Trait-based approaches in rapidly changing ecosystems: A roadmap to the future polar oceans

Degen, Renate; Aune, Magnus; Bluhm, Bodil A.; Cassidy, Camilla; Kędra, Monika; Kraan, Casper; Vandepitte, L.; Włodarska‐Kowalczuk, Maria; Zhulay, Irina; Albano, Paolo G.; Bremner, Julie; Grebmeier, Jacqueline M.; Link, Heike; Morata, Nathalie; Nordström, Marie C.; Shojaei, Mehdi Ghodrati; Sutton, Lauren; Zuschin, Martin

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2018.04.050

Cited by 80 publications

(103 citation statements)

References 166 publications

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“…Non‐standardised and even contradictory trait definitions can reduce reliability and, as shown by previous studies, can prevent authors from readily comparing their findings (Costello et al, ). This issue might even increase as trait‐based studies are adopted more widely and, thus, the number of trait definitions and terms will potentially increase (Degen et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reliability analysis of fish traits reveals discrepancies among databases

2020

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Trait‐based approaches are commonly used in ecology to understand the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, environmental filtering or biotic responses to anthropogenic perturbations. However, little is known about the reliability of assigned traits and the consistency of trait information among different databases currently in use. Using 99 native and alien Iberian inland fish species, we investigated a total of 27 biological and ecological traits for their consistency among 19 different databases and identified less reliable traits, that is, traits with high disagreement among databases. Specifically, we used generalised linear models and inter‐rater reliability statistics (Krippendorff's α) to test for differences in trait values among databases. We also identified well‐studied versus data‐deficient traits and species. Our results show notable discrepancies and low reliability for several biological and ecological traits such as microhabitat preference, omnivory, invertivory, rheophily, and limnophily. Least reliable traits were mainly categorical (rather than continuous) and established by expert judgment and without a clear definition or a common methodology. Interestingly, categorical traits such as rheophily or limnophily, which showed significantly lower reliability, concurrently showed higher data availability and use than continuously scaled traits. Such uncertainties in trait assignments could affect bioassessment and other ecological analyses. Species with smaller distributional ranges and those that have been described more recently, presented lower coverage and data availability in trait databases. We encourage further standardisation of fish trait measurement protocols to help improve the robust application of bioassessment indices and trait‐based approaches.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reliability analysis of fish traits reveals discrepancies among databases

2020

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“…, Bremner et al (2006),Dolbeth et al (2009),Frid et al (2008),Kröncke (1994),Oug et al (2012),Rosenberg (1995),Tyler et al (2012), van der Linden et al (2016 …”

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confidence: 99%

The Arctic Traits Database – a repository of Arctic benthic invertebrate traits

Degen

Faulwetter

2019

Earth Syst. Sci. Data

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Abstract. The recently increased interest in marine trait-based studies highlights one general demand – the access to standardized, reference-based trait information. This demand holds especially true for polar regions, where the gathering of ecological information is still challenging. The Arctic Traits Database is a freely accessible online repository (https://doi.org/10.25365/phaidra.49; https://www.univie.ac.at/arctictraits, last access: 20 February 2019) that fulfils these requests for one important component of polar marine life, the Arctic benthic macroinvertebrates. It accounts for (1) obligate traceability of information (every entry is linked to at least one source), (2) exchangeability among trait platforms (use of most common download formats), (3) standardization (use of most common terminology and coding scheme) and (4) user-friendliness (granted by an intuitive web interface and rapid and easy download options, for the first time including the option to download a fuzzy coded trait matrix). The combination of these aspects makes the Arctic Traits Database the currently most sophisticated online accessible trait platform in (not only) marine ecology and a role model for prospective databases of other marine compartments or other (also non-marine) ecosystems. At present the database covers 19 traits (80 trait categories) and holds altogether 14 242 trait entries for 1911 macro- and megabenthic taxa. Thus, the Arctic Traits Database will foster and facilitate trait-based approaches in polar regions in the future and increase our ecological understanding of this rapidly changing system.

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“…Handbooks and protocols exist for various taxa (e.g. plants (Cornelissen et al 2003, Pérez-Harguindeguy et al 2013, terrestrial invertebrates (Fountain-Jones et al 2015, Moretti et al 2017, Brousseau et al 2018, benthic invertebrates (Degen et al 2018), soil invertebrates (Pey et al 2014), protists (Altermatt et al 2015), lotic species (Schmera et al 2015) and macrofungi (Dawson et al 2019)). The creation of trait databases and datasets facilitates functional analyses across a diversity of taxa, including invertebrates, microbes, plants, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fungi and coral (see Schneider et al 2018 Appendix Table A1 for a full list).…”

Section: Advancements and Limitations In Cross-taxa Comparisons Of Fumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A unification of functional trait approaches is needed to address discontinuity, improve standardization and allow for taxonomic comparisons (Vandewalle et al 2010, Fountain-Jones et al 2015, Moretti et al 2017, Perronne et al 2017, Degen et al 2018, Schneider et al 2018. Several studies have sought to better standardize trait selection within and across taxa, and many have found trait convergence with community assembly processes (Frenette-Dussault et al 2013, Pedley and Dolman 2014, Brousseau et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unifying functional trait approaches to understand the assemblage of ecological communities: synthesizing taxonomic divides

Weiss

Ray

2019

Ecography

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Functional traits have long been considered the 'holy grail' in community ecology due to their potential to link phenotypic variation with ecological processes. Advancements across taxonomic disciplines continue to support functional ecology's objective to approach generality in community assembly. However, a divergence of definitions, aims and methods across taxa has created discord, limiting the field's predictive capacity. Here, we provide a guide to support functional ecological comparisons across taxa. We describe advances in cross-taxa functional research, identify gaps in approaches, synthesize definitions and unify methodological considerations. When deciding which traits to compare, particularly response traits, we advocate selecting functionally analogous traits that relate to community assembly processes. Finally, we describe at what scale and for which questions functional comparisons across taxa are useful and when other approaches may be more constructive. Our approach promotes standardized methods for integrative research across taxa to identify broad trends in community assembly.

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Trait-based approaches in rapidly changing ecosystems: A roadmap to the future polar oceans

Cited by 80 publications

References 166 publications

Reliability analysis of fish traits reveals discrepancies among databases

Reliability analysis of fish traits reveals discrepancies among databases

The Arctic Traits Database – a repository of Arctic benthic invertebrate traits

Unifying functional trait approaches to understand the assemblage of ecological communities: synthesizing taxonomic divides

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