Using avian functional traits to assess the impact of land-cover change on ecosystem processes linked to resilience in tropical forests
Tom P. Bregman,Alexander C. Lees,Alexander C. Lees,Alexander C. Lees,Hannah E. A. MacGregor,Hannah E. A. MacGregor,Bianca Darski,Bianca Darski,Nárgila G. Moura,Nárgila G. Moura,Alexandre Aleixo,Jos Barlow,Jos Barlow,Joe Tobias +13 more
TLDR
The findings suggest that local extinctions caused by the loss and degradation of tropical forest are non-random with respect to functional traits, thus disrupting the network of trophic interactions regulating seed dispersal by forest birds and herbivory by insects, with important implications for the structure and resilience of human-modified tropical forests.Abstract:
Vertebrates perform key roles in ecosystem processes via trophic interactions with plants and insects, but the response of these interactions to environmental change is difficult to quantify in complex systems, such as tropical forests. Here, we use the functional trait structure of Amazonian forest bird assemblages to explore the impacts of land-cover change on two ecosystem processes: seed dispersal and insect predation. We show that trait structure in assemblages of frugivorous and insectivorous birds remained stable after primary forests were subjected to logging and fire events, but that further intensification of human land use substantially reduced the functional diversity and dispersion of traits, and resulted in communities that occupied a different region of trait space. These effects were only partially reversed in regenerating secondary forests. Our findings suggest that local extinctions caused by the loss and degradation of tropical forest are non-random with respect to functional traits, thus disrupting the network of trophic interactions regulating seed dispersal by forest birds and herbivory by insects, with important implications for the structure and resilience of human-modified tropical forests. Furthermore, our results illustrate how quantitative functional traits for specific guilds can provide a range of metrics for estimating the contribution of biodiversity to ecosystem processes, and the response of such processes to land-cover change.read more
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Land-use intensification reduces functionalredundancy and response diversity in plantcommunities
Etienne Laliberté,Jessie A. Wells,Fabrice DeClerck,Daniel J. Metcalfe,Carla Catterall,Cibele Queiroz,Isabelle Aubin,Stephen P. Bonser,Yi Ding,Jennifer M. Fraterrigo,Sean McNamara,John W. Morgan,Dalia Sanchez Merlos,Peter A. Vesk,Margaret M. Mayfield +14 more
TL;DR: The results indicate that intensified management of ecosystems for resource extraction can increase their vulnerability to future disturbances, although specific relationships varied considerably among the different land-use gradients.
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AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds.
Joseph A. Tobias,Catherine Sheard,Alex L. Pigot,Adam J. M. Devenish,Jingyi Yang,Ferran Sayol,Montague H. C. Neate-Clegg,Nico Alioravainen,Thomas L. Weeks,Robert A. Barber,Patrick Walkden,Hannah E. A. MacGregor,Samuel E. I. Jones,Claire Vincent,Anna G. Phillips,Nicola M. Marples,Flavia A. Montaño-Centellas,Victor Leandro-Silva,Santiago Claramunt,Bianca Darski,Benjamin G. Freeman,Tom P. Bregman,Christopher R. Cooney,Emma C. Hughes,Elliot J. R. Capp,Zoë K. Varley,Nicholas R. Friedman,H. Korntheuer,Andrea Corrales-Vargas,Christopher H. Trisos,Brian