Loss of functional diversity under land use intensification across multiple taxa

Flynn, Dan F. B.; Gogol-Prokurat, Melanie; Nogeire, Theresa M.; Molinari, Nicole A.; Richers, Bárbara Trautman; Lin, Brenda B.; Simpson, Nicholas T.; Mayfield, Margaret M.; DeClerck, Fabrice

doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01255.x

Cited by 970 publications

(980 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…Genetic diversity was so high that the majority of the plants sampled contained a unique multilocus genotype. This is in agreement with findings from other studies where a continuous habitat relatively free from anthropogenic disturbances tended to contain more genetic, species and functional diversity than small and isolated habitat patches (MacArthur and Wilson 1967;Lovejoy et al 1986;Saunders et al 1991;Tabarelli et al 1999;Flynn et al 2009). …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Conservation genetics of the annual hemiparasitic plant Melampyrum sylvaticum (Orobanchaceae) in the UK and Scandinavia

et al. 2016

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Melampyrum sylvaticum is an endangered annual hemiparasitic plant that is found in only 19 small and isolated populations in the United Kingdom (UK). To evaluate the genetic consequences of this patchy distribution we compared levels of diversity, inbreeding and differentiation from ten populations from the UK with eight relatively large populations from Sweden and Norway where the species is more continuously distributed. We demonstrate that in both the UK and Scandinavia, the species is highly inbreeding (global F IS = 0.899). Levels of population differentiation were high (F' ST = 0.892) and significantly higher amongst UK populations (F' ST = 0.949) than Scandinavian populations (F' ST = 0.762; P \ 0.01). The isolated populations in the UK have, on average, lower genetic diversity (allelic richness, proportion of loci that are polymorphic, gene diversity) than Scandinavian populations, and this diversity difference is associated with the smaller census size and population area of UK populations. From a conservation perspective, the naturally inbreeding nature of the species may buffer the species against immediate effects of inbreeding depression, but the markedly lower levels of genetic diversity in UK populations may represent a genetic constraint to evolutionary change. In addition, the high levels of population differentiation suggest that gene flow among populations will not be effective at replenishing lost variation. We thus recommend supporting in situ conservation management with ex situ populations and human-mediated seed dispersal among selected populations in the UK.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Conservation genetics of the annual hemiparasitic plant Melampyrum sylvaticum (Orobanchaceae) in the UK and Scandinavia

et al. 2016

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“…However, homogenization can also comprise increasing similarity of community trait composition: a process known as “functional homogenization” (Tobias & Monika, 2011). Traits are an important component of biodiversity due to their role in driving ecosystem stability and functioning (Díaz & Cabido, 2001; Olden et al., 2004), shaping species distributions (Pollock, Morris & Vesk, 2012), and determining responses to environmental change (Flynn et al., 2009; Newbold et al., 2012). Understanding the turnover of traits in space and time, therefore, has been recognized as an essential area of investigation to determine whether changes in taxonomic turnover are accompanied by changes in functional turnover, or whether functional redundancy may ensure ecosystem functioning is maintained despite losses in taxonomic diversity (Villéger, Grenouillet & Brosse, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does functional homogenization accompany taxonomic homogenization of British birds and how do biotic factors and climate affect these processes?

White

Montgomery

Storchová

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Environmental change has reshuffled communities often causing taxonomic homogenization rather than differentiation. Some studies suggest that this increasing similarity of species composition between communities is accompanied by an increase in similarity of trait composition—functional homogenization—although different methodologies have failed to come to any consistent conclusions. Functional homogenization could have a large effect on ecosystem functioning and stability. Here, we use the general definition of homogenization as “reduced spatial turnover over time” to compare changes in Simpson's beta diversity (taxonomic turnover) with changes in Rao's quadratic entropy beta diversity (functional turnover) in British breeding birds at three spatial scales. Using biotic and climatic variables, we identify which factors may predispose a site to homogenization. The change in turnover measures between two time periods, 20 years apart, was calculated. A null model approach was taken to identify occurrences of functional homogenization and differentiation independent of changes in taxonomic turnover. We used conditional autoregressive models fitted using integrated nested Laplace approximations to determine how environmental drivers and factors relating to species distributions affect changes in spatial turnover of species and functional diversity. The measurement of functional homogenization affects the chance of rejection of the null models, with many sites showing taxonomic homogenization unaccompanied by functional homogenization, although occurrence varies with spatial scale. At the smallest scale, while temperature‐related variables drive changes in taxonomic turnover, changes in functional turnover are associated with variation in growing degree days; however, changes in functional turnover become more difficult to predict at larger spatial scales. Our results highlight the multifactorial processes underlying taxonomic and functional homogenization and that redundancy in species traits may allow ecosystem functioning to be maintained in some areas despite changes in species composition.

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“…Such effects have been reported for various taxonomic groups in the past decade (e.g. plants [4], insects [5], birds, and mammals [6]) and have become a central issue of basic and applied ecology [7][8][9]. Functional diversity loss in pollinators, which are crucial to maintaining wild plant diversity and crop production, has progressed rapidly across the globe [10,11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low functional diversity promotes niche changes in natural island pollinator communities

Hiraiwa¹,

Ushimaru²

2017

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Functional diversity loss among pollinators has rapidly progressed across the globe and is expected to influence plant-pollinator interactions in natural communities. Although recent findings suggest that the disappearance of a certain pollinator functional group may cause niche expansions and/or shifts in other groups, no study has examined this prediction in natural communities with high plant and pollinator diversities. By comparing coastal pollination networks on continental and oceanic islands, we examined how community-level flower visit patterns are influenced by the relative biomass of long-tongued pollinators (RBLP). We found that RBLP significantly correlated with pollinator functional diversity and was lower in oceanic than in continental islands. Pollinator niches shifted with decreasing RBLP, such that diverse species with various proboscis lengths, especially shorttongued species, increasingly visited long-tubed flowers. However, we found no conspicuous negative impacts of low RBLP and the consequent niche shifts on pollinator visit frequencies to flowers in oceanic island communities. Notably, fruit set significantly decreased as RBLP decreased in a study plant species. These results suggest that niche shifts by other functional groups can generally compensate for a decline in long-tongued pollinators in natural communities, but there may be negative impacts on plant reproduction.

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Loss of functional diversity under land use intensification across multiple taxa

Cited by 970 publications

References 56 publications

Conservation genetics of the annual hemiparasitic plant Melampyrum sylvaticum (Orobanchaceae) in the UK and Scandinavia

Conservation genetics of the annual hemiparasitic plant Melampyrum sylvaticum (Orobanchaceae) in the UK and Scandinavia

Does functional homogenization accompany taxonomic homogenization of British birds and how do biotic factors and climate affect these processes?

Low functional diversity promotes niche changes in natural island pollinator communities

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