Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Xiaozhuang Zhang, Ying Xue, Chongliang Zhang, Yiping Ren, Binduo Xu, Yong Chen
Summary: Functional diversity has become an essential component of biodiversity in the past two decades, used to evaluate the health of aquatic ecosystems and predict fish community responses to disturbances. Sampling intensity can impact the estimation of functional diversity indices, with accuracy and precision increasing with higher sampling intensity. Functional richness and functional divergence indices are less sensitive to sampling intensity compared to functional evenness indices, and there is seasonal variability in the effects of sampling intensity on the estimation of functional diversity indices.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Jonathan Diamond, Denis Roy
Summary: This study examines the relationship between species richness and functional diversity in fish. It finds that species richness cannot accurately estimate functional diversity. In most fish families, there is a pattern of stable functional diversity from the equator through the tropics that shifts at around absolute latitude 31.7 degrees. This analysis demonstrates the importance of considering functional diversity in conservation priorities and policies.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Shinya Hosokawa, Kyosuke Momota, Anthony A. Chariton, Ryoji Naito, Yoshiyuki Nakamura
Summary: The study found that as sediment conditions degrade in the Japanese region, the family density of benthic communities decreases and a few species become dominant. Local case studies showed that sites with multiple coexisting communities are affected by sediment degradation in terms of species density. However, community structure indices may become insensitive in the presence of community variability and small sample sizes, leading to potentially misleading or inaccurate estimates.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Fernando H. Oreja, Matthew D. Inman, David L. Jordan, Deepayan Bardhan, Ramon G. Leon
Summary: Herbicide programs can affect weed population density and community composition. Stochastic models can help predict potential community changes resulting from the use of herbicide programs. This study aimed to model the population dynamics of weed species under different herbicide programs and how these dynamics influence weed community diversity over time. The repeated use of glyphosate alone had a minimal effect on richness, but significantly reduced weed diversity and evenness. Programs with more mechanisms of action and the use of both preemergence and postemergence herbicides were more likely to lose weed species, but had a higher probability of maintaining diversity and evenness. Losses in weed community diversity were reversible, but the eradication of species with low reproductive rates decreased diversity and evenness. The effects of herbicide programs on the weed community lasted for several years even after modifications were made.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF AGRONOMY
(2022)
Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Zhiyi Zhang
Summary: This article introduces the concept of generalized species richness and discusses the properties and applications of its indices. The study shows that the generalized species richness indices satisfy the axioms of diversity indices and have robustness and completeness. The article also proposes an estimator and evaluates its statistical reliability using an example and simulation results.
Article
Forestry
Lin Li, Zhifeng Wen, Shiguang Wei, Juyu Lian, Wanhui Ye
Summary: Functional diversity is crucial for the connection between ecosystem functions and biodiversity, and its understanding is important for community diversity conservation strategies. In this study, a subtropical forest community in China was investigated, and functional diversity indices were calculated based on functional traits of plant species. The results showed significant differences in functional diversity and species diversity indices based on plant habit, as well as correlations among different functional richness and divergence indices. Altitude and other environmental factors also influenced the functional diversity of the community. Soil total phosphorus was identified as the most critical environmental factor. These findings contribute to our understanding of functional diversity in subtropical forests and provide insights for biodiversity conservation in the region.
