Functional Structure of Biological Communities Predicts Ecosystem Multifunctionality

The accelerating rate of change in biodiversity patterns, mediated by ever increasing human pressures and global warming, demands a better understanding of the relationship between the structure of biological communities and ecosystem functioning (BEF). Recent investigations suggest that the functional structure of communities, i.e. the composition and diversity of functional traits, is the main driver of ecological processes. However, the predictive power of BEF research is still low, the integration of all components of functional community structure as predictors is still lacking, and the multifunctionality of ecosystems (i.e. rates of multiple processes) must be considered. Here, using a multiple-processes framework from grassland biodiversity experiments, we show that functional identity of species and functional divergence among species, rather than species diversity per se, together promote the level of ecosystem multifunctionality with a predictive power of 80%. Our results suggest that primary productivity and decomposition rates, two key ecosystem processes upon which the global carbon cycle depends, are primarily sustained by specialist species, i.e. those that hold specialized combinations of traits and perform particular functions. Contrary to studies focusing on single ecosystem functions and considering species richness as the sole measure of biodiversity, we found a linear and non-saturating effect of the functional structure of communities on ecosystem multifunctionality. Thus, sustaining multiple ecological processes would require focusing on trait dominance and on the degree of community specialization, even in species-rich assemblages

Data publication: Contemporary environment and historical legacy explain functional diversity of freshwater fishes in the world rivers

Script and data used for the analysis and figures plotting in paper "Contemporary environment and historical legacy explain functional diversity of freshwater fishes in the world rivers

Déterminants écologiques de la diversité génétique chez les poissons marins des écosystèmes d'Atlantique et de Méditerranée

La diversité génétique est souvent considérée comme un facteur clé dans la capacité d’une espèce à s’adapter à des changements environnementaux. Un faible niveau de diversité génétique pourrait ainsi limiter la capacité de réponse évolutive d’une espèce à des perturbations à court et moyen terme. Or il existe une variabilité de diversité génétique entre espèces qui reste largement inconnue, et dont les déterminants naturels demeurent mal compris. L’objectif de cette étude est de comprendre quels sont les facteurs biologiques, écologiques et biogéographiques expliquant les différences de diversité génétique chez les poissons marins. En séquençant le génome complet de 160 poissons Atlantico-méditerranéens, des valeurs d'hétérozygotie ont été obtenues chez 113 espèces, révélant une amplitude de diversité génétique d’un facteur 12 entre espèces. Ces mesures ont ensuite permis de tester des corrélations entre valeurs de traits d’histoire de vie et diversité génétique des espèces. La diversité génétique s’est révélée être principalement corrélée à la taille du corps, l’âge à la maturité et le niveau de soins parentaux. Ces facteurs, qui semblent moduler la diversité génétique à travers des mécanismes évolutifs différents, illustrent la diversité des interactions éco-évolutives qui peuvent influencer le potentiel adaptatif des espèces

FISHMORPH: A global database on morphological traits of freshwater fishes

International audienc

FISHMORPH: A global database on morphological traits of freshwater fishes

Motivation Global freshwater fish biodiversity and the responses of fishes to global changes have been explored intensively using taxonomic data, whereas functional aspects remain understudied owing to the lack of knowledge for most species. To fill this gap, we compiled morphological traits related to locomotion and feeding for the world freshwater fish fauna based on pictures and scientific drawings available from the literature. Main types of variables contained The database includes 10 morphological traits measured on 8,342 freshwater fish species, covering 48.69% of the world freshwater fish fauna. Spatial location and grain Global. Major taxa and level of measurement The database considers ray-finned fishes (class Actinopterygii). Measurements were made at the species level. Software format .csv. Main conclusion The FISHMORPH database provides the most comprehensive database on fish morphological traits to date. It represents an essential source of information for ecologists and environmental managers seeking to consider morphological patterns of fish faunas throughout the globe, and for those interested in current and future impacts of human activities on the morphological structure of fish assemblages. Given the high threat status of freshwater environments and the biodiversity they host, we believe this database will be of great interest for future studies on freshwater ecology research and conservation

Trait similarity in reef fish faunas across the world’s oceans

Species’ traits, rather than taxonomic identities, determine community assembly and ecosystem functioning, yet biogeographic patterns have been far less studied for traits. While both environmental conditions and evolutionary history shape trait biogeography, their relative contributions are largely unknown for most organisms. Here, we explore the global biogeography of reef fish traits for 2,786 species from 89 ecoregions spanning eight marine realms with contrasting environmental conditions and evolutionary histories. Across realms, we found a common structure in the distribution of species traits despite a 10-fold gradient in species richness, with a defined “backbone” of 21 trait combinations shared by all realms globally, both temperate and tropical. Across ecoregions, assemblages under similar environmental conditions had similar trait compositions despite hosting drastically different species pools from separate evolutionary lineages. Thus, despite being separated by thousands of kilometers and millions of years of evolution, similar environments host similar trait compositions in reef fish assemblages worldwide. Our findings suggest that similar trait-based management strategies can be applied among regions with distinct species pools, potentially improving conservation outcomes across diverse jurisdictions

