Effects of land use on taxonomic and functional diversity: a cross-taxon analysis in a Mediterranean landscape

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Violeta Hevia
  • Carlos P. Carmona
  • Francisco M. Azcárate
  • Mario Torralba
  • Paloma Alcorlo
  • Rubén Ariño
  • Jorge Lozano
  • Sara Castro-Cobo
  • José A. González

Land-use change is the major driver of biodiversity loss. However, taxonomic diversity (TD) and functional diversity (FD) might respond differently to land-use change, and this response might also vary depending on the biotic group being analysed. In this study, we compare the TD and FD of four biotic groups (ants, birds, herbaceous, woody vegetation) among four land-use types that represent a gradient of land-use intensity in a Mediterranean landscape (Mediterranean shrublands, dehesas, mixed-pine forests, olive groves). Analyses were performed separately at two different spatial scales: the sampling unit scale and the site scale. Land-use intensity effects on TD and FD were quite different and highly varied among the four biotic groups, with no single clear pattern emerging that could be considered general for all organisms. Additive partitioning of species diversity revealed clear contrasting patterns between TD and FD in the percentage of variability observed at each spatial scale. While most variability in TD was found at the larger scales, irregardless of organism group and land-use type, most variability in FD was found at the smallest scale, indicating that species turnover among communities is much greater than functional trait turnover. Finally, we found that TD and FD did not vary consistently, but rather followed different trajectories that largely depended on the biotic group and the intensity of land-use transformation. Our results highlight that the relationship of land use with TD and FD is highly complex and context-dependent.

Original languageEnglish
JournalOecologia
Volume181
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)959-970
Number of pages12
ISSN0029-8549
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.08.2016

    Research areas

  • Biodiversity, Diversity partitioning, Functional traits, Land-use intensity, Spatial scale

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Democratic Horizons
  2. BERT for stock market sentiment analysis
  3. Erfolgreich Führen in der Pflege
  4. Aufnahmen der Durchquerung
  5. The post-normal politics and science of wind power planning
  6. ‘The song factories have closed!’
  7. Local and landscape level variables influence butterfly diversity in critically endangered South African renosterveld
  8. Reciprocal relations between emotional exhaustion and episode-specific emotional labour: An experience-sampling study
  9. Islam and Patriarchy
  10. Plant diversity and composition compensate for negative effects of urbanization on foraging bumble bees
  11. Über die Krise einer unverwüstlichen Lebensform
  12. Significance of Antibiotics in the Environment
  13. Pre-COVID-19 pandemic health-related behaviours in children (2018-2020) and association with being tested for SARS-CoV-2 and testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 (2020-2021)
  14. Improvising Digital Transformation
  15. Meta-analytic cointegrating rank tests for dependent panels
  16. Welcome to the (label) jungle? Analyzing how consumers deal with intra-sustainability label trade-offs on food
  17. Multiple components of plant diversity loss determine herbivore phylogenetic diversity in a subtropical forest experiment
  18. Hierarchie
  19. Gender-specific perspectives of mangrove ecosystem services
  20. Vorstellung eines Fragebogens zur Erfassung von Lernstrategien in mathematikhaltigen Studiengängen.
  21. Technökologien
  22. Does syndication with local venture capitalists moderate the effects of geographical and institutional distances?
  23. Coopération, confiance et réussite — Considerations théoriques et résultants empiriques
  24. Moréas, Jean [d. i. Joannis Papadiamantopoulos] (1856-1910)
  25. Öffentliche Bibliothek
  26. III. FORMAL CREATURES: GILLES CHÂTELET ’S METAPHORS
  27. Forming of aesthetic judgements in movement
  28. Marketing in kleinen und mittelständischen Unternehmen
  29. Strategic Practice Drift
  30. “Dann verfügen wir über Instrumente…”: Äußerungsbefugnisse von Mitgliedern der EU-Kommission