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Functional redundancy as a tool for bioassessment: A test using riparian vegetation.
D Bruno1, C Gutiérrez-Cánovas2, J Velasco1
1Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología, Universidad de Murcia, Facultad de Biología, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Regional 'Campus Mare Nostrum', 30100 Murcia, Spain.
The Science of the Total Environment
|June 10, 2016
Summary
Functional redundancy (FR) effectively tracks ecosystem changes from global change, outperforming traditional metrics. This bioassessment tool helps identify human impacts on riparian communities, improving environmental management strategies.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Environmental Science
- Conservation Biology
Background:
- Traditional bioassessment relies on taxonomic metrics, which have limitations in reflecting ecosystem integrity.
- Global change necessitates advanced methods for tracking natural system responses and guiding management.
- Functional approaches offer advantages for bioassessment performance, particularly in understanding ecosystem stability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test the applicability of functional redundancy (FR) as a bioassessment tool for woody riparian communities.
- To compare the performance of FR against traditional indices (species richness, Riparian Quality Index) under natural and anthropogenic stress.
- To evaluate the ability of FR to discriminate between different intensities of human alteration in riparian ecosystems.
Main Methods:
- Utilized linear mixed-effect models to analyze the response of FR and traditional indices to drought, flow regulation, and agriculture gradients.
- Assessed the discriminatory power of FR and other indices across varying levels of human impact in perennial and intermittent rivers.
- Developed a human impact map based on FR thresholds for riparian communities.
Main Results:
- Functional redundancy (FR) demonstrated higher explanatory capacity in response to multiple stressors compared to traditional indices.
- All tested indices, including FR, showed significant negative relationships with stress gradients.
- FR proved most accurate in discriminating human alteration categories, enabling the establishment of reference conditions and impact thresholds.
Conclusions:
- Functional redundancy (FR) offers significant advantages over traditional bioassessment methods for evaluating ecosystem integrity.
- FR should be integrated into biomonitoring toolboxes for improved prediction of ecosystem responses to environmental changes.
- The study provides a framework for mapping human impact on functional redundancy in riparian networks, aiding environmental management.