Article
Biology
Jakob Thyrring, Lloyd S. Peck
Summary: Global latitudinal diversity gradients in rocky intertidal alpha-diversity exist, but they are outweighed by local processes rather than global-scale drivers. Species richness of three functional groups declines with latitude, coinciding with an inverse gradient in algae distribution.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Irene Villalta, Christophe Bouget, Carlos Lopez-Vaamonde, Mathilde Baude
Summary: Urbanisation has varying effects on wild bee communities, negatively impacting species richness and taxonomical diversity, but not total abundance. Different bee species respond differently to urbanisation, with some being positively affected by urban landscape cover. Urban and peri-urban areas also have distinct bee assemblages. Species turnover is the main driver of community dissimilarities along the urban gradient. Urbanisation favors bees with small body sizes, social structure, and extended flight periods, but does not affect the phylogenetic or functional diversity of communities.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Robert W. Davies, Casey M. Ryan, Rhett D. Harrison, Kyle G. Dexter, Antje Ahrends, Mariska te Beest, Lorena Benitez, Thom K. Brade, Joao M. B. Carreiras, Dave J. Druce, Adeline Fayolle, Manfred Finckh, John L. Godlee, Francisco M. Gonclaves, Isla M. Grundy, T. Hoche, Ricardo M. Holdo, Steve Makungwa, Iain M. McNicol, Penelope J. Mograbi, Anderson Muchawona, Aristidies Muhate, Jonathan Muledi, Rose Pritchard, Rasmus Revermann, Natasha S. Ribeiro, Abel Siampale, A. Carla Staver, Stephen Syampungani, Mathew Williams, Anthony M. Swemmer, David P. Edwards
Summary: Savannas cover a large portion of the Earth's surface and have significant biodiversity. Precipitation is the primary factor influencing tree richness and diversity, while fire and herbivory have minimal effects. Wetter regions have higher tree species richness and phylogenetic diversity, and it is important to protect savannas across the rainfall gradient to conserve unique tree communities.
Article
Forestry
Juan A. Encina-Dominguez, Eduardo Estrada-Castillon, Miguel Mellado, Cristina Gonzalez-Montelongo, Jose Ramon Arevalo
Summary: "Disturbances in the pine forests of Mexico, primarily caused by cattle, horses, goat, and sheep grazing, have resulted in low tree recruitment, establishment of invasive shrubs, changes in species composition, and invasion of weeds primarily spread by livestock. This study compared a grazing-excluded pine forest stand with a nearby area subjected to livestock grazing in the Sierra de Zapaliname natural protected area in northeast Mexico. The results showed that grazing has altered the understory species composition and reduced evenness in the control plots. To maintain species diversity and forest structure, it is recommended to restrict extensive grazing or reduce the number of animals in areas of high ecological value."
Article
Forestry
Jeffery Marker, Eva Bergman, Rolf Lutz Eckstein, Denis Lafage
Summary: Retention of forested buffers around streams is a common management technique to protect aquatic resources and ecosystem services. However, buffer size does not significantly affect the functional diversity of spiders and vascular plants. Other buffer variables have direct effects on their functional diversity.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Studies
Jose Ramon Arevalo, Cristina Gonzalez-Montelongo, Juan A. Encina-Dominguez, Eduardo Garcia, Miguel Mellado
Summary: A well-managed grazing system is important for improving productivity and health. The study found that grazing can alter species composition but not richness and evenness. Exclusion of grazing can increase grass cover and decrease forb cover, promoting greater plant diversity.
Article
Plant Sciences
Maria Papadopoulou, Ioannis Tsiripidis, Sampson Panajiotidis, Georgios Fotiadis, Daniel Veres, Eniko Magyari, Marc Bormann, Sonia Fontana, Lyudmila Shumilovskikh, Konstantinos Panagiotopoulos, Frank Schabitz, Thomas Giesecke
Summary: This study compared pollen assemblages from two different regions in southeastern Europe to the surrounding vegetation and found that pollen assemblages are more effective at reflecting the presence or absence of plants rather than their abundance. Additionally, the bias in pollen assemblages increases with landscape openness and vegetation diversity.
VEGETATION HISTORY AND ARCHAEOBOTANY
(2022)
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Andres Felipe Suarez-Castro, Maia Raymundo, Malyon Bimler, Margaret M. Mayfield
Summary: Understanding how ecosystem functioning is influenced by global change requires considering the relationship between species richness and functional diversity at multiple spatial scales. However, most studies focus on single scale analyses and ignore spatial context. This paper emphasizes the need for a spatially explicit, multi-scale framework to better understand this relationship and highlights challenges that could be addressed by integrating approaches from community and landscape ecology.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Eliska Bohdalkova, Anna Toszogyova, Irena Simova, David Storch
Summary: The study analyzed species richness data from different regions and taxa, finding that temperature and productivity are generally positively correlated with species richness, but the strength and direction of the relationships vary across different data types, ectotherms and endotherms. Statistical and non-statistical factors contribute to this variation, with productivity playing a more consistent role than temperature in driving species richness patterns.