Phylogenetic conservatism drives nutrient dynamics of coral reef fishes

The relative importance of evolutionary history and ecology for traits that drive ecosystem processes is poorly understood. Consumers are essential drivers of nutrient cycling on coral reefs, and thus ecosystem productivity. We use nine consumer “chemical traits” associated with nutrient cycling, collected from 1,572 individual coral reef fishes (178 species spanning 41 families) in two biogeographic regions, the Caribbean and Polynesia, to quantify the relative importance of phylogenetic history and ecological context as drivers of chemical trait variation on coral reefs. We find: (1) phylogenetic relatedness is the best predictor of all chemical traits, substantially outweighing the importance of ecological factors thought to be key drivers of these traits, (2) phylogenetic conservatism in chemical traits is greater in the Caribbean than Polynesia, where our data suggests that ecological forces have a greater influence on chemical trait variation, and (3) differences in chemical traits between regions can be explained by differences in nutrient limitation associated with the geologic context of our study locations. Our study provides multiple lines of evidence that phylogeny is a critical determinant of contemporary nutrient dynamics on coral reefs. More broadly our findings highlight the utility of evolutionary history to improve prediction in ecosystem ecology

Uso de ADN Ambiental en la Evaluación de la Diversidad Funcional y Filogenética de los Peces

Assessing the impact of global changes and protection effectiveness is a key step in monitoring marine fishes. Most traditional census methods are demanding or destructive. Nondisturbing and nonlethal approaches based on video and environmental DNA are alternatives to underwater visual census or fishing. However, their ability to detect multiple biodiversity factors beyond traditional taxonomic diversity is still unknown. For bony fishes and elasmobranchs, we compared the performance of eDNA metabarcoding and long-term remote video to assess species’ phylogenetic and functional diversity. We used 10 eDNA samples from 30 L of water each and 25 hours of underwater videos over 4 days on Malpelo Island (pacific coast of Colombia), a remote marine protected area. Metabarcoding of eDNA detected 66% more molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) than video. We found 66 and 43 functional entities with a single eDNA marker and videos, respectively, and higher functional richness for eDNA than videos. Despite gaps in genetic reference databases, eDNA also detected a higher fish phylogenetic diversity than videos; accumulation curves showed how 1 eDNA transect detected as much phylogenetic diversity as 25 hours of video. Environmental DNA metabarcoding can be used to affordably, efficiently, and accurately census biodiversity factors in marine systems. Although taxonomic assignments are still limited by species coverage in genetic reference databases, use of MOTUs highlights the potential of eDNA metabarcoding once reference databases have expanded

The dimensionality and structure of species trait spaces

Trait- based ecology aims to understand the processes that generate the overarching diversity of organismal traits and their influence on ecosystem functioning. Achieving this goal requires simplifying this complexity in synthetic axes defining a trait space and to cluster species based on their traits while identifying those with unique combinations of traits. However, so far, we know little about the dimensionality, the robustness to trait omission and the structure of these trait spaces. Here, we propose a unified framework and a synthesis across 30 trait datasets representing a broad variety of taxa, ecosystems and spatial scales to show that a common trade- off between trait space quality and operationality appears between three and six dimensions. The robustness to trait omission is generally low but highly variable among datasets. We also highlight invariant scaling relationships, whatever organismal complexity, between the number of clusters, the number of species in the dominant cluster and the number of unique species with total species richness. When species richness increases, the number of unique species saturates, whereas species tend to disproportionately pack in the richest cluster. Based on these results, we propose some rules of thumb to build species trait spaces and estimate subsequent functional diversity indices

Low functional β-diversity despite high taxonomic beta-diversity among tropical estuarine fish communities

The concept of β-diversity, defined as dissimilarity among communities, has been widely used to investigate biodiversity patterns and community assembly rules. However, in ecosystems with high taxonomic β-diversity, due to marked environmental gradients, the level of functional β-diversity among communities is largely overlooked while it may reveal processes shaping community structure. Here, decomposing biodiversity indices into α (local) and γ (regional) components, we estimated taxonomic and functional β-diversity among tropical estuarine fish communities, through space and time. We found extremely low functional β-diversity values among fish communities (<1.5%) despite high dissimilarity in species composition and species dominance. Additionally, in contrast to the high α and γ taxonomic diversities, α and γ functional diversities were very close to the minimal value. These patterns were caused by two dominant functional groups which maintained a similar functional structure over space and time, despite the strong dissimilarity in taxonomic structure along environmental gradients. Our findings suggest that taxonomic and functional β-diversity deserve to be quantified simultaneously since these two facets can show contrasting patterns and the differences can in turn shed light on community assembly rules