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718 results for “Functional traits”
Elevation differently shapes functional diversity patterns in understory forest communities when considering intraspecific and interspecific trait variability
<p>Datasets used for the analysis done for the paper "Elevation differently shapes functional diversity patterns in understory forest communities when considering intraspecific and interspecific trait variability".</p> <p>Files present are:</p> <p>-Species x Plot (vegetation releveés).</p> <p>-Plot x Environment.</p> <p>-Plot x CWM_inter for Plant height, Leaf area, Specific Leaf Area (SLA), Leaf Dry Matter Content (LDMC) using the traits fixed for species, i.e., holding traits constant as the species mean, thus incorporating only turnover.</p> <p>-Plot x CWM_intra for Plant height, Leaf area, Specific Leaf Area (SLA), Leaf Dry Matter Content (LDMC) based on an individual by trait matrix, therefore incorporating both turnover and intraspecific trait variation.</p> <p>-Plot x SES-FD_inter (Standard Effect Size Functional Diversity) for Plant height, Leaf area, Specific Leaf Area (SLA), Leaf Dry Matter Content (LDMC) using the traits fixed for species, i.e., holding traits constant as the species mean, thus incorporating only turnover.</p> <p>-Plot x SES-FD_intra (Standard Effect Size Functional Diversity) for Plant height, Leaf area, Specific Leaf Area (SLA), Leaf Dry Matter Content (LDMC) based on an individual by trait matrix, therefore incorporating both turnover and intraspecific trait variation.</p> <p>All analysis were carried out using the software R version 4.1.2 (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, <a href="http://www.R-project.org">http://www.R-project.org</a>) and can be consulted on GitHub https://github.com/AriannaFerrara/Elevation-and-Intraspecific-trait-variability.git</p>
funspace: an R package to build, analyze and plot functional trait spaces
<p>Functional trait space analyses are pivotal to describe and compare organisms' functional diversity across the tree of life. Yet, there is no single application that streamlines the many sometimes-troublesome steps needed to build and analyze functional trait spaces.</p> <p>To fill this gap, we propose funspace, an R package to easily handle bivariate and multivariate (PCA-based) functional trait space analyses. The six functions that constitute the package can be grouped in three modules: 'Building and exploring', 'Mapping', and 'Plotting'. The building and exploring module defines the main features of a functional trait space (e.g., functional diversity metrics) by leveraging kernel density-based methods. The mapping module uses general additive models to map how a target variable distributes within a trait space. The plotting module provides many options for creating flexible and high-quality figures representing the outputs obtained from previous modules. We provide a worked example to demonstrate a complete funspace workflow.</p> <p>funspace will provide researchers working with functional traits across the tree of life with an indispensable asset to easily explore: (i) the main features of any functional trait space, (ii) the relationship between a functional trait space and any other biological or non-biological factor that might contribute to shaping species' functional diversity.</p>
Fig 1 in Different responses of epigeic beetles to heavy metal contamination depending on functional traits at the family level
Fig 1. Diagram of non-metric multidimensional scaling of beetle assemblages classified to three groups of contamination (square- almost uncontaminated sites, circle- moderately contaminated sites, diamond- highly contaminated sites)
Fig 2 in Different responses of epigeic beetles to heavy metal contamination depending on functional traits at the family level
Fig 2. Mean total density ± SE of the most frequently occurring groups of beetles in three classes of contaminations along the season (circle- almost uncontaminated sites, square- moderately contaminated sites, triangle- highly contaminated sites).
Figure 1 in Review Of Bryophyte Functional Traits In Ecological Studies
Figure 1. Example of two bryophyte species Radula complanata (L.) Dumort., 1831) and Dicranum viride (Lindberg, 1863) with different life strategies (D. viride: perennial stayer; Radula complanata: perennial shuttle species) and life forms (D. viride: cushion; R. complamata: turf), which share the same substrate affinity trait: bark (BernhardtRömermann et al. 2018). Photo: Anna PastareSkutele.
Figure 2 in Review Of Bryophyte Functional Traits In Ecological Studies
Figure 2. Bryophyte species complex on log in black alder swamp forest habitat. Photo: Anna PastareSkutele.
