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.

scholarly journals Contrasting Gymnosperm Diversity Across an Elevation Gradient in the Ecoregion of China: The Role of Temperature and Productivity

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bikram Pandey ◽  
Kaiwen Pan ◽  
Mohammed A. Dakhil ◽  
Ziyan Liao ◽  
Arbindra Timilsina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Elevation Gradient ◽  
Aridity Index ◽  
Climatic Variables ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Precipitation Pattern ◽  
Elevation Gradients ◽  
Precipitation Seasonality ◽  
Richness Pattern ◽  
Richness Patterns

The species richness–climate relationship is a significant concept in determining the richness patterns and predicting the cause of its distribution. The distribution range of species and climatic variables along elevation have been used in evaluating the elevational diversity gradients (EDG). However, the species richness of gymnosperms along elevation and its driving factors in large geographic areas are still unknown. Here, we aimed at evaluating the EDG of gymnosperms in the ecoregions of China. We divided the geographical region of China into 34 ecoregions and determine the richness pattern of gymnosperm taxa along elevation gradients. We demonstrated the richness patterns of the 237-gymnosperm (219 threatened, 112 endemic, 189 trees, and 48 shrubs) taxa, roughly distributed between 0 and 5,300 m (above sea level) in China. As possible determinants of richness patterns, annual mean temperature (TEMP), annual precipitation (PPT), potential evapotranspiration (PET), net primary productivity (SNPP), aridity index (AI), temperature seasonality (TS), and precipitation seasonality (PS) are the major predictor variables driving the EDG in plants. We used the species interpolation method to determine the species richness at each elevation band. To evaluate the richness pattern of gymnosperms in an ecoregion, generalized additive modeling and structural equation modeling were performed. The ecoregions in the southern part of China are rich in gymnosperm species, where three distinct richness patterns—(i) hump-shaped, (ii) monotonic increase, and (iii) monotonic decline—were noticed in China. All climatic variables have a significant effect on the richness pattern of gymnosperms; however, TEMP, SNPP, TS, and PS explained the highest deviance in diversity-rich ecoregions of China. Our results suggests that the highest number of gymnosperms species was found in the southwestern and Taiwan regions of China distributed at the 1,600- and 2,800-m elevation bands. These regions could be under severe stress in the near future due to expected changes in precipitation pattern and increase of temperature due to climate change. Thus, our study provided evidence of the species–climate relationship that can support the understanding of future conservation planning of gymnosperms.

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 Distribution Pattern of Gymnosperms’ Richness in Nepal: Effect of Environmental Constrains along Elevational Gradients

Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 625
Author(s):  
Bikram Pandey ◽  
Nirdesh Nepal ◽  
Salina Tripathi ◽  
Kaiwen Pan ◽  
Mohammed A. Dakhil ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Distribution Pattern ◽  
Species Distribution ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
Climatic Variables ◽  
Elevation Gradients ◽  
Hypothesis Model ◽  
Richness Pattern ◽  
Richness Patterns

Understanding the pattern of species distribution and the underlying mechanism is essential for conservation planning. Several climatic variables determine the species diversity, and the dependency of species on climate motivates ecologists and bio-geographers to explain the richness patterns along with elevation and environmental correlates. We used interpolated elevational distribution data to examine the relative importance of climatic variables in determining the species richness pattern of 26 species of gymnosperms in the longest elevation gradients in the world. Thirteen environmental variables were divided into three predictors set representing each hypothesis model (energy-water, physical-tolerance, and climatic-seasonality); to explain the species richness pattern of gymnosperms along the elevational gradient. We performed generalized linear models and variation partitioning to evaluate the relevant role of environmental variables on species richness patterns. Our findings showed that the gymnosperms’ richness formed a hump-shaped distribution pattern. The individual effect of energy-water predictor set was identified as the primary determinant of species richness. While, the joint effects of energy-water and physical-tolerance predictors have explained highest variations in gymnosperm distribution. The multiple environmental indicators are essential drivers of species distribution and have direct implications in understanding the effect of climate change on the species richness pattern.

scholarly journals Generalist solitary ground-nesting bees dominate diversity survey in intensively managed agricultural land

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica Juel Ahrenfeldt ◽  
Johannes Kollmann ◽  
Henning Bang Madsen ◽  
Hans Skov-Petersen ◽  
Lene Sigsgaard
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Plant Cover ◽  
Flowering Plant ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Insect Pollination ◽  
Wild Bees ◽  
Ground Nesting

