Bird Functional Diversity in Agroecosystems and Secondary Forests of the Tropical Andes

Agricultural systems have increased in extension and intensity worldwide, altering vertebrate functional diversity, ecosystem functioning, and ecosystemic services. However, the effects of open monoculture crops on bird functional diversity remain little explored, particularly in highly biodiverse regions such as the tropical Andes. We aim to assess the functional diversity differences of bird guilds between monoculture crops (coffee, cocoa, and citrus) and secondary forests. We use four functional diversity indices (Rao Q, Functional Richness, Functional Evenness, and Functional Divergence) related to relevant morphological, life history, and behavioral traits. We find significant differences in functional diversity between agroecosystem and forest habitats. Particularly, bird functional diversity is quite homogeneous among crop types. Functional traits related to locomotion (body weight, wing-chord length, and tail length), nest type (closed), and foraging strata (canopy and understory) are dominant at the agroecosystems. The bird assemblages found at the agroecosystems are more homogeneous in terms of functional diversity than those found at the secondary forests, as a result of crop structure and management. We recommend promoting more diverse agroecosystems to enhance bird functional diversity and reduce their effects on biodiversity.

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FUNCTIONAL DIVERSITY AND ITS ATTRIBUTE FACTORS IN THE YUNMENG MOUNTAIN NATIONAL FOREST PARK IN BEIJING, CHINA

CERNE ◽

10.1590/01047760201723012264 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 75-84

Author(s):

Jin-Tun Zhang ◽

Xiaohang Bai ◽

Dan Shao

Keyword(s):

Functional Diversity ◽

Altitudinal Gradient ◽

Soil Depth ◽

Functional Divergence ◽

Diversity Indices ◽

Slope Position ◽

National Forest ◽

Forest Communities ◽

Forest Park ◽

Functional Diversity Indices

ABSTRACT The interaction of diversity with environmental gradients is an important topic in ecology. This study investigated the pattern of change in functional diversity in forest communities along an altitudinal gradient in Yunmeng Mountain National Forest Park, China. Forty-two quadrats measuring 10 x 10 m in the forest communities were set up along this altitudinal gradient; plant species, traits and environmental variables were measured and recorded. Six functional diversity indices, namely, Modified functional attribute diversity (MFAD), Functional diversity plot-based dendrogram index (FDp), Functional diversity community-based dendrogram index (FDc), Functional evenness (FEve), Functional divergence (FDiv) and Functional dispersion (FDis), were used to calculate functional diversity. The results showed that functional diversity varied greatly in forest communities in the Yunmeng Mountain Forest Park. Functional diversity was significantly correlated with elevation and slope position and somewhat correlated with soil depth. Functional diversity increased with an increase in the elevation and decreased as the slope position changed from valley bottom to hill ridge. Functional diversity was closely related to species richness. The six functional diversity indices were all applicable to functional diversity studies of forest communities.

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Characterization of the Multidimensional Functional Space of the Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages in a Biosphere Reserve (Central México)

Diversity ◽

10.3390/d13110546 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 546

Author(s):

Alexis Joseph Rodríguez-Romero ◽

Axel Eduardo Rico-Sánchez ◽

Jacinto Elías Sedeño-Díaz ◽

Eugenia López-López

Keyword(s):

Functional Diversity ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Functional Space ◽

Diversity Indices ◽

Environmental Indices ◽

Macroinvertebrate Assemblages ◽

Functional Richness ◽

Functional Diversity Indices

The analysis of functional diversity has shown to be more sensitive to the effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances on the assemblages of aquatic macroinvertebrates than the classical analyses of structural ecology. However, this ecological analysis perspective has not been fully explored in tropical environments of America. Protected Natural Areas (PNAs) such as biosphere reserves can be a benchmark regarding structural and functional distribution patterns worldwide, so the characterization of the functional space of biological assemblages in these sites is necessary to promote biodiversity conservation efforts. Our work characterized the multidimensional functional space of the macroinvertebrate assemblages from an ecosystemic approach by main currents, involving a total of 15 study sites encompassing different impact and human influence scenarios, which were monitored in two contrasting seasons. We calculated functional diversity indices (dispersion, richness, divergence, evenness, specialization, and originality) from biological and ecological traits of the macroinvertebrate assemblages and related these indices to the physicochemical characteristics of water and four environmental indices (Water Quality Index, habitat quality, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, and vegetation cover and land use). Our results show that the indices of functional richness, evenness, and functional specialization were sensitive to disturbance caused by salinization, concentration of nutrients and organic matter, and even to the occurrence of a forest fire in the reserve during one of the sampling seasons. These findings support the conclusion that the changes and relationships between the functional diversity indices and the physicochemical parameters and environmental indices considered were suitable for evaluating the ecological conditions within the reserve.