Functional biogeography of Neotropical moist forests: trait-climate relationships and assembly patterns of tree communities
<p>Aim: Here we examine the functional profile of regional tree species pools across the latitudinal distribution of Neotropical moist forests, and test trait-climate relationships among local communities. We expected opportunistic strategies (acquisitive traits, small seeds) to be overrepresented in species pools further from the equator due to long-term instability, but also in terms of abundance in local communities in currently wetter, warmer and more seasonal climates.</p> <p>Location: Neotropics.</p> <p>Time period: Recent.</p> <p>Major taxa studied: Trees.</p> <p>Methods: We obtained abundance data from 471 plots across nine Neotropical regions, including ~100,000 trees of 3,417 species, in addition to six functional traits. We compared occurrence-based trait distributions among regional species pools, and evaluated single trait-climate relationships across local communities using community abundance-weighted means (CWM). Multivariate trait-climate relationships were assessed by a double-constrained correspondence analysis that tests both how CWMs relate to climate and how species distributions, parameterized by niche centroids in climate space, relate to their traits.</p> <p>Results: Regional species pools were undistinguished in functional terms, but opportunistic strategies dominated local communities further from the equator, particularly in the northern hemisphere. Climate explained up to 57% of the variation in CWM traits, with increasing prevalence of lower-statured, light-wooded and softer-leaved species bearing smaller seeds in more seasonal, wetter and warmer climates. Species distribution were significantly but weakly related to functional traits.</p> <p>Main conclusions: Neotropical moist forest regions share similar sets of functional strategies, from which local assembly processes, driven by current climatic conditions, select for species with different functional strategies. We can thus expect functional responses to climate change driven by changes in relative abundances of species already present regionally. Particularly, equatorial forests holding the most conservative traits and large seeds are likely to experience the most severe changes if climate change triggers the proliferation of opportunistic tree species.</p>
Selection on convergent functional traits drives compositional divergence in a tallgrass prairie restoration experiment
<p>1. Plant biodiversity is often partitioned into taxonomic diversity (species composition and abundance), phylogenetic diversity (breadth of evolutionary lineages) and functional diversity (resource‐use strategies or physical traits). Evaluating the effects and interplay of these dimensions can provide insights into how assembly processes drive compositional changes in plant communities. However, teasing apart the effects of different biodiversity dimensions is challenging in observational studies or retrospective analyses.</p> <p>2. To evaluate how plant phylogenetic and trait history shape community establishment and turnover in restoration of a species‐rich North American tallgrass prairie, we conducted an experiment with 127 species planted in assemblages representing three levels of phylogenetic diversity (PD) and two of functional trait diversity (FD), holding starting species richness (SR) fixed. We tested whether PD and FD of planted assemblages predicted species diversity, compositional turnover and selection on functional traits.</p> <p>3. Rank order of initial functional and phylogenetic diversity levels was maintained throughout the experiment, but neither diversity measure correlated positively with species richness by the end of the experiment. Phylogenetic and taxonomic beta diversity increased among all treatments. This increase in compositional beta diversity was associated with directional selection on phylogenetically dispersed functional traits. A set of functional traits associated with competitiveness in tallgrass prairies predicted species' cover for all survey years: stem dry matter content, leaf dry matter content, vegetative height and rhizomatous growth. Although all plots collectively converged on a similar suite of functional traits, functional beta diversity increased among high‐FD plots.</p> <p>4. <em>Synthesis</em>. Neither higher functional nor phylogenetic diversity maintained higher species richness (SR) over time in our study. Although SR was not maintained, higher levels of PD and FD were. Both types of diversity shaped the rate at which plots changed in composition over time, with high diversity treatment plots increasing in beta diversity. Selection for traits convergent across the tree of life drove phylogenetic and compositional divergence among plots. While optimization of site‐specific functional traits may be most important for maintaining higher SR, our work implies that planting higher initial PD and FD may make grassland restorations more adaptable to site conditions that may be difficult to predict.</p>
Floral preferences of mountain bumble bees are constrained by functional traits but flexible through elevation and season
Patterns of resource use by animals can clarify how ecological communities have assembled in the past, how they currently function, and how they are likely to respond to future perturbations. Bumble bees (Hymentoptera: Bombus spp.) and their floral hosts provide a diverse yet tractable system in which to explore resource selection in the context of plant-pollinator networks. Under conditions of resource limitation, the ability of bumble bees species to coexist should depend on dietary niche overlap. In this study, we report patterns and dynamics of floral morphotype preferences in a mountain bumble bee community based on ~13,000 observations of bumble bee floral visits recorded along a 1400 m elevation gradient. We found that bumble bees are highly selective generalists, rarely visiting floral morphotypes at the rates predicted by their relative abundances. Preferences also differed markedly across bumble bee species, and these differences were well-explained by variation in bumble bee tongue length, generating patterns of preference similarity that should be expected to predict competition under conditions of resource limitation. Within species, though, morphotype preferences varied by elevation and season, possibly representing adaptive flexibility in response to the high elevational and seasonal turnover of mountain floral communities. Patterns of resource partitioning among bumble bee communities may determine which species can coexist under the altered distributions of bumble bees and their floral hosts caused by climate and land use change.
