Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
J. C. Fisher, M. Dallimer, K. N. Irvine, S. G. Aizlewood, G. E. Austen, R. D. Fish, P. M. King, Z. G. Davies
Summary: People depend on functioning ecosystems for essential services that support human health and well-being, making biodiversity loss a significant concern. Understanding the species and traits that contribute to well-being responses is a critical question. This study analyzes a database of species' effect traits and their impacts on various types of well-being.
NATURE SUSTAINABILITY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Na Huang, Xinyuan Sun, Yanfang Song, Zhiyong Yuan, Weiwei Zhou
Summary: This article discusses two issues: the decline of amphibian populations and the lack of morphological trait data for amphibians. To address these problems, the authors collected morphological trait data for global amphibians and created a database.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Thore Engel, Helge Bruelheide, Daniela Hoss, Francesco M. Sabatini, Jan Altman, Mohammed A. S. Arfin-Khan, Erwin Bergmeier, Tomas Cerny, Milan Chytry, Matteo Dainese, Juergen Dengler, Jiri Dolezal, Richard Field, Felicia M. Fischer, Dries Huygens, Ute Jandt, Florian Jansen, Anke Jentsch, Dirk N. Karger, Jens Kattge, Jonathan Lenoir, Frederic Lens, Jaqueline Loos, Ulo Niinemets, Gerhard E. Overbeck, Wim A. Ozinga, Josep Penuelas, Gwendolyn Peyre, Oliver Phillips, Peter B. Reich, Christine Roemermann, Brody Sandel, Marco Schmidt, Franziska Schrodt, Eduardo Velez-Martin, Cyrille Violle, Valerio Pillar
Summary: This study evaluates the effects of dominance and niche partitioning on biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationships in grassland systems worldwide. The results indicate that dominance effects, related to the traits of the dominant species, have a significant impact on BEF relationships, while functional diversity (FD) does not affect primary productivity (NDVI).
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Editorial Material
Ecology
Matthias Schleuning, Daniel Garcia, Joseph A. Tobias
Summary: Functional traits and associated concepts have driven innovation in ecology, but an over-reliance on plant traits neglects the complexity of interactions across trophic levels. The expansion of trait-based ecology to include animal functional traits has opened up new possibilities for testing ecological theory. This collection of studies highlights the importance of understanding trait composition and its impact on community assembly and ecosystem functioning.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Carlos A. Guerra, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, Eliana Duarte, Orlando Marigliano, Christiane Goergen, Fernando T. Maestre, Nico Eisenhauer
Summary: The study found that climate change has a stronger influence on soil microbial communities compared to changes in land use, although most climate effects are indirect through other environmental variables (e.g. changes in soil pH). Predictions show an increase in alpha diversity and homogenization of soil microbial communities in the Anthropocene.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Konsta Happonen, Anna-Maria Virkkala, Julia Kemppinen, Pekka Niittynen, Miska Luoto
Summary: The trait composition and diversity of plant communities have globally applicable predictive effects on ecosystem functioning. This study focuses on how plant traits influence carbon cycling in tundra ecosystems and concludes that plant height, leaf dry matter content (LDMC), and specific leaf area (SLA) have clear effects on carbon cycling in the tundra. The study also highlights the importance of within-community trait variability in controlling the vast tundra carbon pools.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
F. J. Pan, L. Y. Yang, C. L. Wang, R. R. Yan, C. J. Li, Y. F. Hu, Y. Jiang, J. Cao, H. Y. Tan, X. P. Xin
Summary: The frequency of mowing significantly affects the community structure and biomass of soil nematodes in northeast China grassland. High mowing frequency reduces the abundance and biomass of soil nematodes, while moderate frequency enhances these indices.
