scholarly journals Linking functional traits and demography to model species-rich communities

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Loïc Chalmandrier ◽  
Florian Hartig ◽  
Daniel C. Laughlin ◽  
Heike Lischke ◽  
Maximilian Pichler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Functional Trait ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
New Method ◽  
Volterra Model ◽  
Mountain Grassland ◽  
Species Abundances ◽  
Process Based Models

AbstractIt has long been anticipated that relating functional traits to species demography would be a cornerstone for achieving large-scale predictability of ecological systems. If such a relationship existed, species demography could be modeled only by measuring functional traits, transforming our ability to predict states and dynamics of species-rich communities with process-based community models. Here, we introduce a new method that links empirical functional traits with the demographic parameters of a process-based model by calibrating a transfer function through inverse modeling. As a case study, we parameterize a modified Lotka–Volterra model of a high-diversity mountain grassland with static plant community and functional trait data only. The calibrated trait–demography relationships are amenable to ecological interpretation, and lead to species abundances that fit well to the observed community structure. We conclude that our new method offers a general solution to bridge the divide between trait data and process-based models in species-rich ecosystems.

scholarly journals Analysis of the Similarity between in Silico Ideotypes and Phenotypic Profiles to Support Cultivar Recommendation—A Case Study on Phaseolus vulgaris L.

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1733
Author(s):  
Livia Paleari ◽  
Fosco M. Vesely ◽  
Riccardo A. Ravasi ◽  
Ermes Movedi ◽  
Sofia Tartarini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
In Silico ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Time Factors ◽  
Functional Trait ◽  
Light Extinction ◽  
Sowing Time ◽  
Light Extinction Coefficient ◽  
Context Specific

Cultivar recommendation is a key factor in cropping system management. Classical approaches based on comparative multi-environmental trials can hardly explore the agro-climatic and management heterogeneity farmers may have to face. Moreover, they struggle to keep up with the number of genotypes commercially released each year. We propose a new approach based on the integration of in silico ideotyping and functional trait profiling, with the common bean (Phaseoulus vulgaris L.) in Northern Italy as a case study. Statistical distributions for six functional traits (light extinction coefficient, radiation use efficiency, thermal time to first pod and maturity, seed weight, plant height) were derived for 24 bean varieties. The analysis of soil, climate and management in the study area led us to define 21 homogeneous contexts, for which ideotypes were identified using the crop model STICS (Simulateur mulTIdisciplinaire pour les Cultures Standard), the E-FAST (Extended Fourier Amplitude Sensitivity Test) sensitivity analysis method, and the distributions of functional traits. For each context, the 24 cultivars were ranked according to the similarity (weighted Euclidean distance) with the ideotype. Context-specific ideotypes mainly differed for phenological adaptation to specific combinations of climate and management (sowing time) factors, and this reflected in the cultivar recommendation for the different contexts. Feedbacks from bean technicians in the study area confirmed the reliability of the results and, in turn, of the proposed methodology.

A New Method for the Production Process Optimization Management Based on Evolution Game and Failure Mode and Effects Analysis

2012 ◽  
Vol 235 ◽  
pp. 345-349
Author(s):  
Ding Li
Keyword(s):  
Failure Mode ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
New Method ◽  
Game Analysis ◽  
Optimization Management ◽  
Processing Optimization ◽  
Product Costs ◽  
First Time ◽  
Evolution Game

To reduce product costs and improve the competitiveness of a enterprise, it is essential to optimize and manage the production processing in an efficient way. However, in many large-scale enterprises, the supervision and optimization of production processing is very complex and effective regularization is often difficult to achieve. To address this issue, a new method is proposed to optimize the production processing in large-scale enterprises in this work. The innovation of the proposed method lies on that it is the first time to use the integration of failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) and evolution game analysis to deal with the issue of production processing optimization. The FMEA was firstly used to reveal the critical factors on the production processing optimization and the evolution game analysis was then applied to finding efficient/inefficient correlated equilibria in the optimization processing. A case study has been carried out in a company to evaluate and verify the new method. The actual situation has been taken into account for the practice evaluation of the proposed method. The analysis results show that the proposed method provides good production processing optimization and hence is feasible and easy to use in practice.

scholarly journals Can functional traits explain phylogenetic signal in the composition of a plant community?