Fig. 2. – Species prediction for a grid cell. A in Geographical patterns of woody plants' functional traits in Burkina Faso
Fig. 2. – Species prediction for a grid cell. A. Average of maximal plant size; B. Percentage of spinescent species; C. Percentage of species containing latex; D. Percentage of species with compound leaves.
Fig. 1. – Study area. A in Geographical patterns of woody plants' functional traits in Burkina Faso
Fig. 1. – Study area. A. Species richness of the 129 woody plants, distribution records and position of Burkina Faso within Africa; B. Names of landscape elements and cities mentioned in the results.
Assessing the vulnerability of plant functional trait strategies to climate change
<p><strong><span>Aim: </span></strong><span>Our ability to understand how species may respond to changing climate conditions is hampered by a lack of high-quality data on the adaptive capacity of species. Plant functional traits are linked to many aspects of species life history and adaptation to environment, with different combinations of trait values reflecting alternate strategies for adapting to varied conditions. If the realised climate limits of species can be partially explained by plant functional trait combinations, then a new approach of using trait combinations to predict the expected climate limits of species trait combinations may offer considerable benefits. </span></p> <p><strong><span>Location:</span></strong><span> Australia.</span></p> <p><span><strong>Time period:</strong> </span><span>Current and future. </span></p> <p><strong><span>Methods:</span></strong><span><strong> </strong>Using trait data for leaf size, seed mass and plant height for 6,747 Australian native species from 27 plant families, we model the expected climate limits of trait combinations and use future climate scenarios to estimate climate change impacts based on plant functional trait strategies. </span></p> <p><strong><span>Results:</span></strong><span><strong> </strong>Functional trait combinations were a significant predictor of species climate niche metrics with potentially meaningful relationships with two rainfall variables (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.36 & 0.45) and three temperature variables (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.21, 0.28, 0.30). Using this method, the proportion of species exposed to conditions across their range that are beyond the expected climate limits of their trait strategies will increase under climate change. </span></p> <p><strong><span>Main conclusions:</span></strong><span><strong> </strong>Our new approach, called Trait Strategy Vulnerability, includes three new metrics. For example, the Climate Change Vulnerability (CCV) metric identified a small but important proportion of species (4.3%) that will on average be exposed to conditions beyond their expected limits for summer temperature in the future. These potentially vulnerable species could be high priority targets for deeper assessment of adaptive capacity at the genomic or physiological level. Our methods can be applied to any suite of co-occurring plants globally.</span></p>
Trait functional diversity explains mixture effects on litter decomposition at the arid end of a climate gradient
<p><span>Litter decomposition is controlled by climate, litter quality and decomposer communities. Because the decomposition of specific litter types is also influenced by the properties of adjacent types, mixing litter types may result in non-additive effects on overall decomposition rates. The strength of these effects seems to depend on the litter functional diversity. However, it is unclear which functional traits or combination of traits explain litter mixture effects and if these depend on the range of trait values and the ecosystems involved. These uncertainties hamper our ability to predict decomposition in plant communities. </span></p> <p><span>We aimed at understanding whether and how functional diversity (measured as functional dispersion, FDis) influences litter decomposition, and how this influence varies among different climates and across decomposition stages. We calculated FDis based on litter traits related to nutrient concentrations or to litter recalcitrance, and tested whether these diversity measures and climatic parameters (soil moisture and temperature) explained litter mixture effects on decomposition. </span></p> <p><span>Additive mixture effects (i.e. decomposition of mixtures equalling the mean decomposition of the single litter types) were common in most of the evaluated climates. Non-additive, negative effects were mainly restricted to the driest and warmest sites, and decreased with time. Non-additive effects increased in magnitude with the mixtures' FDis, with positive effects being related to FDis in nutrient traits and negative effects being related to FDis in recalcitrance traits. </span></p> <p><span>Synthesis: Litter mixing