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- Title
Functional diversity: a tool for answering challenging ecological questions.
- Authors
Mason, Norman W. H.; de Bello, Francesco; Wilson, Bastow
- Abstract
Functional trait diversity provides a powerful means of addressing ecology's persistent questions, through its dual role as an indicator of mechanisms driving differences in species composition between communities and as a predictor of ecosystem-level processes. Functional traits provide a means of testing mechanisms behind species turnover between communities because environmental heterogeneity, competition and disturbance influence species fitness via their traits. Functional traits also provide a link between species and multiple ecosystem-level processes, such as primary productivity, nutrient fluxes and resilience, since species influence these processes via their traits. This special issue demonstrates that functional diversity offers a practical means of investigating ecology's persistent questions.
- Subjects
PLANT species diversity; ECOLOGICAL heterogeneity; ECOLOGICAL disturbances; COMPETITION (Biology); ECOLOGICAL niche; PLANT phylogeny
- Publication
Journal of Vegetation Science, 2013, Vol 24, Issue 5, p777
- ISSN
1100-9233
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/jvs.12097