SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science: Quantifying Functional Biodiversity in TXT, PDF, MOBI
9789400726475 9400726473 Functional diversity (FD) defined as the value, range, and abundance of functional traits in a given community or ecosystem is increasingly accepted as a synthetic ecological concept that sheds light on ecosystem functioning. Functional group richness and functional biodiversity indices have been proposed to quantify the FD of a community, or some of its components. The comparative assessment of FD in different ecosystems and for different ecosystem processes would be an invaluable tool for a better and more general understanding of what are the functional roles of biodiversity in the provision of ecosystem services. In this volume we offer a synthesis of the methods used to quantify functional diversity and step by step examples to define functional groups and to estimate functional indices. We also compare communities, and changes of diversity along environmental gradients. All the examples may be reproduce using electronic data files and FDiversity, a free software., This book synthesizes current methods used to quantify functional diversity, providing step-by-step examples for defining functional groups and estimating functional indices. The authors show how to compare communities, and how to analyze changes of diversity along environmental gradients, using real-life examples throughout. One section of the book demonstrates the selection of traits, and the standardization and characterization of ecosystem data. Another section presents methods used to quantify functional diversity, shows how to relate functional diversity with environmental variables and how to connect these to ecosystem services. The concluding section introduces FDiversity, a free program developed by the authors. The reader is guided through every step from software installation and basic functions, to sample and database design, to graphical projection methods, employing case study data to illustrate key concepts.
9789400726475 9400726473 Functional diversity (FD) defined as the value, range, and abundance of functional traits in a given community or ecosystem is increasingly accepted as a synthetic ecological concept that sheds light on ecosystem functioning. Functional group richness and functional biodiversity indices have been proposed to quantify the FD of a community, or some of its components. The comparative assessment of FD in different ecosystems and for different ecosystem processes would be an invaluable tool for a better and more general understanding of what are the functional roles of biodiversity in the provision of ecosystem services. In this volume we offer a synthesis of the methods used to quantify functional diversity and step by step examples to define functional groups and to estimate functional indices. We also compare communities, and changes of diversity along environmental gradients. All the examples may be reproduce using electronic data files and FDiversity, a free software., This book synthesizes current methods used to quantify functional diversity, providing step-by-step examples for defining functional groups and estimating functional indices. The authors show how to compare communities, and how to analyze changes of diversity along environmental gradients, using real-life examples throughout. One section of the book demonstrates the selection of traits, and the standardization and characterization of ecosystem data. Another section presents methods used to quantify functional diversity, shows how to relate functional diversity with environmental variables and how to connect these to ecosystem services. The concluding section introduces FDiversity, a free program developed by the authors. The reader is guided through every step from software installation and basic functions, to sample and database design, to graphical projection methods, employing case study data to illustrate key concepts.