Land‐Use Impacts on Plant Functional Diversity Throughout Europe
Journal
Global Ecology and Biogeography
Date Issued
2024-12-13
Author(s)
Rosa, Francesca
van Bodegom, Peter M.
Hellweg, Stefanie
Pfister, Stephan
Biurrun, Idoia
Boch, Steffen
Chytrý, Milan
Ćušterevska, Renata
Fratte, Michele Dalle
Damasceno, Gabriella
Garbolino, Emmanuel
Lenoir, Jonathan
Ozinga, Wim A.
Penuelas, Josep
Sabatini, Francesco Maria
Schrodt, Franziska
Uogintas, Domas
Byun, Chaeho
Dolezal, Jiri
Dziuba, Tetiana
Hérault, Bruno
Martín‐Forés, Irene
Niinemets, Ülo
Peyre, Gwendolyn
Scherer, Laura
DOI
10.1111/geb.13947
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Aim
Global biodiversity loss resulting from anthropogenic land‐use activities is a pressing concern, requiring precise assessments of impacts at large spatial extents. Existing models mainly focus on species richness and abundance, lacking insights into ecological mechanisms and species' roles in ecosystem functioning. To bridge this gap, we conducted an extensive analysis of the impact of human land use on vascular plant functional diversity across diverse land‐use classes and bioregions in Europe, comparing it to traditional metrics.
Location
Europe.
Time Period
1992–2019.
Major Taxa Studied
Vascular plants.
Methods
Integrating extensive databases of vegetation plots with spatial data on land use and land cover, we paired plots from areas actively used and modified by humans with plots from natural habitats under similar environmental conditions. Using species occurrences and traits, in each plot we computed three complementary functional diversity metrics (functional richness, evenness and divergence), species richness and abundance. We assessed the impact of land use by comparing the metrics in the paired plots.
Results
Our findings revealed that, compared to natural habitats, anthropogenic land use exhibits lower functional richness and divergence but higher functional evenness across most land‐use classes and bioregions. The response of functional richness was more marked than the other two metrics and especially pronounced in croplands and urban areas and in northern bioregions. Functional richness exhibited a pattern that did not fully overlap with the trend in species richness, providing useful complementary information.
Main Conclusions
We provide a large‐scale precise assessment of anthropogenic land‐use impacts on functional diversity across Europe. Our findings indicate that: (i) human disturbance significantly alters plant functional diversity compared to natural habitats; (ii) this alteration goes in the direction of functional homogenisation within sites; (iii) functional diversity metrics complement traditional metrics by offering deeper insights into the ecological mechanisms in response to anthropogenic land use.
Aim
Global biodiversity loss resulting from anthropogenic land‐use activities is a pressing concern, requiring precise assessments of impacts at large spatial extents. Existing models mainly focus on species richness and abundance, lacking insights into ecological mechanisms and species' roles in ecosystem functioning. To bridge this gap, we conducted an extensive analysis of the impact of human land use on vascular plant functional diversity across diverse land‐use classes and bioregions in Europe, comparing it to traditional metrics.
Location
Europe.
Time Period
1992–2019.
Major Taxa Studied
Vascular plants.
Methods
Integrating extensive databases of vegetation plots with spatial data on land use and land cover, we paired plots from areas actively used and modified by humans with plots from natural habitats under similar environmental conditions. Using species occurrences and traits, in each plot we computed three complementary functional diversity metrics (functional richness, evenness and divergence), species richness and abundance. We assessed the impact of land use by comparing the metrics in the paired plots.
Results
Our findings revealed that, compared to natural habitats, anthropogenic land use exhibits lower functional richness and divergence but higher functional evenness across most land‐use classes and bioregions. The response of functional richness was more marked than the other two metrics and especially pronounced in croplands and urban areas and in northern bioregions. Functional richness exhibited a pattern that did not fully overlap with the trend in species richness, providing useful complementary information.
Main Conclusions
We provide a large‐scale precise assessment of anthropogenic land‐use impacts on functional diversity across Europe. Our findings indicate that: (i) human disturbance significantly alters plant functional diversity compared to natural habitats; (ii) this alteration goes in the direction of functional homogenisation within sites; (iii) functional diversity metrics complement traditional metrics by offering deeper insights into the ecological mechanisms in response to anthropogenic land use.
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