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

Biosystems Diversity ◽

10.15421/012034 ◽

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.

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The costs of ignoring species detectability on functional diversity estimation

The Auk ◽

10.1093/auk/ukaa057 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 137 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Facundo Xavier Palacio ◽

René E Maragliano ◽

Diego Montalti

Keyword(s):

Functional Diversity ◽

Functional Divergence ◽

Habitat Type ◽

Species Traits ◽

Bird Communities ◽

Imperfect Detection ◽

East Central ◽

Functional Types ◽

Functional Richness ◽

Species Occupancy

Abstract Functional diversity (FD) approaches have been increasingly used to understand ecosystem functioning in bird communities. These approaches typically rely on the assumption that species are perfectly detected in the field, despite the fact that imperfect detection represents a ubiquitous source of bias in biodiversity studies. This may be notably important in FD studies, because detection may depend on the functional traits used to compute FD metrics. However, little effort has been devoted to account for imperfect detection in FD studies, and therefore the degree to which species traits and detectability affects FD remains poorly understood. We predict that observed FD metrics may either underestimate or overestimate detection-corrected FD, because FD has multiple independent dimensions with different data properties. We assessed whether detection was related to bird traits (body mass, diet, and foraging stratum), accounting for habitat type, season, and phylogeny. We then used a multi-species occupancy model to obtain detection-corrected FD metrics (functional richness [FRic], functional evenness [FEve], and functional divergence [FDiv]), and compared observed and detection-corrected FD estimates in bird communities from east-central Argentina. Some functional types of birds (raptors and insectivores) were more easily overlooked, whereas others (seed and leaf eaters) were more easily detected. Some observed FD metrics underestimated detection-corrected FD (FRic and FDiv), whereas some others (FEve) overestimated detection-corrected FD. Both observed and detection-corrected FRic revealed differences between seasons, but not between habitat types. However, detection-corrected FEve and FDiv showed differences between seasons, contrary to observed estimates. Our results indicate that failure to account for unequal ease of detecting species can lead to erroneous estimates of FD because some functional types of birds are more easily overlooked. We outline some guidelines to help ornithologists identifying under which circumstances detection may be a concern and warn against the indiscriminate use of FD metrics without accounting for species detection.

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Global change in the functional diversity of marine fisheries exploitation over the past 65 years

Proceedings of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.2020.0889 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 287 (1933) ◽

pp. 20200889 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Isaac Trindade-Santos ◽

Faye Moyes ◽

Anne E. Magurran

Keyword(s):

Functional Diversity ◽

Functional Divergence ◽

Marine Ecosystem ◽

Temporal Trends ◽

Functional Trait ◽

Marine Fisheries ◽

Large Marine Ecosystems ◽

The Past ◽

Functional Richness ◽

Spatial And Temporal Trends

Overexploitation is recognized as one of the main threats to global biodiversity. Here, we report a widespread change in the functional diversity of fisheries catches from the large marine ecosystems (LMEs) of the world over the past 65 years (1950 to 2014). The spatial and temporal trends of functional diversity exploited from the LMEs were calculated using global reconstructed marine fisheries catch data provided by the Sea Around Us initiative (including subsistence, artisanal, recreational, industrial fisheries, and discards) and functional trait data available in FishBase. Our analyses uncovered a substantial increase in the functional richness of both ray-finned fishes (80% of LMEs) and cartilaginous species (sharks and rays) (75% of LMESs), in line with an increase in the taxonomic richness, extracted from these ecosystems. The functional evenness and functional divergence of these catches have also altered substantially over the time span of this study, with considerable geographic variation in the patterns detected. These trends show that global fisheries are increasingly targeting species that play diverse roles within the marine ecosystem and underline the importance of incorporating functional diversity in ecosystem management.

