Increasing land use drives changes in plant phylogenetic diversity and prevalence of specialists
Increased human land use has resulted in the increased homogenization of biodiversity between sites, yet we lack sufficient indicators to predict which species decline and the consequence of their potential loss on ecosystem services. We used comparative phylogenetic analysis to (1) characterize how...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2016-03-01
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/1740.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797424115501498368 |
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| author | Soraya Villalobos Jana C. Vamosi |
| author_facet | Soraya Villalobos Jana C. Vamosi |
| author_sort | Soraya Villalobos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Increased human land use has resulted in the increased homogenization of biodiversity between sites, yet we lack sufficient indicators to predict which species decline and the consequence of their potential loss on ecosystem services. We used comparative phylogenetic analysis to (1) characterize how increasing conversion of forest and grasslands to grazing pasturelands changes plant diversity and composition; (2) examine how changes in land use relate to declines in functional trait diversity; and (3) specifically investigate how these changes in plant composition affect the prevalence of zygomorphy and the possible consequences that these changes may have on pollinator functional groups. As predicted, we found that the conversion to grazing pasturelands negatively impacted species richness and phylogenetic composition. Clades with significantly more represented taxa in grasslands (GL) were genera with a high representation of agricultural weeds, while the composition was biased towards clades of subalpine herbaceous wildflowers in Mixed Forest (MF). Changes in community composition and structure had strong effects on the prevalence of zygomorphic species likely driven by nitrogen-fixing abilities of certain clades with zygomorphic flowers (e.g., Fabaceae). Land conversion can thus have unexpected impacts on trait distributions relevant for the functioning of the community in other capacities (e.g., cascading effects to other trophic levels (i.e., pollinators). Finally, the combination of traits represented by the current composition of species in GL and MF might enhance the diagnostic value of productivity and ecosystem processes in the most eroded ecosystems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:57:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-729b3b34464c41ef9ac42fde046ef885 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:57:36Z |
| publishDate | 2016-03-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-729b3b34464c41ef9ac42fde046ef8852023-12-03T00:51:43ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592016-03-014e174010.7717/peerj.1740Increasing land use drives changes in plant phylogenetic diversity and prevalence of specialistsSoraya Villalobos0Jana C. Vamosi1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, CanadaDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, CanadaIncreased human land use has resulted in the increased homogenization of biodiversity between sites, yet we lack sufficient indicators to predict which species decline and the consequence of their potential loss on ecosystem services. We used comparative phylogenetic analysis to (1) characterize how increasing conversion of forest and grasslands to grazing pasturelands changes plant diversity and composition; (2) examine how changes in land use relate to declines in functional trait diversity; and (3) specifically investigate how these changes in plant composition affect the prevalence of zygomorphy and the possible consequences that these changes may have on pollinator functional groups. As predicted, we found that the conversion to grazing pasturelands negatively impacted species richness and phylogenetic composition. Clades with significantly more represented taxa in grasslands (GL) were genera with a high representation of agricultural weeds, while the composition was biased towards clades of subalpine herbaceous wildflowers in Mixed Forest (MF). Changes in community composition and structure had strong effects on the prevalence of zygomorphic species likely driven by nitrogen-fixing abilities of certain clades with zygomorphic flowers (e.g., Fabaceae). Land conversion can thus have unexpected impacts on trait distributions relevant for the functioning of the community in other capacities (e.g., cascading effects to other trophic levels (i.e., pollinators). Finally, the combination of traits represented by the current composition of species in GL and MF might enhance the diagnostic value of productivity and ecosystem processes in the most eroded ecosystems.https://peerj.com/articles/1740.pdfPhylogenetic community structureFunctional diversityTrait compositionPollinator specialization |
| spellingShingle | Soraya Villalobos Jana C. Vamosi Increasing land use drives changes in plant phylogenetic diversity and prevalence of specialists PeerJ Phylogenetic community structure Functional diversity Trait composition Pollinator specialization |
| title | Increasing land use drives changes in plant phylogenetic diversity and prevalence of specialists |
| title_full | Increasing land use drives changes in plant phylogenetic diversity and prevalence of specialists |
| title_fullStr | Increasing land use drives changes in plant phylogenetic diversity and prevalence of specialists |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increasing land use drives changes in plant phylogenetic diversity and prevalence of specialists |
| title_short | Increasing land use drives changes in plant phylogenetic diversity and prevalence of specialists |
| title_sort | increasing land use drives changes in plant phylogenetic diversity and prevalence of specialists |
| topic | Phylogenetic community structure Functional diversity Trait composition Pollinator specialization |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/1740.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sorayavillalobos increasinglandusedriveschangesinplantphylogeneticdiversityandprevalenceofspecialists AT janacvamosi increasinglandusedriveschangesinplantphylogeneticdiversityandprevalenceofspecialists |