did not have strong effects on decomposition rates across the studied climatic gradient overall, and the direction and intensity of the mixture effects were context-dependent. The effects were stronger and more negative in the dryer ecosystems. Where effects were found, functional diversity calculated from selected groups of traits (related to nutrients or litter recalcitrance) predicted mixture effects, especially where trait ranges were broad, though much of the variation remains unexplained. We propose that functional diversity metrics based on litter traits that are mechanistically relevant, applied to diverse site-specific litter mixtures in different climates, can help to better understand under which conditions and in which direction litter diversity affects decomposition.</span></p>
Functional traits and metacommunity theory reveal that habitat filtering and competition maintain bird diversity in a human shared landscape
<p>Human shared landscapes cover much of Earth, yet their conservation value is contested. This controversy may persist because previous studies have examined species diversity, rather than the processes through which such diversity is maintained. For example, a site exhibiting high diversity may not actually bolster populations if the diversity is only maintained through net immigration. Recent research has begun to isolate the processes that maintain metacommunities and develop functional trait methods to identify these processes. However, the processes underlying bird communities remain obscure. Here, we leverage metacommunity theory, functional trait partitioning, and a Bayesian multispecies abundance model to assess whether a shared landscape – woody perennial polyculture farms – bolsters bird diversity. Such farms grow multiple species of food-producing woody perennials together with vegetative groundcover. We surveyed birds and their <em> in situ </em> functional traits across the US Midwest in traditional agriculture, woody perennial polyculture, prairie, and woods. We found that woody perennial polycultures exhibited the highest bird diversity and were the most preferred by many species (including threatened ones). Moreover, our functional trait analysis suggests that this diversity is maintained through habitat filtering and competition, rather than merely immigration. Thus, shared landscapes can likely conserve birds by providing a distinct habitat. These results suggest that woody perennial polyculture farms offer substantial potential to support bird populations in the US Midwest. Our study demonstrates the utility of <em> in situ </em> functional trait partitioning within a Bayesian framework to unmask ecological processes and help assess the conservation value of landscapes.</p>
Dataset of pollinator functional traits and interaction networks in neotropical mangroves: effects of patch size and surrounding land use
<p>This is the dataset of the manuscript entitled "Pollinator functional traits and interaction networks in neotropical mangroves: effects of patch size and surrounding land use", which was submitted for publication. The dataset include the functional traits of 162 insect pollinator species and 315 interactions with the mangrove species <em>Avicennia germinans, Conocarpus erectus, Laguncularia racemosa,</em> and <em>Rhizophora</em> <em>mangle</em>. The manuscript evaluates the effects of mangrove patch size and surrounding land use on pollinator functional diversity and plant-pollinator interactions in seven mangrove patches from the Colombian Caribbean region. Data variables are pollinator order, family, species, functional traits (pollinator guilds, body size, feeding preference, sociality, and nesting site) and frequency, interacting mangrove species, mangrove patch name, coordinates and size (ha), surrounding land use areas (urban areas, croplands, conserved dry forest, degraded vegetation areas, beach and water) and landscape diversity (Shannon H').</p>
Data used in the paper: Historical and current environmental selection on functional traits of trees in the Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot
<p>This repository contains phylogenetic and functional trait data, raster files, and tables with sampling information and references used in the article "Historical and current environmental selection on functional traits of trees in the Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot" by Silva, J.L.A., Souza, A., and Vitória, A.P. Journal of Vegetation Science, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.13049">https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.13049</a> .</p> <p>Description of files:</p> <p>(1) "Species-level_Trait_Data_Silva_et_al._2021.csv": This file contains species-specific mean trait values and the plant growth form of the 2,122 studied species, whenever available. Trait values were compiled from public sources such as original papers, master and doctoral dissertations, and global trait databases.</p> <p>(2) "Phylogenetic_Tree_Silva_et_al._2021.txt": This file contains the phylogenetic tree of the 2,122 studied species.</p> <p>(3) "CWM_Trait_Maps.zip": This file contains seven rasters of spatially contiguous surfaces produced by Ordinary Kriging Interpolation using Community-Weighted Means (CWM) of each functional trait.</p> <p>(4) "References-abundance-data.csv": This file contains sampling details and the references used to compile species abundance data for each studied site.</p> <p>(5) "References-trait-data.csv": This file contains sampling details and the references used to compile functional trait data.</p> <p> </p>
