Functional diversity metrics: how they are affected by landscape change and how they represent ecosystem functioning in the tropics
Jack H. Hatfield,Michelle L K Harrison,Cristina Banks-Leite,Cristina Banks-Leite +3 more
- Vol. 3, Iss: 2, pp 35-42
Reads0
Chats0
TLDR
In this paper, the authors search for studies conducted in the tropics and published in the last 10 years to understand how different aspects of landscape change affect functional diversity metrics and how the latter are associated to ecosystem functioning.Abstract:
It is generally expected that landscape changes, such as habitat loss and fragmentation, should negatively affect functional diversity metrics, which in turn impact ecosystem functioning. In this review, we search for studies conducted in the tropics and published in the last 10 years to understand how different aspects of landscape change affect functional diversity metrics and how the latter are associated to ecosystem functioning. In total, we found 24 papers that assessed the effects of landscape metrics on functional diversity, evenness, divergence and composition, and although there was a general trend for functional diversity metrics to improve with habitat cover, we found a wide range of responses. Most surprisingly, however, we only found five studies from the tropics assessing the extent to which functional diversity metrics were correlated to measures of ecosystem functioning, and in general, very weak support was found. In conclusion, our results show that it is crucial to first investigate the level to which functional diversity metrics truly represent or may lead to changes in ecosystem functioning, and this is particularly important for animal communities in the tropics. Without such confirmation, there is little reason to pursue further work to reach a consensus regarding how landscape modification affects functional diversity metrics.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Effects of anthropogenic disturbances on bird functional diversity: A global meta-analysis
Maísa Assano Matuoka,Maíra Benchimol,Juliana Monteiro de Almeida-Rocha,José Carlos Morante-Filho +3 more
TL;DR: The first comprehensive global meta-analysis on the effects of human disturbances on functional diversity of birds is provided, indicating a consistent negative effect of disturbances on bird functional diversity, regardless of the variability caused by the different predictor variables considered.
Journal ArticleDOI
The effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on plant functional traits and functional diversity: what do we know so far?
Jenny Zambrano,Carol X. Garzon-Lopez,Lauren A. Yeager,Claire Fortunel,Norbert J. Cordeiro,Noelle G. Beckman +5 more
TL;DR: It is concluded that a clear understanding of the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on functional diversity will improve predictions of the resiliency and resistance of plant communities to varying scales of disturbance.
Journal ArticleDOI
Land-use changes lead to functional loss of terrestrial mammals in a Neotropical rainforest
Marcelo Magioli,Katia Maria Paschoaletto Micchi de Barros Ferraz,Adriano Garcia Chiarello,Mauro Galetti,Mauro Galetti,Eleonore Z. F. Setz,Adriano Pereira Paglia,Nerea Abrego,Milton Cezar Ribeiro,Otso Ovaskainen,Otso Ovaskainen +10 more
TL;DR: Erosion in the prevalence of ecological functions performed by mammals in response to land-use changes in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil is detected, indicating that small remnants serve as refuges for the remaining biodiversity and are on the verge of the functional extinction of important processes.
Journal ArticleDOI
The loss of functional diversity: a detrimental influence of landscape‐scale deforestation on tree reproductive traits
Larissa Rocha-Santos,Margaret M. Mayfield,Ariadna Valentina Lopes,Michaele S. Pessoa,Michaele S. Pessoa,Daniela C. Talora,Deborah Faria,Eliana Cazetta +7 more
TL;DR: Under scenarios of extensive deforestation, changes to reproductive and dispersal trait profile of forest communities suggest that profound modifications in the availability of floral and seed resources are likely to be substantial.
Journal ArticleDOI
Countering the effects of habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation through habitat restoration
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss how habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation impacts are inextricably intertwined, and how their effects on biodiversity and ecosystems are often context specific.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities
Norman Myers,Russell A. Mittermeier,Cristina G. Mittermeier,Gustavo A. B. da Fonseca,Jennifer Kent +4 more
TL;DR: A ‘silver bullet’ strategy on the part of conservation planners, focusing on ‘biodiversity hotspots’ where exceptional concentrations of endemic species are undergoing exceptional loss of habitat, is proposed.
Journal ArticleDOI
Global Consequences of Land Use
Jonathan A. Foley,Ruth DeFries,Gregory P. Asner,Carol C. Barford,Gordon B. Bonan,Stephen R. Carpenter,F. Stuart Chapin,Michael T. Coe,Michael T. Coe,Gretchen C. Daily,Holly K. Gibbs,Joseph H. Helkowski,Tracey Holloway,Erica A. Howard,Christopher J. Kucharik,Chad Monfreda,Jonathan A. Patz,I. Colin Prentice,Navin Ramankutty,Peter K. Snyder +19 more
TL;DR: Global croplands, pastures, plantations, and urban areas have expanded in recent decades, accompanied by large increases in energy, water, and fertilizer consumption, along with considerable losses of biodiversity.
Journal ArticleDOI
Global biodiversity scenarios for the year 2100.
Osvaldo E. Sala,F. S. Chapin,Juan J. Armesto,Eric L. Berlow,Janine Bloomfield,Rodolfo Dirzo,E Huber-Sanwald,Laura Foster Huenneke,Robert B. Jackson,Ann P. Kinzig,Rik Leemans,David M. Lodge,Harold A. Mooney,Martín Oesterheld,N L Poff,Martin T. Sykes,Brian Walker,Marilyn D. Walker,Diana H. Wall +18 more
TL;DR: This study identified a ranking of the importance of drivers of change, aranking of the biomes with respect to expected changes, and the major sources of uncertainties in projections of future biodiversity change.
Journal ArticleDOI
Effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning: a consensus of current knowledge
D. U. Hooper,F. S. Chapin,John J. Ewel,Andy Hector,P. Inchausti,Sandra Lavorel,John H. Lawton,David M. Lodge,Michel Loreau,Shahid Naeem,Bernhard Schmid,Heikki Setälä,Amy J. Symstad,John Vandermeer,David A. Wardle,David A. Wardle +15 more
TL;DR: Understanding this complexity, while taking strong steps to minimize current losses of species, is necessary for responsible management of Earth's ecosystems and the diverse biota they contain.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Influence of Functional Diversity and Composition on Ecosystem Processes
David Tilman,Johannes M. H. Knops,David A. Wedin,Peter B. Reich,Mark E. Ritchie,Evan Siemann +5 more
TL;DR: Functional composition and functional diversity were the principal factors explaining plant productivity, plant percent nitrogen, plant total nitrogen, and light penetration in grassland plots.