E. Weeks,Dagmar M. Hanz,Till Töpfer,Gustavo A. Bravo,Vladimír Remeš,Larissa Nowak,Lincoln Silva Carneiro,A. Moncada R.,Beata Matysioková,Daniel T. Baldassarre,Alejandra Martínez-Salinas,Jared D. Wolfe,Philip Chapman,Benjamin G. Daly,Marjorie C. Sorensen,Alexander Neu,Michael A. Ford,Rebekah J. Mayhew,Luís Fábio Silveira,David J. Kelly,Nathaniel N. D. Annorbah,Henry S. Pollock,Ada Grabowska-Zhang,Jay P. McEntee,Juan Carlos T. Gonzalez,Camila G. Meneses,Marcia Muñoz,Luke L. Powell,Gabriel A. Jamie,Thomas J. Matthews,Oscar W. Johnson,Guilherme R. R. Brito,Kristof Zyskowski,Ross Crates,Michael G. Harvey,Maura Jurado Zevallos,Peter A. Hosner,Tom Bradfer-Lawrence,James M. Maley,F. Gary Stiles,Hevana Santana de Lima,Kaiya L. Provost,Moses Chibesa,Mmatjie L. Mashao,Jeffrey T. Howard,Edson Mlamba,Marcus A.H. Chua,Bicheng Li,Maria I. Gómez,Natalia C. García,Martin Päckert,Jérôme Fuchs,Jarome R. Ali,Elizabeth P. Derryberry,Monica L. Carlson,Rolly C. Urriza,Kristin E. Brzeski,Dewi M. Prawiradilaga,Matt J. Rayner,Eliot T. Miller,Rauri C. K. Bowie,René-Marie Lafontaine,R. Paul Scofield,Yingqiang Lou,Lankani Somarathna,Denis Lepage,Marshall Illif,Eike Lena Neuschulz,Mathias Templin,D. Matthias Dehling,Jacob C. Cooper,Olivier S. G. Pauwels,Kangkuso Analuddin,Jon Fjeldså,Nathalie Seddon,Paul R. Sweet,Fabrice DeClerck,Luciano Nicolás Naka,Jeffrey D. Brawn,Alexandre Aleixo,Katrin Böhning-Gaese,Carsten Rahbek,Susanne A. Fritz,Gavin H. Thomas,Matthias Schleuning +114 more
TL;DR: The AVONET dataset as discussed by the authors contains comprehensive functional trait data for all birds, including six ecological variables, 11 continuous morphological traits, and information on range size and location, from 90,020 individuals of 11,009 extant bird species sampled from 181 countries.
Journal ArticleDOI
Bird and bat species' global vulnerability to collision mortality at wind farms revealed through a trait-based assessment
Chris B. Thaxter,Graeme M. Buchanan,Jamie Carr,Stuart H. M. Butchart,Stuart H. M. Butchart,Tim Newbold,Rhys E. Green,Rhys E. Green,Joe Tobias,Wendy Foden,Sue O'Brien,James W. Pearce-Higgins,James W. Pearce-Higgins +12 more
TL;DR: This is the first quantitative global assessment of the relative collision vulnerability of species groups with wind turbines, providing valuable guidance for minimizing potentially serious negative impacts on biodiversity.
Journal ArticleDOI
Biodiversity in the anthropocene: Prospects and policy
Nathalie Seddon,Georgina M. Mace,Shahid Naeem,Joe Tobias,Alex L. Pigot,Rachel D. Cavanagh,David Mouillot,David Mouillot,David Mouillot,James Vause,Matt Walpole +10 more
TL;DR: This work develops several lines of argument for how biodiversity might be valued, and presents a framework for understanding the foundational role of hard-to-quantify ‘biodiversity services’ in sustaining the value of ecosystems to humanity.
Journal ArticleDOI
Trait-Based Assessments of Climate-Change Impacts on Interacting Species
Matthias Schleuning,Eike Lena Neuschulz,Jörg Albrecht,Irene M. A. Bender,Diana E. Bowler,D. Matthias Dehling,Susanne A. Fritz,Christian Hof,Thomas D. Mueller,Larissa Nowak,Marjorie C. Sorensen,Marjorie C. Sorensen,Katrin Böhning-Gaese,W. Daniel Kissling +13 more
TL;DR: A trait-based framework for predicting the responses of interacting plants and animals to climate change is presented and it is proposed that incorporating these traits into predictive models will improve assessments of the responds of interacting species toClimate change.
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