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Relating Stomatal Conductance to Leaf Functional Traits
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Integrating trait and evolutionary differences untangles how biodiversity affects ecosystem functioning.

Pedro H A Sena1,2, Ana Carolina B Lins-E-Silva3, Thiago Gonçalves-Souza4

  • 1Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), Rua Dom Manoel de Medeiros s/n, Recife, PE, 52171-900, Brazil. pedroasena@gmail.com.

Oecologia
|October 18, 2018
PubMed
Summary

Biodiversity loss impacts ecosystem functioning. Combining functional (FD) and phylogenetic diversity (PD) revealed that higher FD and PD slow leaf decomposition, highlighting their interactive effects on ecosystem processes.

Keywords:
Biodiversity and ecosystem functioningDecompositionNon-additive effectsPhylogenyTraits

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Environmental Science

Background:

  • Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning (BEF) research links biodiversity to ecosystem processes.
  • The influence of evolutionary history on species traits and its effect on ecosystem functioning remains understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how functional diversity (FD) and phylogenetic diversity (PD) interact to influence leaf decomposition.
  • To disentangle the independent and interactive effects of FD and PD on ecosystem functioning.

Main Methods:

  • An experiment was designed using plant litter from 27 species, manipulated into four treatments representing combinations of low and high FD and PD.
  • Leaf decomposition rates were measured in litterbags under these manipulated diversity treatments.
  • An integrated approach combining FD and PD was used to analyze diversity effects.

Main Results:

  • Leaf decomposition was 30% slower in species pools with high functional and phylogenetic diversity.
  • Mixtures of species with high FD and PD exhibited non-additive effects on decomposition.
  • Interactive effects of PD and FD were more influential on leaf decomposition than their isolated effects.

Conclusions:

  • Phylogenetic diversity (PD) and functional diversity (FD) have interactive effects on leaf decomposition, representing distinct aspects of ecosystem variation.
  • Phylogenies should not be used as a direct proxy for functional diversity in BEF studies.
  • Future BEF research should incorporate multifaceted scenarios to understand community assembly and ecosystem processes, considering trait evolution and idiosyncratic trait effects.