Functional traits, the phylogeny of function, and ecosystem service vulnerability

Area of Science:

• Ecosystem ecology
• Evolutionary biology
• Trait-based ecology

Background:

• Ecosystem services are crucial for human well-being.
• Understanding how ecosystems respond to environmental change is a priority.
• Functional traits influence species' roles and tolerances.

Purpose of the Study:

• Develop a risk-assessment framework for ecosystem services.
• Integrate ecological and evolutionary perspectives on functional traits.
• Assess species' effects on ecosystems and their tolerance to change.

Main Methods:

• Define Specific Effect Function (SEF) and Specific Response Function (SRF).
• Analyze correlations between SEF and SRF across species.
• Incorporate phylogenetic relationships into the risk assessment.
• Illustrate with five plant and animal case studies.

Main Results:

• Four theoretical risk scenarios range from minimum to maximum concern.
• Maximum concern occurs with negative SEF-SRF correlation and phylogenetic signal.
• The framework integrates species' ecosystem effects and environmental tolerances.
• Case studies demonstrate the application of the framework.

Conclusions:

• The framework provides a novel approach to assessing ecosystem service security.
• Further empirical evidence is needed to determine the prevalence of the four risk scenarios.
• Research is suggested at the interface of evolutionary biology and ecosystem ecology.