Functional diversity, soil features and community functioning: a test in a cerrado site

Abstract

Community functioning may be affected by functional diversity, which measures the extent of complementarity in resource use. We tested whether there was a relationship between functional diversity of woody species and community functioning on a fine scale, using FD as a measure of functional diversity and litter decomposition rate as a surrogate for community functioning. We measured eight functional traits from a woodland cerrado community in southeastern Brazil. Then, we tested the correlation between FD and the decomposition rate taking into account differences in soil features and between decomposition rate and each trait separately. The decomposition rate was related to the aluminium and phosphorus concentration in soil, but not to FD, pointing out that functional diversity was not a good predictor of community functioning. There was a non-significant relationship between FD and the decomposition rate even when we considered each trait separately. Most studies in the relationships between biodiversity and community functioning on fine scales were carried out by experimental manipulation of diversity and in temperate regions. We carried out this fine scale study as a mensurative experiment and in a tropical savanna. Our findings indicated that the relationship between biodiversity and community functioning is not as straightforward as usually assumed.Keywords: litter decomposition, nutrient cycling, savanna, woodland cerrado. Diversidade funcional, características edáficas e funcionamento de comunidade:teste em um sítio de cerrado ResumoO funcionamento das comunidades deve ser afetado pela diversidade funcional, uma vez que esta mede a extensão da complementaridade no uso de recursos. Testamos se havia relação entre diversidade funcional das espécies arbóreas e o funcionamento da comunidade em escala fina, usando a FD como medida de diversidade funcional e a taxa de decomposição da serapilheira como indicadora do funcionamento. Medimos oito traços funcionais de plantas arbóreas em uma comunidade de cerrado no sudeste do Brasil. Testamos a correlação entre a FD e as taxas de decomposição, considerando diferenças nas variáveis edáficas e entre as taxas de decomposição e cada traço, separadamente. As taxas de decomposição se mostraram relacionadas com as concentrações de alumínio e fósforo, e não com a FD, indicando que a diversidade funcional não é uma boa preditora do funcionamento da comunidade. Não houve relação significativa entre FD e decomposição, mesmo quando consideramos cada traço separadamente. A maioria dos estudos sobre a relação entre diversidade e funcionamento em escalas finas foi desenvolvida por meio da manipulação experimental da diversidade e em regiões temperadas. Nossos resultados indicaram que a relação entre biodiversidade e funcionamento das comunidades não é tão direta como se assume usualmente.Palavras-chave: decomposição de serapilheira, ciclagem de nutrientes, savana, Cerrado sensu stricto.

Functional leaf traits of understory species: strategies to different disturbance severities

“…Quantifying changes in these traits is important to understand the patterns of species distribution and to predict vegetation responses to environmental changes (Silva and Batalha, 2009;Freitas et al, 2012).…”

Functional diversity influence in forest wood stock: a study of the brazilian savanna

“…Other studies show this positive correlation between biomass/wood stock and functional diversity (TILMAN et al, 1996;LOREAU et al, 2001;CARDINALE et al, 2007;ZENG et al, 2012;CONTI;ROSCHER et al, 2013;RUIZ-BENITO et al, 2014). Nonetheless, Freitas et al (2012) have not identified significant relationship between the two variables when they were evaluating the effects of functional diversity on decomposition rate of woody assembly in cerrado sensu stricto. However, it is important to evaluate the effects of functional diversity in small scale, once that they can reveal more details about the mechanism of subjacent biologic stand (WIENS, 1989).…”

An overview of the applicability of functional diversity in Biological Conservation

“…As most part of Europe lies in the northern temperate climate zone, current conclusions and recommendations regarding functional diversity and conservation tend to be less suitable to ecosystems from outside that climate. Because tropical species communities are prone to be more complex (Janzen, 1975;Vamosi et al, 2006), relationships between ecosystem functioning and functional diversity in the tropics may not be as straightforward, as is usually assumed (Freitas et al, 2012;Martins and Batalha, 2006). Testing hypothesis in tropical ecosystems would contribute to expanding the current understanding of functional diversity in conservation strategies' applicability.…”