Functional traits and habitat use: investigating community assembly in a montane community (Carabidae: Nebria)
<p>The processes that influence community assembly, such as competition for resources and environmental filtering, are often scale-dependent and vary across ecotones. Trait-based ecology provides a useful framework for testing which ecological processes most strongly influence local community composition, especially across environmental gradients where species diversity varies. Where environmental filtering dominates, species distributions are expected to be defined by strong turnover along environmental gradients, with more similar species occupying more similar habitats. Where interspecific competition dominates, species are expected to diverge in relative abundance and resource utilization at sites, so species can co-occur. Here, we integrate measurements of functional traits, microhabitat usage, isotopic composition (δ<sup>15</sup>N and δ<sup>13</sup>C), and abundance to test the importance of environmental filtering and resource/habitat partitioning in shaping a montane ground beetle species assemblage (Carabidae: Nebriini: <em>Nebria</em>) in the isolated, volcanic peaks of the northern Cascades Range, U.S.A. Across species of <em>Nebria</em>, body size, pronotal shape, temperature preference, and isotopic enrichment varied across habitats [gravel, rocks 10 cm – 50 cm in diameter), large rocks (>50 cm in diameter), vegetation-covered rocks, and alpine (snowfields and talus)], and habitat/microhabitat features were reliable predictors of species presence. Resource consumption among mid-elevation species on Mt. Rainier – the peak with the greatest species diversity – is highly overlapping. Species turnover and nestedness varied significantly across habitat gradients and peaks throughout this region and varied nearly significantly across sites. Across habitat types and sites, more similar species are more likely to coexist. These results suggest that environmental filtering is the primary process structuring this species assemblage, although we find detailed evidence for microhabitat niche partitioning among species of <em>Nebria</em> at the site-scale.</p>
Leaf functional traits and environmental conditions of four common nymphaeid species
<p>This dataset includes measures of 21 leaf functional traits of 48 wild populations of four species of nymphaeids: <em>Nuphar lutea</em>, <em>Nelumbo nucifera</em>, <em>Nymphaea alba</em> and <em>Nymphoides peltata</em>. For each population (plot) coordinates, water depth, pH, specific conductivity, nitrate, dissolved inorganic carbon, dissolved reactive silica, soluble reactive phosphorus, sediment organic matter content and sediment total phosphorus content and sediment density are provided as well. The populations were located in different lake systems in Italy. The dataset includes a legend sheet with information on single traits and environmental variables, including units of measurement.</p> <p>Structural traits (area, fresh and dry weight, dry matter content and specific area) were measured on 5 leaves from different individuals, while leaf pigments and phosphorus content were measured on 3 leaves. Leaf carbon and nitrogen content were measured on one aliquot of the pooled dried material of all leaves. Therefore, the missing values in the dataset derive from the sampling design of the study. All further information on the methodology used to collect and measure the traits and environmental variables can be found in the related paper ("Ecological and functional niches comparison reveals differentiated resource-use strategies and ecological thresholds in four key floating-leaved macrophytes", Dalla Vecchia et al. 2024, Limnology and Oceanography).</p>
Figure 7 in Application Of Lichen Functional Traits In Identification Of Temperate Old-Growth Broad-Leaved Forests
Figure 7. Lichen thallus color in old (oldgrowth), middle (middleaged) and young broadleaved forest stands.
Figure 6 in Application Of Lichen Functional Traits In Identification Of Temperate Old-Growth Broad-Leaved Forests
Figure 6. Lichen growth forms in old (oldgrowth), middle (middleaged) and young broadleaved forest stands.
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.