Quantifying Functional Biodiversity: 3 (SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science) - Softcover

Pla, Laura; Casanoves, Fernando; Di Rienzo, Julio

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9400726473 ISBN 13: 9789400726475

Publisher: Springer, 2011

Synopsis

This volume details methods used to quantify functional diversity and offers step-by-step examples to define functional groups and to estimate functional indices. It also compares communities and changes of diversity along environmental gradients.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Functional diversity (FD) – the value, range, and abundance of functional traits in a given community or ecosystem – is increasingly accepted as a synthetic ecological concept that sheds light on ecosystem functioning. Standard tools for comparing FD across different ecosystems and for different ecosystem processes would be invaluable for supporting a better, more general understanding of the functional role of biodiversity in the provision of ecosystem services. Functional group richness and functional biodiversity indices have been proposed as standards for quantifying the functional diversity of communities and their components.

This book synthesizes current methods used to quantify functional diversity, providing step-by-step examples for defining functional groups and estimating functional indices. The authors show how to compare communities, and how to analyze changes of diversity along environmental gradients, using real-life examples throughout. One section of the book demonstrates the selection of traits, and the standardization and characterization of ecosystem data. Another section presents methods used to quantify functional diversity, shows how to relate functional diversity with environmental variables and how to connect these to ecosystem services. The concluding section introduces FDiversity, a free program developed by the authors. The reader is guided through every step from software installation and basic functions, to sample and database design, to graphical projection methods, employing case study data to illustrate key concepts.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9400726473
• ISBN 13: 9789400726475
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 107