An overview of the applicability of functional diversity in Biological Conservation

Abstract

Functional diversity is increasingly pointed as a useful approach to reach Biological Conservation goals. Here, we provide an overview of the functional diversity approach status in the Biological Conservation field. We sought for peer-reviewed papers published over a period of twenty years (from 1994 to 2014). First we used the general topic "functional diversity" and then refined our search using the key-word "conservation". We have identified the conservation strategies addressed, the organism studied, and the continent of study site in each paper. Thirteen classes of conservation strategies were identified. Plants were the most commonly studied organism group and most study-sites were located in Europe. The functional diversity approach was introduced in the Biological Conservation field in the early 2000's and its inclusion in conservation strategies is broadly advised. However, the number of papers that operationalise such inclusion by developing models and systems is still low. Functional diversity responds differently and eventually better than other measures to changes in land use and management, which suggests that this approach can potentially better predict the impacts. More studies are needed to corroborate this hypothesis. We pointed out knowledge gaps regarding identification of the responses for functional diversity about urban impacts and in research on the level of management intensity of land needed to maintain functional diversity. We recommend the use of functional diversity measures to find ecological indicators. Future studies should focus on the development of functional diversity measures of other taxa beyond plants as well as test hypothesis in tropical ecosystems.Keywords: biodiversity assessments, biodiversity measures, conservation strategies, ecosystem functioning, trait-based approach. Uma visão geral sobre a aplicabilidade da diversidade funcional na Conservação Biológica ResumoA diversidade funcional é crescentemente apontada como uma abordagem útil para alcançar os objetivos da Conservação Biológica. Neste artigo, nós mostramos uma visão geral do status desta abordagem no campo da Conservação Biológica. Nós buscamos por artigos revisados por pares publicados ao longo de vinte anos (desde 1994 até 2014) usando, primeiramente, o tópico geral "functional diversity" e em seguida, refinamos a pesquisa com a palavra-chave "conservation". Identificamos a estratégia de conservação abordada, o organismo estudado e o continente da área de estudo de cada artigo. Treze classes de estratégias de conservação foram identificadas. As plantas foram o grupo de organismos mais amplamente estudado e a maior parte das áreas de estudo estavam localizadas no continente europeu. A abordagem da diversidade funcional entrou no campo da Conservação Biológica no início dos anos 2000 e sua inclusão nas estratégias de conservação é amplamente recomendada. Entretanto, o número de artigos que operacionalizam tal inclusão ainda é pequeno. A diversidade funcional responde diferentemente e, eventualmente,...

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