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daijiang Li ◽  
Anthoy R Ives ◽  
Donald M Waller
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Community Assembly ◽  
Phylogenetic Signal ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Functional Trait ◽  
Phylogenetic Information ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Forest Sites ◽  
Species Abundances ◽  
Understory Plant

Phylogeny-based and functional trait-based analyses are two principle ways to study community assembly and underlying ecological processes. In principle, knowing all information about species traits would make phylogenetic information redundant, at least that component of phylogenetic signal in the distribution of species among communities that is caused by phylogenetically related species sharing similar traits. In reality, phylogenies may contain more information than a set of singular, discretely measured traits because we cannot measure all species traits and may misjudge which are most important. The extent to which functional trait information makes phylogenetic information redundant, however, has not been explicitly studied with empirical data in community ecology. Here, we use phylogenetic linear mixed models to analyze community assembly of 55 understory plant species in 30 forest sites in central Wisconsin. These communities show strong phylogenetic attraction, yet variation among sites in 20 environmental variables could not account for this pattern. Most of the 15 functional traits we measured had strong phylogenetic signal, but only three varied strongly among sites in ways that affected species' abundances. These three traits explained only 19% of variation in phylogenetic patterns of species co-occurrence. Thus, phylogenies appear to provide considerably more information about community assembly than the functional traits measured in this study, demonstrating the value of phylogeny in studying of community assembly processes even with abundant functional traits.

scholarly journals The taxonomic and functional biogeographies of phytoplankton and zooplankton communities across boreal lakes

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas F. St-Gelais ◽  
Richard J. Vogt ◽  
Paul A. del Giorgio ◽  
Beatrix E. Beisner
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Trophic Interactions ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Dispersal Limitation ◽  
Fish Predation ◽  
Functional Trait ◽  
Boreal Lakes ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Biogeographical Distribution

AbstractStrong trophic interactions link primary producers (phytoplankton) and consumers (zooplankton) in lakes. However, the influence of such interactions on the biogeographical distribution of the taxa and functional traits of planktonic organisms in lakes has never been explicitly tested. To better understand the spatial distribution of these two major aquatic groups, we related the distributions of their taxa and functional traits across boreal lakes (104 for zooplankton and 48 for phytoplankton) to a common suite of environmental and spatial factors. We directly tested the degree of coupling in their taxonomic and functional distributions across the subset of common lakes. Phytoplankton functional composition responded mainly to properties related to water quality, while zooplankton composition responded more strongly to lake morphometry. Overall, the spatial distributions of phytoplankton and zooplankton were coupled at taxonomic and functional levels but after controlling for the effect of environmental drivers (water quality and morphometry) and dispersal limitation, no residual coupling could be attributed to trophic interactions. The lack of support for the role of trophic interactions as a driver coupling the distribution of plankton communities across boreal lakes indicates that taxon-specific and functional trait driven ecological interactions may not modulate large-scale spatial patterns of phytoplankton and zooplankton in a coordinated way. Our results point to community structuring forces beyond the phytoplankton-zooplankton trophic coupling itself, and which are specific to each trophic level: fish predation for zooplankton and resources for phytoplankton.

scholarly journals A new dataset on plant occurrences on small islands, including species abundances and functional traits across different spatial scales

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Schrader ◽  
Soetjipto Moeljono ◽  
Junus Tambing ◽  
Cornelia Sattler ◽  
Holger Kreft
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Functional Trait ◽  
Small Islands ◽  
Species Dispersal ◽  
Competitive Strategies ◽  
New Information ◽  
Species Abundances ◽  
Species Area ◽  
Species Occurrences

We introduce a new dataset of woody plants on 60 small tropical islands located in the Raja Ampat archipelago in Indonesia. The dataset includes incidence, abundance and functional trait data for 57 species. All islands were sampled using a standardised transect and plot design providing detailed information on plant occurrences at different spatial scales ranging from the local (plot and transect scale) to the island scale. In addition, the dataset includes information on key plant functional traits linked to species dispersal, resource acquisition and competitive strategies. The dataset can be used to address ecological questions connected to the species-area relationship and community assembly processes on small islands and in isolated habitats. The dataset yields detailed information on plant community structure and links incidence, abundance and functional trait data at different spatial scales. Furthermore, this is the first plant-island dataset for the Raja Ampat archipelago, a remote and poorly studied region, and provides important new information on species occurrences.

scholarly journals Reducing the Eltonian shortfall with trophic interaction models

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Caron ◽  
Luigi Maiorano ◽  
Wilfried Thuiller ◽  
Laura J. Pollock
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
Food Webs ◽  
Functional Traits ◽  
Conservation Planning ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Functional Trait ◽  
Predator Prey

While species interactions are fundamental for linking biodiversity to ecosystem functioning and for conservation, large-scale empirical data are lacking for most species and ecosystems. Accumulating evidence suggests that trophic interactions are predictable from available functional trait information, but we have yet to understand how well we can predict interactions across large spatial scales and food webs. Here, we built a model predicting predator-prey interactions based on functional traits for European vertebrates. We found that even models calibrated with very few known interactions (100 out of 71k) estimated the entire food web reasonably well. However, predators were easier to predict than prey, with prey in some clades being particularly difficult to predict (e.g., fowls and storks). Local food web connectance was also consistently over-estimated. Our results demonstrate the potential for filling gaps in sparse food webs, an important step towards a better description of biodiversity with strong implications for conservation planning.

