Understory plant species and functional diversity in the degraded wet tropical forests of Kolombangara Island, Solomon Islands

Katovai, Eric; Burley, Alana L.; Mayfield, Margaret M.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2011.11.008

Cited by 59 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…For SF and PF, significant differences from IF were tested by the Wald test and represented by * P , 0.05; ** P , 0.01; *** P , 0.001. v www.esajournals.org environmental filtering associated with species traits (Keddy 1992, Jabot et al 2008, Mouchet et al 2010. The lower functional richness suggests that environmental changes following clearcutting or plantation establishment resulted in constraints (e.g., limited dispersal and postdispersal environmental filtering) on the regeneration of some species with specific traits (Katovai et al 2012). The contraction of functional evenness in secondary forests indicates greater functional dominance of species having typical traits of slow growth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To overcome this difficulty, Suding et al (2008) proposed a trait-based response-and-effect framework, allowing for experimental tests of logging and silvicultural impacts on community performance (Carreño-Rocabado et al 2012). Nevertheless, a natural experiment approach that does not require long-term experiments is still a conventional way to infer anthropogenic impacts (Baraloto et al 2012, Katovai et al 2012). The differences in the community weighted mean for a functional trait between forest types with different management histories is informative for considering the shifts of the dominant trait value in a community (Baraloto et al 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, a trait-based approach has received much attention, providing a heuristic framework for evaluating ecological impacts of anthropogenic activities on woodlands (Baraloto et al 2012, Carreño-Rocabado et al 2012, Katovai et al 2012. Species-specific functional traits that control plant growth, survival, and reproduction are key biological indicators of the environmental requirements and/or tolerances of individual taxa (Westoby et al 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using tree functional diversity to evaluate management impacts in a subtropical forest

et al. 2013

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Abstract. The trait-based approach has received much research attention as it provides a heuristic framework for evaluating the ecological impacts of anthropogenic activities on communities and ecosystems. In this study, functional diversity (or structure) measures, such as functional richness, functional evenness, functional divergence, and functional composition, were used to examine management impacts on subtropical forests on the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. Functional indices were compared in tandem with taxonomic diversity indices between three forest types with different management histories: intact old-growth forests, secondary forests after clear-cutting, and abandoned Pinus luchuensis plantations. Species diversity indices were not significantly different among the three forest types. In contrast, functional diversity indices were significantly different among intact forests and managed forests. Functional richness and functional evenness were significantly lower in secondary forests than in intact forests and P. luchuensis plantations. Functional divergence was significantly higher in secondary forests and P. luchuensis plantations than in intact forests. These differences suggest that management activities affected niche space and the patterns of niche differentiation among component species in the functional space of managed forests. Community weighted means for each functional trait were also different among the forest types. The managed forests had greater leaf thickness, leaf dry matter content and maximum height, and lower specific leaf area and leaf nitrogen concentration than intact forests. These differences in functional composition of traits suggested potential functional impacts. This study demonstrated the utilization of species functional traits and community functional structure as a tool of natural experiment for assessing impacts of forest management practices on woodland ecosystems. It was also suggested that logging activities that include large-scale clear-cutting or establishment of P. luchuensis plantations may be incompatible with the conservation of natural ecosystem properties in subtropical forests.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using tree functional diversity to evaluate management impacts in a subtropical forest

et al. 2013

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“…Functional diversity responds differently to changes in land use and management than other measures, particularly the traditional ones showing that conserving other diversity components (such as species number or abundance) will not necessarily conserve functional diversity (Bennett et al, 2014;Katovai et al, 2012;Van Capelle et al, 2012). In some cases measures of functional diversity or trait-based approach responded more precisely than other measures (Dengler et al, 2014;Pelosi et al, 2014), suggesting that this approach can potentially better predict the impacts, although other corroborative studies are needed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An overview of the applicability of functional diversity in Biological Conservation

Freitas

Mantovani

2017

Braz. J. Biol.

