses remotely-sensed foliar traits and canopy structure data to efficiently map productivity at high-resolution and large spatial scales. We test this model by quantifying net primary productivity (NPP) at 0.01-ha resolution in 30,040 hectares of Peruvian tropical rainforest along a 3,322-m Amazon-to-Andes elevation gradient. Our model predicts local NPP and elevational shifts in NPP much more accurately and in greater detail than a prominent alternative method—NASA’s MODIS NPP product. Furthermore, we show how NPP estimates depend on light competition and identify the appropriate spatial resolution for remote productivity estimation. Our framework opens up possibilities to fully harness remote sensing data and reliably scale up from traits to map regional or global productivity in a more direct, efficient, and cost-effective manner.

scholarly journals Functional diversity of Himalayan bat communities declines at high elevation without the loss of phylogenetic diversity

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohit Chakravarty ◽  
Ram Mohan ◽  
Christian C. Voigt ◽  
Anand Krishnan ◽  
Viktoriia Radchuk
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Phylogenetic Diversity ◽  
Environmental Filtering ◽  
Taxonomic Diversity ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Elevational Gradients ◽  
Functional Richness ◽  
Functional Dispersion ◽  
Functional And Phylogenetic Diversity

AbstractSpecies richness exhibits well-known patterns across elevational gradients in various taxa, but represents only one aspect of quantifying biodiversity patterns. Functional and phylogenetic diversity have received much less attention, particularly for vertebrate taxa. There is still a limited understanding of how functional, phylogenetic and taxonomic diversity change in concert across large gradients of elevation. Here, we focused on the Himalaya—representing the largest elevational gradients in the world—to investigate the patterns of taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity in a bat assemblage. Combining field data on species occurrence, relative abundance, and functional traits with measures of phylogenetic diversity, we found that bat species richness and functional diversity declined at high elevation but phylogenetic diversity remained unchanged. At the lowest elevation, we observed low functional dispersion despite high species and functional richness, suggesting a niche packing mechanism. The decline in functional richness, dispersion, and divergence at the highest elevation is consistent with patterns observed due to environmental filtering. These patterns are driven by the absence of rhinolophid bats, four congeners with extreme trait values. Our data, some of the first on mammals from the Himalayan region, suggest that in bat assemblages with relatively high species diversity, phylogenetic diversity may not be a substitute to measure functional diversity.

scholarly journals The Effect of Climate and Human Pressures on Functional Diversity and Species Richness Patterns of Amphibians, Reptiles and Mammals in Europe

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 275
Author(s):  
Mariana A. Tsianou ◽  
Maria Lazarina ◽  
Danai-Eleni Michailidou ◽  
Aristi Andrikou-Charitidou ◽  
Stefanos P. Sgardelis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Influential Factor ◽  
Climatic Variables ◽  
Quadratic Entropy ◽  
Functional Richness ◽  
Precipitation Seasonality ◽  
Rao’S Quadratic Entropy ◽  
Richness Patterns

The ongoing biodiversity crisis reinforces the urgent need to unravel diversity patterns and the underlying processes shaping them. Although taxonomic diversity has been extensively studied and is considered the common currency, simultaneously conserving other facets of diversity (e.g., functional diversity) is critical to ensure ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services. Here, we explored the effect of key climatic factors (temperature, precipitation, temperature seasonality, and precipitation seasonality) and factors reflecting human pressures (agricultural land, urban land, land-cover diversity, and human population density) on the functional diversity (functional richness and Rao’s quadratic entropy) and species richness of amphibians (68 species), reptiles (107 species), and mammals (176 species) in Europe. We explored the relationship between different predictors and diversity metrics using generalized additive mixed model analysis, to capture non-linear relationships and to account for spatial autocorrelation. We found that at this broad continental spatial scale, climatic variables exerted a significant effect on the functional diversity and species richness of all taxa. On the other hand, variables reflecting human pressures contributed significantly in the models even though their explanatory power was lower compared to climatic variables. In most cases, functional richness and Rao’s quadratic entropy responded similarly to climate and human pressures. In conclusion, climate is the most influential factor in shaping both the functional diversity and species richness patterns of amphibians, reptiles, and mammals in Europe. However, incorporating factors reflecting human pressures complementary to climate could be conducive to us understanding the drivers of functional diversity and richness patterns.

Vegetation alters how soil properties and climate influence microbial activity and functional diversity in rhizosphere and bulk soil along an elevation gradient

2021 ◽  
pp. 108485
Author(s):  
Daniel Hernández-Cáceres ◽  
Alexia Stokes ◽  
Guillermo Angeles-Alvarez ◽  
Josiane Abadie ◽  
Fabien Anthelme ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Microbial Activity ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Elevation Gradient ◽  
Bulk Soil

scholarly journals Impact of urbanization on functional diversity in macromycete communities along an urban ecosystem in Southwest Mexico

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e12191
Author(s):  
Marko Gómez-Hernández ◽  
Emily Avendaño-Villegas ◽  
María Toledo-Garibaldi ◽  
Etelvina Gándara
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Urban Ecosystem ◽  
Niche Space ◽  
Urbanization Gradient ◽  
Urbanization Level ◽  
Functional Value ◽  
Functional Richness ◽  
Available Resources

