Simulating co-existence of functionally diverse trees in European natural forests with LPJmL-FIT

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten Thonicke ◽  
Maik Billing ◽  
Werner von Bloh ◽  
Boris Sakschewski ◽  
Ülo Niinemets ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Dynamics ◽  
Functional Divergence ◽  
Latitudinal Gradients ◽  
Natural Forests ◽  
Niche Space ◽  
Forest Patch ◽  
Dynamic Global Vegetation Model ◽  
Functional Richness ◽  
Individual Trees ◽  
Functionally Diverse

<p>We adopted the flexible trait Dynamic Global Vegetation Model LPJmL-FIT for European natural forests by eliminating bioclimatic limits of Plant Functional Types (PFTs) and replacing prescribed values of functional traits with flexible individual traits. Vegetation dynamics are simulated with permafrost and fire disturbance being considered in the simulation domain. Leaf and stem-economic traits are assigned to individual trees at establishment which then determine plant competition for light and water in a forest patch. We simulate vegetation dynamics in selected natural forests sites and at the Pan-European scale. We quantified functional richness (FR), functional divergence (FDv) and functional evenness (FE) from combinations of functional and structural traits of the simulated individual trees.</p><p>We find good agreement with observed productivity, biomass and tree height, and spatial PFT and local trait distributions. The latter is compared against TRY observations. We find site-specific trait distributions and spatial gradients of the simulated LES and SES traits to coincide with environmental and competitive filtering for light and water in environments with strong abiotic stress. Where deciduous and needle-leaved trees co-occur in a forest patch, functional richness (potential niche space) is high, and extreme ends of the niche space are occupied resulting in high FDv. Functional divergence declines where the performance of deciduous trees decreases due to increasing environmental stress as simulated along altitudinal and latitudinal gradients. When climate gets cooler, needle-leaved trees become dominant, occupying the extreme ends of the niche space. Under Mediterranean climate conditions, drought increasingly limits tree growth thus niche differentiation becomes more important.</p><p>Co-existence of functionally diverse trees within and across PFTs emerges from alternative life history strategies, disturbance and tree demography.</p>

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 CROWN MORPHOMETRY FOR TWO VALUABLE TIMBER SPECIES FROM MIOMBO WOODLAND IN MOZAMBIQUE

Nativa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 218-326
Author(s):  
Noé dos Santos Ananias Hofiço Hofiço ◽  
Emanuel Arnoni Costa ◽  
Frederico Dimas Fleig ◽  
César Augusto Guimarães Finger
Keyword(s):  
Prediction Models ◽  
Timber Species ◽  
Natural Forests ◽  
Miombo Woodland ◽  
Crown Length ◽  
Pterocarpus Angolensis ◽  
Hardwood Species ◽  
Morphometric Features ◽  
Height Increase ◽  
Individual Trees

Pterocarpus angolensis DC and Bobgunnia madagascariensis (Desv.) J. H. Kirkbr. & Wiersema are two hardwood species found in Miombo woodland. Crown size, being closely related to the photosynthetic capacity of a tree, is an important parameter in studies of the growth of individual trees. In this sense, the present study aimed to study the morphometric relationships of P. angolensis and B. madagascariensis as a resource to describe the morphometric features of these species. Data were sampled in 60 rectangular plots of 20 x 50 m, systematically distributed within the forest. In each plot, the diameter at breast height (DBH), height (h), crown insertion point (cih) and four crown radii of all trees with DBH ≥ 10 cm were measured. Results indicated that crown diameter and crown length of P. angolensis grow as DBH and height increase, the larger the crown, the greater the trees dimensions; as for B. madagascariensis, crown features have shown low correlation when considering DBH. It was concluded that crown features influence on tree growth and are important measures of description and planning of silvicultural activities to be performed in natural forests. The results are of interest to forest managers since they make decisions about silvicultural operations. Keywords: crown dimensions; prediction models; umbila; pau-ferro; forest management.

scholarly journals The costs of ignoring species detectability on functional diversity estimation

The Auk ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 137 (4) ◽  
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.

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

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1933) ◽  
pp. 20200889 ◽  
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.

