| 1. |
- Hudson, Lawrence N, et al.
(författare)
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The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project
- 2017
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Ingår i: Ecology and Evolution. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 2045-7758. ; 7:1, s. 145-188
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The PREDICTS project-Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)-has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity.
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| 2. |
- Camara-Leret, R., et al.
(författare)
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Fundamental species traits explain provisioning services of tropical American palms
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature Plants. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2055-026X .- 2055-0278. ; 3:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The well-being of the global human population rests on provisioning services delivered by 12% of the Earth's similar to 400,000 plant species(1). Plant utilization by humans is influenced by species traits(2-4), but it is not well understood which traits underpin different human needs(5). Here, we focus on palms (Arecaceae), one of the most economically important plant groups globally(6), and demonstrate that provisioning services related to basic needs, such as food and medicine, show a strong link to fundamental functional and geographic traits. We integrate data from 2,201 interviews on plant utilization from three biomes in South America-spanning 68 communities, 43 ethnic groups and 2,221 plant uses-with a dataset of 4 traits (leaf length, stem volume, fruit volume, geographic range size) and a species-level phylogeny(7). For all 208 palm species occurring in our study area, we test for relations between their traits and perceived value. We find that people preferentially use large, widespread species rather than small, narrow-ranged species, and that different traits are linked to different uses. Further, plant size and geographic range size are stronger predictors of ecosystem service realization for palm services related to basic human needs than less-basic needs (for example, ritual). These findings suggest that reliance on plant size and availability may have prevented our optimal realization of wild-plant services, since ecologically rare yet functionally important (for example, chemically) clades may have been overlooked. Beyond expanding our understanding of how local people use biodiversity in mega-diverse regions, our traitand phylogeny-based approach helps to understand the processes that underpin ecosystem service realization, a necessary step to meet societal needs in a changing world with a growing human population(5,8).
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| 3. |
- Pedersen, R. O., et al.
(författare)
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Shallow size-density relations within mammal clades suggest greater intra-guild ecological impact of large-bodied species
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Animal Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0021-8790. ; 86:5, s. 1205-1213
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 1. Population densities of species have a predictable relationship with their body mass on a global scale. This relationship is known as the size-density relationship (SDR). The relationship was originally found to be directly opposite of metabolic rate scaling, which led to the hypothesis of energetic equivalence. However, recent studies have suggested that the SDR varies between clades. Specifically, the SDR for certain mammal clades has been found to be less negative than the relationship across all mammals. 2. The aim of the present study is to estimate phylogenetic variation in the scaling relationship, using a data-driven identification of natural phylogenetic substructure in the body size-density relation, and discuss its potential drivers. The classic model is often used to estimate natural population densities, and a further, practical aim is to improve it by incorporating variability among phylogenetic groups. 3. We expand the model for the SDR relation of mammals to include clade-specific variation. We used a dataset with population and body mass estimates of 924 terrestrial mammal species, covering 97 families, and applied an algorithm identifying group-specific changes in the relationship across a family-level phylogeny. 4. We show increased performance in species density estimation is achieved by incorporating clade-specific changes in the relationship compared to the classic model (increasing r(2) from .56 to .74 and Delta AIC(c) = 466). While the global SDR across clades was confirmed to be similar to previous findings (r = -.74), the relationship within all sub-clades was less negative than the overall trend. 5. Our results show that data-driven identification of phylogenetic substructure in the size-density relation substantially improves predictive accuracy of the model. The less negative relationship within clades compared to the overall trend and compared to within clade metabolic scaling suggest that the energetic equivalence rule does not hold. This relationship shows that large species within clades use proportionally more energy than smaller species. Therefore, our results are consistent with a greater intra-guild ecological impact of large-bodied species via partial monopolisation of resources by the largest species of a given guild, and hence size-asymmetric intra-guild competition.
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