Macromycetes are a group of fungi characterized by the production of fruit bodies and are highly relevant in most terrestrial ecosystems as pathogens, mutualists, and organic matter decomposers. Habitat transformation can drastically alter macromycete communities and diminish the contribution of these organisms to ecosystem functioning; however, knowledge on the effect of urbanization on macrofungal communities is scarce. Diversity metrics based on functional traits of macromycete species have shown to be valuable tools to predict how species contribute to ecosystem functionality since traits determine the performance of species in ecosystems. The aim of this study was to assess patterns of species richness, functional diversity, and composition of macrofungi in an urban ecosystem in Southwest Mexico, and to identify microclimatic, environmental, and urban factors related to these patterns in order to infer the effect of urbanization on macromycete communities. We selected four oak forests along an urbanization gradient and established a permanent sampling area of 0.1 ha at each site. Macromycete sampling was carried out every week from June to October 2017. The indices used to measure functional diversity were functional richness (FRic), functional divergence (FDig), and functional evenness (FEve). The metric used to assess variation of macrofungal ecological function along the study area was the functional value. We recorded a total of 134 macromycete species and 223 individuals. Our results indicated a decline of species richness with increased urbanization level related mainly to microclimatic variables, and a high turnover of species composition among study sites, which appears to be related to microclimatic and urbanization variables. FRic decreased with urbanization level, indicating that some of the available resources in the niche space within the most urbanized sites are not being utilized. FDig increased with urbanization, which suggests a high degree of niche differentiation among macromycete species within communities in urbanized areas. FEve did not show notable differences along the urbanization gradient, indicating few variations in the distribution of abundances within the occupied sections of the niche space. Similarly, the functional value was markedly higher in the less urbanized site, suggesting greater performance of functional guilds in that area. Our findings suggest that urbanization has led to a loss of macromycete species and a decrease in functional diversity, causing some sections of the niche space to be hardly occupied and available resources to be under-utilized, which could, to a certain extent, affect ecosystem functioning and stability.

scholarly journals Seasonal Analysis of Taxonomic and Functional Diversity of Poneromorph Ant Assemblages in the Amazon Forest

Sociobiology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luana Priscila de Carvalho Pereira ◽  
Fábio Souto Almeida ◽  
André Barbosa Vargas ◽  
Marcel Santos de Araújo ◽  
Antônio José Mayhé-Nunes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Groups ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Taxonomic Diversity ◽  
Native Forest ◽  
Amazon Forest ◽  
Functional Richness ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Seasonal Analysis ◽  
Ant Diversity ◽  
Dry And Rainy Seasons

The present study aimed at assessing the effects of climate seasonality on poneromorph ants in the Brazilian Amazon, by studying variations in composition, richness, and taxonomic and functional diversity. The study was carried out in the Tapirapé-Aquiri National Forest, southeastern Pará State. We collected poneromorph ants in three areas of native forest with pitfall traps and sardine baits on the ground and vegetation, in two dry and rainy seasons. We collected 46 species of poneromorph ants, which belong to two subfamilies and eleven genera. The species composition, richness and taxonomic diversity did not vary significantly between seasons. There was no significant difference in the frequency of species of functional groups between dry and rainy seasons. There was no significant difference in the average richness and average diversity of functional groups between the dry and rainy seasons. In our study we found no seasonal differences in composition, taxonomic and functional richness and diversity of poneromorph ants in the Amazon, which is useful for future studies that aim at using those ants as bioindicators. In addition, the identification of the species made in the present study has special relevance as it contributes to advance the knowledge of poneromorph ant diversity in the Amazon.

scholarly journals The cryptic impacts of invasion: Functional homogenization of tropical ant communities by invasive fire ants

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark K. L. Wong ◽  
Benoit Guénard ◽  
Owen T. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Taxonomic Diversity ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Ant Communities ◽  
Invasive Insects ◽  
Tropical Grasslands ◽  
Functional Richness ◽  
Functional Identities ◽  
Functional Homogenization

AbstractInvasive insects represent major threats to ecosystems worldwide. Yet their effects on the functional dimension of biodiversity, measured as the diversity and distribution of traits, are overlooked. Such measures often determine the resilience of ecological communities and the ecosystem processes they modulate. The fire ant Solenopsis invicta is a highly problematic invasive species occurring on five continents. Its impacts on the taxonomic diversity of native ant communities have been studied but its impacts on their functional diversity are unknown. Comparing invaded and uninvaded plots in tropical grasslands of Hong Kong, we investigated how the presence of S. invicta affects the diversity and distribution of ant species and traits within and across communities, the functional identities of communities, and functionally unique species. We calculated the functional diversity of individual species, including the trait variation from intraspecific polymorphisms, and scaled up these values to calculate functional diversity at the community level. Invasion had only limited effects on species richness and functional richness, which were 13% and 8.5% lower in invaded communities respectively. In contrast, invasion had pronounced effects on taxonomic and functional composition due to turnover in species and trait values. Furthermore, invaded communities were functionally more homogeneous, displaying 23% less turnover and 56% more redundancy than uninvaded communities, as well as greater clustering and lower divergence in trait values. Invaded communities had fewer functionally-unique individuals and were characterized by ant species with narrower heads and bodies and shorter mandibles. Our results suggest that studies based only on taxonomic measures of diversity or indices describing trait variety risk underestimating the full ramifications of invasions. Investigating the diversity and distributions of traits at species, community and landscape levels can reveal the cryptic impacts of alien species which, despite causing little taxonomic change, may substantially modify the structure and functioning of ecological communities.

scholarly journals Dung Beetles along a Tropical Altitudinal Gradient: Environmental Filtering on Taxonomic and Functional Diversity

PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. e0157442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cássio Alencar Nunes ◽  
Rodrigo Fagundes Braga ◽  
José Eugênio Cortes Figueira ◽  
Frederico de Siqueira Neves ◽  
G. Wilson Fernandes
Keyword(s):  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Altitudinal Gradient ◽  
Environmental Filtering ◽  
Dung Beetles
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