measuring biodiversity - functional diversity

quantify not just how many different things but how rare or abundant they are

a measure of diversity that combines species richness and their relative abundances

• a phenotype or characteristic of an organism that defines its fitness + influences survival
• morphology, development, biochemical, physiological, behavioural
• indicate that species performed varied functions in the ecosystem

• multiple species can share similar, if not identical, roles in ecosystem functionality
• important if a species goes extinct

higher species diversity > higher probability of functionally different species + groups > more ecosystem processes > better ecosystem functioning

• network of 8 sites across europe
• patches seeded with plant assemblages + maintained
• primary productivity important metric of ecosystem function

energy flow up food chain (ecosystem function) sustains myriad animal consumers

this function depends on CO2 assimilation by plants (ecosystem process)

primary productivity is a fundamental metric of ecosystem function

increased species in a community, increased probability that these will belong to different functional groups, increased complementary resource-use

some species may have a positive effect on the ecosystem role played by another species

the more species present in an assemblage, the higher the likelihood that a particularly productibe or efficient species will be present in the community