Article
Ecology
Shekhar R. Biswas, Azim U. Mallik, Nicholas T. Braithwaite, Helene H. Wagner
Article
Ecology
Han Y. H. Chen, Yong Luo, Peter B. Reich, Eric B. Searle, Shekhar R. Biswas
Article
Forestry
Xiaoping Guo, Han Y. H. Chen, Miaojing Meng, Shekhar R. Biswas, Lixin Ye, Jinchi Zhang
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2016)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Shekhar R. Biswas, Richard J. Vogt, Sapna Sharma
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Han Y. H. Chen, Shekhar R. Biswas, Timothy M. Sobey, Brian W. Brassard, Samuel F. Bartels
JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY
(2018)
Article
Ecology
Shekhar R. Biswas, Rebecca L. MacDonald, Han Y. H. Chen
Review
Forestry
Shekhar R. Biswas, Prity L. Biswas, Sharif Hasan Limon, En-Rong Yan, Ming-Shan Xu, Md. Saiful Islam Khan
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2018)
Article
Forestry
Shekhar R. Biswas, Azim U. Mallik, Nicholas T. Braithwaite, Prity L. Biswas
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2019)
Article
Ecology
Dong He, Shekhar R. Biswas
Article
Ecology
Na-Na Xu, Kai Jiang, Shekhar R. Biswas, Xin Tong, Rong Wang, Xiao-Yong Chen
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2019)
Article
Forestry
Bo Liu, Shekhar R. Biswas, Jian Yang, Zhihua Lite, Hong S. He, Yu Liang, Matthew K. Lau, Yunting Fang, Shijie Han
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2020)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Dong He, Shehkar R. Biswas, Ming-Shan Xu, Tong-Hui Yang, Wen-Hui You, En-Rong Yan
Summary: This study investigated the effects of trait integration and soil fertility on species richness and trait diversity in woody communities in subtropical Chinese forests. The results showed that intraspecific trait variability plays a crucial role in promoting biodiversity, while less fertile sites had stronger trait integration, leading to decreased taxonomic and functional diversity. The negative association between trait integration and species richness was stronger when considering intraspecific variation, suggesting that intraspecific trait variability can impact species distribution and occurrence.
Article
Plant Sciences
Li-Ting Zheng, Han Y. H. Chen, Shekhar R. Biswas, Di-Feng Bao, Xiao-Chen Fang, Muhammad Abdullah, En-Rong Yan
Summary: This study reveals that the positive effects of tree mixtures on productivity are strengthened by the increasing multidimensional functional dispersion (FDis) and the community-weighted means (CWMs) of leaf nitrogen content, enhancing the complementarity effect rather than the selection effect.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Shekhar R. Biswas, Jingyin Xiang, Hui Li
Summary: Habitat disturbances generally reduce spatial autocorrelation in species diversity by an average of 15.5% and reduce its range by 21.4% due to disturbance-driven changes in environmental conditions. However, the observed effect varied markedly among different scales of disturbance. Despite limited studies on disturbance effects on spatial patterns of functional diversity, the overall effect was found to be non-significant.
Article
Forestry
Junkang Ouyang, Shekhar R. Biswas, Chaoqin Yin, Yanxia Qing, Prity L. Biswas
Summary: Our study reveals that the relative importance of environmental and biotic filtering in shaping forest communities can vary between disturbed and undisturbed forests. Disturbed plantations prioritize resource acquisition strategy, while mature forests prioritize conservation strategy. Intraspecific competition plays a significant role in plantations, while interspecific competition is more important in mature forests.