In Western Europe agricultural management was intensified in the period 1950–2010 with negative consequences for ecosystem services, such as pollination, especially in countries with a large proportion of agriculture. Farmland represents 66% of the Danish landscape, but little is known about wild bees despite that 75% of the country’s wild and cultivated plant species depend on insect pollination. Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) gains considerable benefits from insect pollination and abundance, species richness and functional diversity, are all important elements. We surveyed the diversity of wild bees during strawberry flowering by sampling bees with pan-traps along permanent margins bordering strawberry fields on six organic and six conventional farms in eastern Denmark and compared the results of the survey with that of sampling site farming practice and field margin forage availability. The majority of bees sampled were polylectic solitary ground-nesting bees known to forage on species of the rose family. This indicates that these bee species are potential pollinators of strawberries, and the low number of specialized bees suggests that the bee community was affected by the simplified landscapes. Temporal trends in abundance, species richness, and body size of the bees, suggest that the functional diversity of pollinator assemblages available differed for early- and late-flowering strawberries. Fewer plants species and a lower plant cover were found in the margins of sprayed fields. Abundance and diversity of the wild bees were neither correlated with the use of herbicides and insecticides, nor with plant species richness or flowering plant cover.

scholarly journals Species Richness, Ecology, and Prediction of Orchids in Central Europe: Local-Scale Study

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 154
Author(s):  
Matúš Hrivnák ◽  
Michal Slezák ◽  
Dobromil Galvánek ◽  
Jaroslav Vlčko ◽  
Eva Belanová ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Solar Irradiation ◽  
Environmental Predictors ◽  
Orchid Species ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Ecological Predictors ◽  
Richness Patterns ◽  
The Relationship

Orchids are one of the most species-rich families in the world, and many species are under threat in numerous countries. Biodiversity research focusing on the relationship between the richness of orchid species and ecological factors was performed across the Cerová vrchovina Mts (Western Carpathians) testing impact of 26 explanatory variables. We aimed to determine the main ecological predictors controlling species richness and to predict potential species richness patterns. Altogether, 19 orchid species were found in the studied area, with Cephalanthera damasonium and Epipactis microphylla being the most common. Four environmental predictors (minimal longitude, carbonate-containing sediments, maximal yearly solar irradiation, and agricultural land) had statistically significant effects on orchid richness following regression analysis. Predictive models for the nine most frequent species using MaxEnt software showed (i) that land cover and geological substrate had the highest contribution to the explained variance in the models and (ii) strong potential for occurrence of given orchids in several poorly mapped parts of the studied area.

scholarly journals Historical dynamics and current environmental effects explain the spatial distribution of species richness patterns of New World monkeys

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3850 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Vallejos-Garrido ◽  
Reinaldo Rivera ◽  
Oscar Inostroza-Michael ◽  
Enrique Rodríguez-Serrano ◽  
Cristián E. Hernández
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
New World ◽  
Climatic Variables ◽  
New World Monkeys ◽  
Biodiversity Hotspots ◽  
Environmental Constraints ◽  
Spatial Autoregressive ◽  
Richness Patterns ◽  
Source Sink

Background Why biodiversity is not uniformly distributed on the Earth is a major research question of biogeography. One of the most striking patterns of disparity in species distribution are the biodiversity hotspots, which generally do not fit with the distribution of relevant components of the Neotropical biota. In this study, we assess the proximal causes of the species-richness pattern of one of the most conspicuous groups of Neotropical mammals, the New World monkeys the Platyrrhini. We test two complementary hypotheses: (1) there is a historical source-sink dynamic (addressed using macroevolutionary and macroecological approaches); (2) the large number of species in the Amazon basin is due to the constraints imposed by environmental variables occurring outside this area. Methods We first characterize spatial patterns of species richness and biodiversity hotspots using a new, objective protocol based on probabilities. Then we evaluate the source-sink hypothesis using BioGeoBEARS analysis and nestedness analysis of species richness patterns. Complementarily, to measure how often different species pairs appear in the same sites, we used null models to estimate the checkerboard score index (C-score). Finally, we evaluate the relationship between several climatic variables and species richness through ordinary least squares (OLS) and spatial autoregressive (SAR) models, and the potential environmental constraints on the pattern. Results We found one significant cluster of high values for species richness in the Amazon basin. Most dispersal events occurred from the Amazonian subregion to other Neotropical areas. Temperature (T), discrepancy (BR), and NODF indexes show a significant nesting in the matrix ordered by species richness and available energy. The C-score observed was significantly smaller than the null expectation for all sites in the Neotropics where there are records of platyrrhine species. Ten climatic variables comprised the best-fitting model that explains species richness. OLS and SAR models show that this set of variables explains 69.9% and 64.2% of species richness, respectively. Potential of evapotranspiration is the most important variable within this model, showing a linear positive relationship with species richness, and clear lower and upper limits to the species richness distribution. Discussion We suggest that New World monkeys historically migrated from their biodiversity hotspot (energetically optimal areas for most platyrrine species) to adjacent, energetically suboptimal areas, and that the different dispersal abilities of these species, the lack of competitive interactions at a macroecological scale, and environmental constraints (i.e., energy availability, seasonality) are key elements which explain the non-uniform pattern of species richness for this clade.