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Functional diversity is increasingly pointed as a useful approach to reach Biological Conservation goals. Here, we provide an overview of the functional diversity approach status in the Biological Conservation field. We sought for peer-reviewed papers published over a period of twenty years (from 1994 to 2014). First we used the general topic "functional diversity" and then refined our search using the key-word "conservation". We have identified the conservation strategies addressed, the organism studied, and the continent of study site in each paper. Thirteen classes of conservation strategies were identified. Plants were the most commonly studied organism group and most study-sites were located in Europe. The functional diversity approach was introduced in the Biological Conservation field in the early 2000's and its inclusion in conservation strategies is broadly advised. However, the number of papers that operationalise such inclusion by developing models and systems is still low. Functional diversity responds differently and eventually better than other measures to changes in land use and management, which suggests that this approach can potentially better predict the impacts. More studies are needed to corroborate this hypothesis. We pointed out knowledge gaps regarding identification of the responses for functional diversity about urban impacts and in research on the level of management intensity of land needed to maintain functional diversity. We recommend the use of functional diversity measures to find ecological indicators. Future studies should focus on the development of functional diversity measures of other taxa beyond plants as well as test hypothesis in tropical ecosystems.Keywords: biodiversity assessments, biodiversity measures, conservation strategies, ecosystem functioning, trait-based approach. Uma visão geral sobre a aplicabilidade da diversidade funcional na Conservação Biológica ResumoA diversidade funcional é crescentemente apontada como uma abordagem útil para alcançar os objetivos da Conservação Biológica. Neste artigo, nós mostramos uma visão geral do status desta abordagem no campo da Conservação Biológica. Nós buscamos por artigos revisados por pares publicados ao longo de vinte anos (desde 1994 até 2014) usando, primeiramente, o tópico geral "functional diversity" e em seguida, refinamos a pesquisa com a palavra-chave "conservation". Identificamos a estratégia de conservação abordada, o organismo estudado e o continente da área de estudo de cada artigo. Treze classes de estratégias de conservação foram identificadas. As plantas foram o grupo de organismos mais amplamente estudado e a maior parte das áreas de estudo estavam localizadas no continente europeu. A abordagem da diversidade funcional entrou no campo da Conservação Biológica no início dos anos 2000 e sua inclusão nas estratégias de conservação é amplamente recomendada. Entretanto, o número de artigos que operacionalizam tal inclusão ainda é pequeno. A diversidade funcional responde diferentemente e, eventualmente,...

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“…Over the past 50 years several studies has been trying to clarify questions about the diversity of species in relation to ecosystem functions [27][28][29][30] . This type of study is very used to communities of plants and animals 31 .…”

Section: Microorganisms and The Functionality Of Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional Genes of Microorganisms, Comprehending the Dynamics of Agricultural Ecosystems

Reali

Júnior

Meile

et al. 2017

Braz. arch. biol. technol.

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The microbial composition of different types,in ecosystems (including agro-ecosystems), has been investigated in a rapidly growing number of studies in the past few years. The importance of microorganisms, regarding the maintenance and stability of nutrients in agroecosystems, is a key to maintain the sustainability of a crop. Molecular tools to study microbial communities are possible through many methods such as RISA, DGGE, TGGE, clone libraries, T-RFLP, RAPD, SSCP and more recently NGS (Next-Generation Sequencing). DGGE is widely employed to characterize the diversity and the community dynamics of microorganisms in the environment

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Understory plant species and functional diversity in the degraded wet tropical forests of Kolombangara Island, Solomon Islands

Cited by 59 publications

References 53 publications

Using tree functional diversity to evaluate management impacts in a subtropical forest

Using tree functional diversity to evaluate management impacts in a subtropical forest

An overview of the applicability of functional diversity in Biological Conservation

Functional Genes of Microorganisms, Comprehending the Dynamics of Agricultural Ecosystems

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