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NEW MULTIDIMENSIONAL FUNCTIONAL DIVERSITY INDICES FOR A MULTIFACETED FRAMEWORK IN FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY

Ecology ◽

10.1890/07-1206.1 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 89 (8) ◽

pp. 2290-2301 ◽

Cited By ~ 1277

Author(s):

Sébastien Villéger ◽

Norman W. H. Mason ◽

David Mouillot

Keyword(s):

Functional Diversity ◽

Diversity Indices ◽

Functional Ecology ◽

Functional Diversity Indices

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Functional Diversity in Ferns Is Driven by Species Richness Rather Than by Environmental Constraints

Frontiers in Plant Science ◽

10.3389/fpls.2020.615723 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Daniela Aros-Mualin ◽

Sarah Noben ◽

Dirk N. Karger ◽

César I. Carvajal-Hernández ◽

Laura Salazar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Functional Diversity ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Linear Models ◽

Environmental Filtering ◽

Diversity Indices ◽

Resource Acquisition ◽

Climate Data ◽

Acquisition Strategies ◽

Functional Diversity Indices

Functional traits determine how species interact with their abiotic and biotic environment. In turn, functional diversity describes how assemblages of species as a whole are adapted to their environment, which also determines how they might react to changing conditions. To fully understand functional diversity, it is fundamental to (a) disentangle the influences of environmental filtering and species richness from each other, (b) assess if the trait space saturates at high levels of species richness, and (c) understand how changes in species numbers affect the relative importance of the trait niche expansion and packing. In the present study, we determined functional diversity of fern assemblages by describing morphological traits related to resource acquisition along four tropical elevational transects with different environmental conditions and species richness. We used several functional diversity indices and their standardized effect size to consider different aspects of functional diversity. We contrasted these aspects of functional diversity with climate data and species richness using linear models and linear mixed models. Our results show that functional morphological trait diversity was primarily driven by species richness and only marginally by environmental conditions. Moreover, increasing species richness contributed progressively to packing of the morphological niche space, while at the same time decreasing morphological expansion until a saturation point was reached. Overall, our findings suggest that the density of co-occurring species is the fundamental driving force of morphological niche structure, and environmental conditions have only an indirect influence on fern resource acquisition strategies.

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of A guide for using functional diversity indices to reveal changes in assembly processes along ecological gradients.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.726875657.793532563 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Jana McPherson

Keyword(s):

Functional Diversity ◽

Diversity Indices ◽

Ecological Gradients ◽

Functional Diversity Indices

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Linking functional diversity to ecological indicators: A tool to predict the anthropogenic effects on ecosystem functioning

Environmental Reviews ◽

10.1139/er-2021-0093 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Leticia Bonilla-Valencia ◽

Silvia Castillo-Argüero ◽

José Alejandro Zavala-Hurtado ◽

Francisco Javier Espinosa-García ◽

Roberto Lindig-Cisneros ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Functional Diversity ◽

Plant Traits ◽

Functional Divergence ◽

Seed Mass ◽

Ecosystem Processes ◽

Ecological Indicators ◽

Ecological Indicator ◽

Dry Matter Content ◽

Weed Species ◽

Functional Richness

Functional diversity is related to the maintenance of processes and functions in ecosystems. However, there is a lack of a conceptual framework that highlights the application of functional diversity as an ecological indicator. Therefore, we present a new initiative for motivating the development of ecological indicators based on functional diversity. We are interested in showing the challenges and solutions associated with these indicators. We integrated species assemblage theories and literature reviews. We considered plant traits related to ecosystem processes and functions (specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, wood density, phenology, and seed mass) to show the application of a selection of functional diversity metrics that can be used as ecological indicators (i.e., Community Weighted-Mean, Functional Divergence, Functional Richness and Functional Evenness). We caution that functional diversity as an ecological indicator can be misinterpreted if species composition is unknown. Functional diversity values can be overrepresented by weed species (species established in disturbed sites) and do not maintain original processes and functions in ecosystems. Therefore, we searched for evidence to demonstrate that weed species are ecological indicators of functional diversity changes. We found support for two hypotheses that explain the effect of weed species on ecosystem function: functional homogenization and functional transformation. Likewise, we showed the application of some tools that can help study the anthropogenic effect on functional indicators. This review shows that the paradigm of addressing the effects of disturbances on ecosystem processes by using functional diversity as an ecological indicator can improve environmental evaluation, particularly in areas affected by human activities.

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