scholarly journals Functional, size and taxonomic diversity of fish along a depth gradient in the deep sea

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth L. Mindel ◽  
Francis C. Neat ◽  
Clive N. Trueman ◽  
Thomas J. Webb ◽  
Julia L. Blanchard
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Continental Slope ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Morphological Traits ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Functional Divergence ◽  
Feeding Guilds ◽  
Functional Richness ◽  
Size Diversity

Biodiversity is well studied in ecology and the concept has been developed to include traits of species, rather than solely taxonomy, to better reflect the functional diversity of a system. The deep sea provides a natural environmental gradient within which to study changes in different diversity metrics, but traits of deep-sea fish are not widely known, hampering the application of functional diversity to this globally important system. We used morphological traits to determine the functional richness and functional divergence of demersal fish assemblages along the continental slope in the Northeast Atlantic, at depths of 300–2,000 m. We compared these metrics to size diversity based on individual body size and species richness. Functional richness and size diversity showed similar patterns, with the highest diversity at intermediate depths; functional divergence showed the opposite pattern, with the highest values at the shallowest and deepest parts of the study site. Species richness increased with depth. The functional implications of these patterns were deduced by examining depth-related changes in morphological traits and the dominance of feeding guilds as illustrated by stable isotope analyses. The patterns in diversity and the variation in certain morphological traits can potentially be explained by changes in the relative dominance of pelagic and benthic feeding guilds. All measures of diversity examined here suggest that the deep areas of the continental slope may be equally or more diverse than assemblages just beyond the continental shelf.

scholarly journals Common latitudinal gradients in functional richness and functional evenness across marine and terrestrial systems

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1908) ◽  
pp. 20190745 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Schumm ◽  
S. M. Edie ◽  
K. S. Collins ◽  
V. Gómez-Bahamón ◽  
K. Supriya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Functional Groups ◽  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Skewed Distribution ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Latitudinal Gradients ◽  
Ecological Specialization ◽  
Functional Richness ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Functional Evenness

Functional diversity is an important aspect of biodiversity, but its relationship to species diversity in time and space is poorly understood. Here we compare spatial patterns of functional and taxonomic diversity across marine and terrestrial systems to identify commonalities in their respective ecological and evolutionary drivers. We placed species-level ecological traits into comparable multi-dimensional frameworks for two model systems, marine bivalves and terrestrial birds, and used global species-occurrence data to examine the distribution of functional diversity with latitude and longitude. In both systems, tropical faunas show high total functional richness (FR) but low functional evenness (FE) (i.e. the tropics contain a highly skewed distribution of species among functional groups). Functional groups that persist toward the poles become more uniform in species richness, such that FR declines and FE rises with latitude in both systems. Temperate assemblages are more functionally even than tropical assemblages subsampled to temperate levels of species richness, suggesting that high species richness in the tropics reflects a high degree of ecological specialization within a few functional groups and/or factors that favour high recent speciation or reduced extinction rates in those groups.

Functional diversity on rocky shores of the SW Atlantic: sewage effluents influence and mask the effects of the latitudinal gradient

2020 ◽  
Vol 648 ◽  
pp. 39-49
Author(s):  
GV Garaffo ◽  
EN Llanos ◽  
MA Saracho Bottero ◽  
E Hines ◽  
R Elías ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Diversity ◽  
Latitudinal Gradient ◽  
Diversity Indices ◽  
Rocky Shores ◽  
Quadratic Entropy ◽  
Sewage Effluents ◽  
Macrobenthic Assemblages ◽  
Sw Atlantic ◽  
Functional Diversity Indices ◽  
Rao’S Quadratic Entropy

Rocky shores are a transitional ecosystem between land and marine environments, and, together with other benthic coastal habitats, have a diverse macrobenthic community. Although there is enough information about the taxonomic diversity of Argentinean rocky shores, studies with a functional approach are scarce. We applied biological traits analysis and functional diversity indices to evaluate the geographic variation of the functional diversity of macrobenthic assemblages on rocky shores along a latitudinal gradient in the SW Atlantic (from 37° to 50°S). A total of 11 beaches with rocky hard substrate belonging to 2 biogeographical provinces (Magellanic and Argentinean) were studied during April 2016. The trait composition of macrobenthic assemblages and functional diversity indices (Rao’s quadratic entropy) varied significantly along the Argentinean coast, suggesting that the latitudinal gradient influences the distribution of species with respect to combinations of trait modalities. Rao’s quadratic entropy, species richness, evenness, and Shannon-Wiener diversity showed a pattern with higher values in the sites located in high latitudes. The functional diversity patterns found coincide with the biogeographical provinces. The presence of intertidal sewage effluents considerably influence functional diversity and mask the effects of the latitudinal gradient on the macrobenthic communities on rocky shores.

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