scholarly journals Biased parasitoid sex ratios: Wolbachia, functional traits, local and landscape effects

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoltán László ◽  
Avar-Lehel Dénes ◽  
Lajos Király ◽  
Béla Tóthmérész
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Functional Trait ◽  
Landscape Scale ◽  
Landscape Composition ◽  
Habitat Amount ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Ovipositor Length ◽  
Adult Sex Ratio

AbstractAdult sex ratio (ASR) is a demographic key parameter, being essential for the survival and dynamics of a species populations. Biased ASR are adaptations to the environment on different scales, resulted by different mechanisms as inbreeding, mating behaviour, resource limitations, endosymbionts such as Wolbachia, and changes in density or spatial distribution. Parasitoid ASRs are also known to be strongly biased. But less information is available on large scale variable effects such as landscape composition or fragmentation. We aimed to study whether the landscape scale does affect the ASR of parasitoids belonging to the same tritrophic gall inducer community. We examined effects of characteristics on different scales as functional trait, local and landscape scale environment on parasitoid ASR. On species level ovipositor length, on local scale resource amount and density, while on landscape scale habitat amount, land use and landscape history were the examined explanatory variables. We controlled for the incidence and prevalence of Wolbachia infections. Parasitoid ASR is best explained by ovipositor length: with which increase ASR also increases; and available resource amount: with the gall diameter increase ASR decreases. On large scale the interaction of functional traits with habitat size also explained significantly the parasitoid ASRs. Our results support the hypothesis that large scale environmental characteristics affect parasitoid ASRs besides intrinsic and local characteristics.

scholarly journals A New Method for the Large-Scale Documentation of Pottery Sherds Through Simultaneous Multiple 3D Model Capture Using Structure from Motion: Phoenician Carinated-Shoulder Amphorae from Tell el-Burak (Lebanon) as a Case Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 256-272
Author(s):  
Fanet Göttlich ◽  
Aaron Schmitt ◽  
Andrea Kilian ◽  
Helen Gries ◽  
Kamal Badreshany
Keyword(s):  
Structure From Motion ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
3D Model ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
New Method ◽  
Large Collection ◽  
Subsequent Research ◽  
Pottery Sherds

Abstract This paper presents a new rapid, low-cost method for the large-scale documentation of pottery sherds through simultaneous multiple 3D model capture using Structure from Motion (SfM). The method has great potential to enhance and replace time-consuming and expensive conventional approaches for pottery documentation, i.e., 2D photographs and drawing on paper with subsequent digitization of the drawings. To showcase the method’s effectiveness and applicability, a case study was developed in the context of an investigation of the Phoenician economy at the Lebanese site of Tell el-Burak, which is based on a large collection of amphora sherds. The same set of sherds were drawn by an experienced draftsperson and then documented through SfM using our new workflow to allow for a direct comparison. The results show that the new technique detailed here is accessible, more cost-effective, and allows for the documentation of ceramic data at a far-greater scale, while producing more consistent and reproducible results. We expect that these factors will enable excavators to greatly increase digital access to their material, which will significantly enhance its utility for subsequent research.

A Family With Autosomal-Dominant Progressive Sensorineural Hearing Loss

1996 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Halpin ◽  
Barbara Herrmann ◽  
Margaret Whearty
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Speech Intelligibility ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Speech Language Pathology ◽  
The Family ◽  
Patient Will ◽  
Language Pathology

The family described in this article provides an unusual opportunity to relate findings from genetic, histological, electrophysiological, psychophysical, and rehabilitative investigation. Although the total number evaluated is large (49), the known, living affected population is smaller (14), and these are spread from age 20 to age 59. As a result, the findings described above are those of a large-scale case study. Clearly, more data will be available through longitudinal study of the individuals documented in the course of this investigation but, given the slow nature of the progression in this disease, such studies will be undertaken after an interval of several years. The general picture presented to the audiologist who must rehabilitate these cases is that of a progressive cochlear degeneration that affects only thresholds at first, and then rapidly diminishes speech intelligibility. The expected result is that, after normal language development, the patient may accept hearing aids well, encouraged by the support of the family. Performance and satisfaction with the hearing aids is good, until the onset of the speech intelligibility loss, at which time the patient will encounter serious difficulties and may reject hearing aids as unhelpful. As the histological and electrophysiological results indicate, however, the eighth nerve remains viable, especially in the younger affected members, and success with cochlear implantation may be expected. Audiologic counseling efforts are aided by the presence of role models and support from the other affected members of the family. Speech-language pathology services were not considered important by the members of this family since their speech production developed normally and has remained very good. Self-correction of speech was supported by hearing aids and cochlear implants (Case 5’s speech production was documented in Perkell, Lane, Svirsky, & Webster, 1992). These patients received genetic counseling and, due to the high penetrance of the disease, exhibited serious concerns regarding future generations and the hope of a cure.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document