Human pressure drives biodiversity–multifunctionality relationships in large Neotropical wetlands

Changes in natural land cover have been pronounced in the last 12,000 years, and land use has intensified in the last century owing to anthropogenic pressures on landscapes. This trend has led to concomitant changes in the abiotic templates and biotic communities of different ecosystems embedded in a landscape. Deciphering the role of land use is key to understand ecological change in boreal landscapes. These landscapes are characterized by large numbers of lakes that have been affected by various anthropogenic factors, of which land use has considerable direct and indirect effects on lakes. In this review, we focus on land use impacts on boreal lakes in a historical perspective. We will consider lake features related to abiotic conditions, biological communities and ecosystem services, and provide potential solutions for planning lake management and conservation in a landscape setting. More specifically, we propose a novel way to characterize lake abiotic, biotic and ecosystem service features by applying the alpha, beta and gamma concept used widely in ecological research. Finally, we highlight situations where this approach could be a valuable addition to existing means to identify lakes that should be reserved for ecosystem services (‘lake‐sharing’) and those that are vital for protecting aquatic biodiversity (‘lake‐sparing’).

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“…From an ecological viewpoint, functional diversity of biotic communities can be considered a proxy for ecosystem services (e.g. Moi et al, 2022),…”

Section: A Prop Os Ed Approach To G U Ide C Atchment Pl Anningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deciphering land‐use influences on boreal lakes to guide landscape planning

Heino

Toivanen

Alahuhta

2023

Ecol Sol and Evidence

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“…Global biodiversity is declining in the Anthropocene, which has been widely attributed to the conversion of natural landscapes to resource extraction, agriculture and urban settlements (Moi, Lansac‐Tôha, et al, 2022; Newbold et al, 2015). Recent research has revealed that human land‐uses cause species losses and filter sets of functional traits out of ecosystems (Gámez‐Virués et al, 2015; Gossner et al, 2016; Le Provost et al, 2021; Leitão et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Response of taxonomic richness to human land‐uses differ among animal and plant assemblages (Le Provost et al, 2021; Marzin et al, 2012), suggesting that using taxonomic richness alone hinders generalizing overall diversity responses to land‐use changes. Such problems can be overcome using trait‐based approaches, because different assemblages sharing similar traits usually respond similarly to human land‐use intensification (Gámez‐Virués et al, 2015; Moi, Lansac‐Tôha, et al, 2022). Land‐use impacts are stronger for larger animals because they tend to be more vulnerable to habitat loss (Enquist et al, 2020; Estes et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human land‐uses homogenize stream assemblages and reduce animal biomass production

Moi

Barrios

Tesitore

et al. 2023

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Human land‐use change is a major threat to natural ecosystems worldwide. Nonetheless, the effects of human land‐uses on the structure of plant and animal assemblages and their functional characteristics need to be better understood. Furthermore, the pathways by which human land uses affect ecosystem functions, such as biomass production, still need to be clarified. We compiled a unique dataset of fish, arthropod and macrophyte assemblages from 61 stream ecosystems in two Neotropical biomes: Amazonian rainforest and Uruguayan grasslands. We then tested how the cover of agriculture, pasture, urbanization and afforestation affected the taxonomic richness and functional diversity of those three species assemblages, and the consequences of these effects for animal biomass production. Single trait categories and functional diversity were evaluated, combining recruitment and life‐history, resource and habitat‐use, and body size. The effects of intensive human land‐uses on taxonomic and functional diversities were as strong as other drivers known to affect biodiversity, such as local climate and environmental factors. In both biomes, the taxonomic richness and functional diversity of animal and macrophyte assemblages decreased with increasing cover of agriculture, pasture, and urbanization. Human land‐uses were associated with functional homogenization of both animal and macrophyte assemblages. Human land‐uses reduced animal biomass through direct and indirect pathways mediated by declines in taxonomic and functional diversities. Our findings indicate that converting natural ecosystems to supply human demands results in species loss and trait homogenization across multiple biotic assemblages, ultimately reducing animal biomass production in streams.

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“…Freshwater plants are a widely distributed group of photosynthetic organisms that play essential functional roles in freshwaters (Carpenter & Lodge, 1986, Chambers et al, 2008, Moi et al, 2022. For instance, together with microalgae, freshwater plants are responsible for the primary production of continental waters (Krause-Jensen & Sand-Jensen, 1998) and are an important food source for many other organisms (Carpenter & Lodge, 1986).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compositional breakpoints of freshwater plant communities across continents

García‐Girón¹,

Heino²,

Baastrup‐Spohr³

et al. 2023

Limnetica

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Unravelling patterns and mechanisms of biogeographical transitions is crucial if we are to understand compositional gradients at large spatial extents, but no studies have thus far examined breakpoints in community composition of freshwater plants across continents. Using a dataset of almost 500 observations of lake plant community composition from six continents, we examined, for the first time, if such breakpoints in geographical space exist for freshwater plants and how well a suite of ecological factors (including climatic and local environmental variables) can explain transitions in community composition from the subtropics to the poles. Our combination of multivariate regression tree (MRT) analysis and k-means partitioning suggests that the most abrupt breakpoint exists between temperate to boreal regions on the one hand and freshwater plant communities harbouring mainly subtropical or Mediterranean assemblages on the other. The spatially structured variation in current climatic conditions is the most likely candidate for controlling these latitudinal patterns, although one cannot rule out joint effects of eco-evolutionary constraints in the harsher high-latitude environments and post-glacial migration lags after Pleistocene Ice Ages. Overall, our study supports the foundations of global regionalisation for freshwater plants and anticipates further biogeographical research on freshwater plant communities once datasets have been harmonised for conducting large-scale spatial analyses.

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Human pressure drives biodiversity–multifunctionality relationships in large Neotropical wetlands

Cited by 32 publications

References 45 publications

Deciphering land‐use influences on boreal lakes to guide landscape planning

Deciphering land‐use influences on boreal lakes to guide landscape planning

Human land‐uses homogenize stream assemblages and reduce animal biomass production

Compositional breakpoints of freshwater plant communities across continents

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