Taxonomic sufficiency in two case studies: where does it work better?

Bacci, Tiziano; Trabucco, Benedetta; Marzialetti, S.; Marusso, Veronica; Lomiri, Serena; Vani, Danilo; Lamberti, Claudia Virno

doi:10.1111/j.1439-0485.2009.00324.x

Cited by 30 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(31 reference statements)

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“…Previous work in diverse taxa has suggested that lower taxonomic resolution is an appropriate solution for analysing relationships among diversity and other factors when needed due to a lack of species-level identification or other constraints (expertise, information, etc. ; Chainho et al, 2007;Bacci et al, 2009;Timms et al, 2013). Our taxonomic diversity metrics, genus richness and Shannon diversity, measure the variety of taxa in a plot.…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon storage in tropical forests correlates with taxonomic diversity and functional dominance on a global scale

Cavanaugh

Gosnell

Davis

et al. 2014

Global Ecology and Biogeography

171

172

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Aim We examined (1) the relationships between aboveground tropical forest C storage, biodiversity and environmental drivers and (2) how these relationships inform theory concerning ecosystem function and biodiversity. Experiments have shown that there is a positive relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, but intense debate exists on the underlying mechanisms. While some argue that mechanisms such as niche complementarity increase ecosystem function, others argue that these relationships are a selection effect.Location Eleven tropical forests in the Americas, Africa and Asia.Methods We analysed the correlates of biodiversity and carbon storage in tropical forests using data from 59 1-ha tree plots from a standardized global tropical forest biodiversity-monitoring network. We examined taxonomic and functional diversity, aboveground C storage and environmental variables in order to determine the relationships between biodiversity and carbon storage in natural (non-plantation) tropical forests. ResultsWe found that aboveground C storage in tropical forests increased with both taxonomic diversity and functional dominance, specifically the dominance of genera with large maximum diameters, after potential environmental drivers were accounted for (final model R 2 = 0.38, P < 0.001). Main conclusionsOur results suggest that niche complementarity and the selection effect are not mutually exclusive: they both play a role in structuring tropical forests. While previous studies have documented relationships between diversity and C storage, these have largely been conducted on small scales in biomes that are relatively species poor compared with tropical forests (e.g. grasslands and temperate or boreal forests). Our results demonstrate that these positive biodiversityecosystem functioning relationships are also present in hyperdiverse systems on spatial scales relevant to conservation and management. This insight can be used to inform the conservation and management of tropical forests, which play a critical role in the global carbon cycle and are some of the biologically richest ecosystems on the planet.

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Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon storage in tropical forests correlates with taxonomic diversity and functional dominance on a global scale

Cavanaugh

Gosnell

Davis

et al. 2014

Global Ecology and Biogeography

171

172

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“…Those calculations were performed using R version 2.4.0 (R Development Core Team 2008). For each of the two LTER sites, 'loss of information α' (α) was determined for each year according to Bacci et al (2009). Specifically, the difference NTx -NTx+1 was calculated, in which NT expresses the number of taxa identified at the taxonomic level x and x+1 expresses the taxonomic level above level x.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benthic studies in LTER sites: the use of taxonomy surrogates in the detection of long-term changes in lagoonal benthic assemblages

Pitacco¹,

Mistri²,

Infantini³

et al. 2019

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In benthic studies, the identification of organisms at the species level is known to be the best source for ecological and biological information even if time-consuming and expensive. However, taxonomic sufficiency (TS) has been proposed as a short-cut method for quantifying changes in biological assemblages in environmental monitoring. In this paper, we set out to determine whether and how the taxonomic complexity of a benthic assemblage influences the results of TS at two different long-term ecological research (LTER) sites in the Po delta region (north-eastern Italy). Specifically, we investigated whether TS can be used to detect natural and human-driven patterns of variation in benthic assemblages from lagoonal soft bottoms. The first benthic dataset was collected from 1996 to 2015 in a “choked” lagoon, the Valli di Comacchio, a lagoon characterised by long water residence times and heavy eutrophication, while the second was collected from 2004 to 2010 in a “leaky” lagoon, the Sacca di Goro, a coastal area with human pressure limited to aquaculture. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were used to assess differences in the taxonomic structure of benthic assemblages and to test TS on the two different datasets. TS seemed to work from species to family level at both sites, despite a higher natural variability of environmental conditions combined with multiple anthropogenic stressors. Therefore, TS at the family level may represent effective taxonomic surrogates across a range of environmental contexts in lagoon environments. Since the structure of the community and the magnitude of changes could influence the efficiency of taxonomic surrogates and data transformations in long-term monitoring, we also suggest periodic analyses at finer taxonomic levels in order to check the efficiency of the application of taxonomic substitutes in routine monitoring programmes in lagoon systems.

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“…Previous work on a variety of taxa has shown that lower taxonomic resolution is appropriate when identification to the species level is not possible or feasible [44–46]. …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary diversity, feeding selectivity, and responses to fruit scarcity of two sympatric Bornean primates (Hylobates albibarbis and Presbytis rubicunda rubida)

et al. 2017

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Effectively characterizing primate diets is fundamental to understanding primate behavior, ecology and morphology. Examining temporal variation in a species’ diet, as well as comparing the responses of different species to variation in resource availability, can enhance understanding of the evolution of morphology and socioecology. In this study, we use feeding data collected over five years to describe the diets of two sympatric Southeast Asian primate species of similar body size: white-bearded gibbons (Hylobates albibarbis) and red leaf monkeys (Presbytis rubicunda rubida), in Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Long-term data sets are especially important for characterizing primate diets in Southeast Asia, where the forests exhibit supra-annual mast fruiting events. We found that gibbons were mainly frugivorous, with fruit and figs comprising 70% of their 145 independent feeding observations, whereas leaf monkeys ate a substantial amount of seeds (26%), fruits and figs (26.5%) and leaves (30%, n = 219 independent feeding observations). Leaf monkeys consumed a higher number of plant genera, and this was due mostly to the non-frugivorous portion of their diet. To investigate resource selection by these primates we utilized two different approaches: the Manly Selectivity Ratio, which did not take into account temporal variation of resource availability, and a model selection framework which did incorporate temporal variation. Both species selected figs (Ficus) more than predicted based on their availability under the Manly Selectivity Ratio. Model selection allowed us to determine how these primates alter the proportion of leaves, flowers, seeds, figs and fruit in their diets in response to variation in fruit availability. When fruits were scarce, both gibbons and leaf monkeys incorporated more leaves and figs into their diets, indicating that these two food classes are fallback foods for these primates. We discuss how different measures of resource selection can provide seemingly contradictory results, and emphasize the importance of long term studies that combine independent feeding observations with rigorous assessment of temporal variation in resource availability when modelling feeding selectivity.

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Taxonomic sufficiency in two case studies: where does it work better?

Cited by 30 publications

References 19 publications

Carbon storage in tropical forests correlates with taxonomic diversity and functional dominance on a global scale

Carbon storage in tropical forests correlates with taxonomic diversity and functional dominance on a global scale

Benthic studies in LTER sites: the use of taxonomy surrogates in the detection of long-term changes in lagoonal benthic assemblages

Dietary diversity, feeding selectivity, and responses to fruit scarcity of two sympatric Bornean primates (Hylobates albibarbis and Presbytis rubicunda rubida)

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