Functional diversity exhibits a diverse relationship with area, even a decreasing one

Abstract

The relationship between species richness and area is one of the few well-established laws in ecology, and one might expect a similar relationship with functional diversity (FD). However, only a few studies investigate the relationship between trait-based FD and area, the Functional Diversity - Area Relationship (FDAR). To examine FDAR, we constructed the species accumulation curve and the corresponding FD curve. We used plant diversity data from nested plots (1–128 m2), recorded on the Volcanic islands of Santorini Archipelagos, Greece. Six multidimensional FD indices were calculated using 26 traits. We identified a typology of FDARs depending on the facet of FD analyzed: (A) strongly positive for indices quantifying the range of functional traits in the community, (B) negative correlation for indices quantifying the evenness in the distribution of abundance in the trait space, (C) no clear pattern for indices reflecting the functional similarity of species and (D) idiosyncratic patterns with area for functional divergence. As area increases, the range of traits observed in the community increases, but the abundance of traits does not increase proportionally and some traits become dominant, implying a reliance on some functions that may be located in either the center or the periphery of the trait space.

Effects of patch size and basal area on avian taxonomic and functional diversity in pine forests: Implication for the influence of habitat quality on the species–area relationship

“…In particular, to our knowledge, there are no studies that examined the relationship between avian functional diversity, area, and habitat quality in pine forests. Functional diversity showed diverse relationships depending on the indices, which was similar to previous studies focused on the functional diversity–area relationship (Ding et al., ; Karadimou et al., ). Although the functional diversity–area relationship was vague at FS patches, there was a significant pattern at MS and OS patches: increasing FRic at MS patches but decreasing FDiv at OS patches with increasing their patch size.…”

“…The species–area relationship can exhibit diverse patterns when species’ trait (including functional diversity, functional/ecological guilds), evolutionary lineage (e.g., phylogenetic diversity), or species mobility is considered (Bell, Phillips, Nielsen, & Spence, ; Davidar et al., ; Ding et al., ; Karadimou et al., ; Marini et al., ; Mazel et al., ). For instance, Karadimou et al.…”

“…For instance, Karadimou et al. () showed that the species–area relationship could be positive, neutral, or even negative depending on the indices of functional diversity in plants. Mazel et al.…”

“…Different patterns between taxonomic and functional diversity have been also reported (Devictor et al, 2010;Lee & Martin, 2017;Murray et al, 2017), suggesting that functional diversity can convey different information about communities than taxonomic diversity and complement traditional species richness (Diaz & Cabido, 2001;Mouchet et al, 2010;Vandewalle, 2010). Several recent studies on the species-area relationship also demonstrate the importance of considering multifacets of diversity as the relationship can be inconsistent between species richness and functional diversity and even between functional diversity indices (Ding, Feeley, Wang, Pakeman, & Ding, 2013;Karadimou, Kallimanis, Tsiripidis, & Dimopoulos, 2016). In pine forests, functional diversity has been seldom incorporated in the study of biodiversity and thus little is known about the functional diversity-area relationship.…”

Spatiotemporal scaling of plant species richness and functional diversity in a temperate semi‐natural grassland

“…Some plots showed negative FDisAR and FDisTR relationships indicating that the species being added were functionally similar to those already sampled. This suggests that, in these plots, functional redundancy increased with either sampling area or period (Karadimou et al ). Further investigation into the relationship between species richness and functional dispersion should confirm or negate this (Strauss et al , Woodcock et al ).…”