Fire tolerance of three tree species in pine - oak forests of Chignahuapan, Puebla, Mexico

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 873 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juana E. Juárez Bravo ◽  
Dante A. Rodríguez-Trejo ◽  
Ronald L. Myers
Keyword(s):  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Vegetation Dynamics ◽  
Inverse Relationship ◽  
Important Determinant ◽  
Oak Forests ◽  
Recovery Strategy ◽  
Shrub Species ◽  
Burned Site ◽  
Individual Trees ◽  
In Fire

Resprouting is a common recovery strategy of many tree and shrub species in fire-prone environments and is an important determinant of post-fire dominance and vegetation dynamics in many ecosystems. Top-kill, mortality and resprouting of the trees Quercus crassifolia, Arbutus xalapensis and Pinus teocote were studied on contiguous burned and unburned sites in the pine–oak forests of Chignahuapan, Puebla, Mexico. The study sample consisted of 375 individual trees, 199 on the burned site and 176 on the unburned site. T-tests and logistic regression were used in the statistical analysis. The number of resprouts per tree increased significantly (P < 0.001) in the broadleaved species, but not in the pine species. On the sites affected by fire, the smaller the diameter and higher the extent of top-kill in Q. crassifolia, the greater the probability of resprouting. None of the species exhibited differences in mortality (P > 0.05) regardless of fire or lack of fire. With Q. crassifolia, top-kill and tree death were greatest in the smaller-diameter individuals. Also, the probability of top-kill was much greater than the probability of mortality; however, this difference diminished at diameters greater than 16 cm. Similarly, with A. xalapensis, there was an inverse relationship between diameter and probability of tree death.

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

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.

scholarly journals Temporal species turnover and plant community changes across different habitats in the Lake Engure Nature Park, Latvia

2014 ◽  
Vol 68 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 68-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solvita Rūsiņa ◽  
Ģertrūde Gavrilova ◽  
Ieva Roze ◽  
Viesturs Šulcs
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Species Diversity ◽  
Vegetation Dynamics ◽  
Species Turnover ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Latitudinal Gradients ◽  
Nature Park ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Window Approach ◽  
Temporal Species Turnover

Abstract Simultaneous monitoring of vegetation dynamics in different ecosystems has been rarely conducted but can provide important insights into mechanisms of vegetation dynamics in relation to vegetation structure and patterns. We compared the herb layer dynamics, species turnover, and species-time relationships across different habitats in a 12-year period in the ILTER monitoring station of the Lake Engure Nature Park, Latvia. Temporal species turnover was defined as diference in species composition in a community between two times. Species-time relationships were assessed using a sliding window approach. Species richness, cumulative species richness, and diversity changed more in species-rich non-forest habitats than in forests. Species turnover was highly different among habitats, and was not associated with the stability of habitats, as reported from other studies. The species-time relationship of six habitats was much lower than that reported in the literature. This could be explained by latitudinal gradients in species diversity and temporal turnover. At higher latitudes both species diversity and turnover is lower, and the mentioned habitats represent typical boreal vegetation. Vegetation dynamics in acidic grassland, dune slack, fen, and dune forest were interpreted as fluctuations. Vegetation changes in moist forest, dry forest, and coastal grassland showed clear signs of succession (xerophytisation and overgrowing). Vegetation dynamics of the beach community exhibited features of both natural succession and anthropogenic fluctuation.

scholarly journals Point-cloud segmentation of individual trees in complex natural forest scenes based on a trunk-growth method

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qianwei Liu ◽  
Weifeng Ma ◽  
Jianpeng Zhang ◽  
Yicheng Liu ◽  
Dongfan Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Point Cloud ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Plant Morphology ◽  
Natural Forest ◽  
Normal Vector ◽  
Natural Forests ◽  
Individual Tree ◽  
Single Tree ◽  
Point Cloud Segmentation ◽  
Individual Trees

AbstractForest resource management and ecological assessment have been recently supported by emerging technologies. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is one that can be quickly and accurately used to obtain three-dimensional forest information, and create good representations of forest vertical structure. TLS data can be exploited for highly significant tasks, particularly the segmentation and information extraction for individual trees. However, the existing single-tree segmentation methods suffer from low segmentation accuracy and poor robustness, and hence do not lead to satisfactory results for natural forests in complex environments. In this paper, we propose a trunk-growth (TG) method for single-tree point-cloud segmentation, and apply this method to the natural forest scenes of Shangri-La City in Northwest Yunnan, China. First, the point normal vector and its Z-axis component are used as trunk-growth constraints. Then, the points surrounding the trunk are searched to account for regrowth. Finally, the nearest distributed branch and leaf points are used to complete the individual tree segmentation. The results show that the TG method can effectively segment individual trees with an average F-score of 0.96. The proposed method applies to many types of trees with various growth shapes, and can effectively identify shrubs and herbs in complex scenes of natural forests. The promising outcomes of the TG method demonstrate the key advantages of combining plant morphology theory and LiDAR technology for advancing and optimizing forestry systems.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document