Article
Ecology
Sebastien Brosse, Nicolas Charpin, Guohuan Su, Aurele Toussaint, Guido A. Herrera-R, Pablo A. Tedesco, Sebastien Villeger
Summary: The study compiled a global freshwater fish database with 10 morphological traits, covering 48.69% of the world's freshwater fish fauna. This database provides essential information for ecologists and environmental managers to consider morphological patterns of fish faunas globally and the current and future impacts of human activities on fish assemblages.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2021)
Article
Biology
Sofie E. Voerman, Beauregard C. Marsh, Ricardo G. Bahia, Guilherme H. Pereira-Filho, Thomas W. Yee, Ana Clara F. Becker, Gilberto M. Amado-Filho, Arvydas Ruseckas, Graham A. Turnbull, Ifor D. W. Samuel, Heidi L. Burdett
Summary: This study investigated the mechanisms affecting the biodiversity-supporting potential of free-living red coralline algae towards mesophotic depths. The results showed a general decline in macrofaunal biodiversity but an increase in beta-diversity at the deepest site, highlighting the importance of these habitats as coastal refugia.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Arildo Dias, Shaya Van Houdt, Katrin Meschin, Katherine Von Stackelberg, Mari-Liis Bago, Lauren Baldarelli, Karen Gonzalez Downs, Mariel Luuk, Timothee Delubac, Elio Bottagisio, Kuno Kasak, Atilcan Kebabci, Oliver Levers, Igor Miilvee, Jana Paju-Hamburg, Remy Poncet, Massimiliano Sanfilippo, Jueri Sildam, Dmitri Stepanov, Donalda Karnauskaite
Summary: An integrated approach using Earth Observations and in-situ data has the potential to assess and monitor global forest ecosystem integrity. This study presents a framework for evaluating forest ecosystem integrity using Essential Biodiversity Variables and demonstrates the relationship between ecosystem integrity and disturbance. Understanding the state and changes in forest ecosystem integrity can inform funding and conservation strategies.
FRONTIERS IN FORESTS AND GLOBAL CHANGE
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Maidul Choudhury, Sara Hallin, Frauke Ecke, Valerie Hubalek, Jaanis Juhanson, Andre Frainer, Brendan G. McKie
Summary: There is a need to understand the linkages between functional diversity and ecosystem processes based on species traits. In particular, understanding the role of aquatic plant functional traits in regulating nitrogen cycling in freshwater habitats is limited. This study investigates the effects of macrophyte functional diversity and trait composition on nitrogen removal in wetlands.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Soil Science
Apolline Auclerc, Lea Beaumelle, Sandra Barantal, Matthieu Chauvat, Jerome Corte, Tania De Almeida, Anne-Maimiti Dulaurentg, Thierry Dutoit, Sophie Joimel, Geoffroy Sere, Olivier Blight
Summary: Ecological engineering in degraded ecosystems often manipulates plants and soil biota for restoration. However, soil invertebrates have been underused in restoration efforts, despite their important role in soil ecological processes and plant-soil feedback. This review highlights the potential of using soil invertebrate functional traits for ecosystem restoration, focusing on traits related to nutrient and carbon cycling, pollutant detoxification, soil structure arrangement, and biological control. The paper proposes guidelines for integrating soil organism traits into ecological engineering and identifies knowledge gaps and limitations.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Elvire Bestion, Bart Haegeman, Soraya Alvarez Codesal, Alexandre Garreau, Michele Huet, Samuel Barton, Jose M. Montoya
Summary: This research reveals that temperature fluctuations alter the importance of biodiversity for ecosystem functioning, with wider fluctuations exacerbating the negative impact of species loss on ecosystem functioning. Species-rich communities are able to maintain ecosystem functioning under climate change, while species-poor communities typically cannot.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Peng He, Simone Fontana, Chengcang Ma, Heyong Liu, Li Xu, Ruzhen Wang, Yong Jiang, Mai -He Li
Summary: This study measured leaf traits, community composition, and aboveground biomass at seven different sites along a transect in forest-steppe ecotones in northeast China. The results showed that dominant species in the ecotone communities had high nitrogen content, large leaf area, and low leaf mass per unit area. The ecotone communities also had the highest functional trait diversity. Therefore, vegetation management should focus on maintaining functional trait diversity and promoting plant species with rapid resource acquisition strategies.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Maria Leticia Monge Gonzalez, Patrick Weigelt, Nathaly Guerrero-Ramirez, Dylan Craven, Gonzalo Castillo-Campos, Thorsten Kromer, Holger Kreft
Summary: BIOVERA-Tree is a newly established database containing comprehensive data on tree diversity, community composition, forest structure, and functional traits collected in Veracruz State, Mexico. This database contributes to the understanding of how forest-use intensity and elevation interactively affect tree diversity, community composition, and functional traits in tropical forests.
BIODIVERSITY DATA JOURNAL
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Zsofia Koma, Arie C. Seijmonsbergen, W. Daniel Kissling
Summary: Mapping 3D vegetation structure in wetlands using country-wide ALS data is important for conservation and monitoring. A new workflow was developed to classify wetland-related land cover types and habitats using fine-scale lidar metrics derived from country-wide ALS data.
REMOTE SENSING IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Geography
Matheus G. G. De Jong, Henk Pieter Sterk, Stacy Shinneman, Arie C. Seijmonsbergen
Summary: This study introduces a method for digital geomorphological mapping with a three-tiered nested legend, using case studies from Vorarlberg, Austria. The reclassification of morphogenetic classes in an automated GIS workflow aids in visualization at different scale ranges, supported by high-resolution input data. The method allows for additional morphogenetic classes to be included and adapted in other environments.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Zsofia Koma, Andras Zlinszky, Laszlo Beko, Peter Burai, Arie C. Seijmonsbergen, W. Daniel Kissling
Summary: In this study, a comparison was made between LiDAR metrics extracted from ALS datasets with varying characteristics and standardized field measurements of vegetation attributes across three Hungarian lakes. The results revealed that differences in ALS recording types, point density, and temporal offsets significantly affected the estimation of vegetation height, biomass, and leaf area index (LAI). High to intermediate accuracy was achieved in estimating vegetation height using FWF ALS data, while biomass and LAI estimation was found to be sensitive to ALS characteristics and differences between field and ALS data. The study recommends the use of FWF ALS data for capturing vegetation structural details in dense wetland vegetation, and highlights the importance of standardized acquisition of field and ALS data for assessing vegetation structure across wetlands.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Zsofia Koma, Arie C. Seijmonsbergen, Meiert W. Grootes, Francesco Nattino, Jim Groot, Henk Sierdsema, Ruud P. B. Foppen, Daniel Kissling
Summary: This study aims to assess the predictive ability of metrics derived from different types of high-resolution remote sensing (RS) products for the habitat suitability of wetland birds. The results show that ALS and Sentinel metrics improve the accuracy of species distribution models (SDMs) for wetland bird species by 11% and 10% of the area under curve (AUC) respectively. The importance of different RS products varies among species.
DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Johannes De Groeve, Buntarou Kusumoto, Erik Koene, W. Daniel Kissling, Arie C. Seijmonsbergen, Bert W. Hoeksema, Moriaki Yasuhara, Sietze J. Norder, Sri Yudawati Cahyarini, Alexandra van Der Geer, Hanneke J. M. Meijer, Yasuhiro Kubota, Kenneth F. Rijsdijk
Summary: This study presents a novel geophysically corrected global historical coastline position raster, which allows for the calculation of global and regional coastline retreat rates and land loss rates. Additionally, 53 shelf sea rasters were generated to calculate shelf sea expansion rates.
GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
W. Daniel Kissling, Yifang Shi, Zsofia Koma, Christiaan Meijer, Ou Ku, Francesco Nattino, Arie C. Seijmonsbergen, Meiert W. Grootes
Summary: The third Dutch national airborne laser scanning flight campaign collected a large dataset with billions of points, providing detailed information on the ecosystem structure. The dataset was processed into raster layers of vegetation structure metrics, allowing for ecological and biodiversity research. The accuracy of the derived metrics was high, and potential biases in the data were addressed through validation and additional masking. The dataset has significant importance in ecology and biodiversity science.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jeroen S. de Nobel, Kenneth F. Rijsdijk, Perry Cornelissen, Arie C. Seijmonsbergen
Summary: The Oostvaardersplassen nature reserve in the Netherlands has dealt with the issue of excessive grazing by large herbivores, which has led to the domination of short grazed grasslands and decreased biodiversity. To restore a diverse landscape, the reserve has implemented controlled grazing numbers since 2018. Fine-scale mapping and monitoring of aboveground biomass have been used as a tool to evaluate management efforts. By developing a random forest model, the correlation between field-based samples of aboveground biomass and height-related vegetation metrics from LiDAR data was analyzed. Handheld LiDAR was found to be a promising technique for retrieving detailed height-related metrics in grasslands and can support management decisions in nature reserves.
Article
Remote Sensing
Christoph Schaller, Christian Ginzler, Emiel van Loon, Christine Moos, Arie C. Seijmonsbergen, Luuk Dorren
Summary: Individual tree detection using airborne laser scanning (ALS) provides complementary data for forest inventory, and a statistical modeling approach can improve the performance of local maxima-based methods.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Arie Christoffel Seijmonsbergen, Sanne Valentijn, Lisan Westerhof, Kenneth Frank Rijsdijk
Summary: This study aims to understand the spatial distribution of ocean floor geodiversity in relation to mineral resources and proposes considering ocean floor geodiversity in future resource extraction to support responsible mining and limit environmental damage.