Biology subjects

P. Carmona, C.

Publications and source records attributed to P. Carmona, C..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2023

funspace: an R package to build, analyze and plot functional trait spaces

O_LIFunctional trait space analyses are pivotal to define species ecological strategies across the tree of life. Yet, there is no single application that streamlines the many sometimes-troublesome steps needed to build and analyze functional trait spaces. C_LIO_LITo fill this gap, we propose funspace, an R package to easily handle bivariate and multivariate (PCA-based) functional trait space analyses. The six functions that constitute the package can be grouped in three modules: Building and exploring, Mapping, and Plotting. C_LIO_LIThe building and exploring module defines the main features of a functional trait space (e.g., functional diversity metrics) by leveraging kernel density-based methods. The mapping module uses general additive models to map how a target variable distributes within a trait space. The plotting module provides many options for creating flexible and high-quality figures representing the outputs obtained from previous modules. We provide a worked example to demonstrate a complete funspace workflow. C_LIO_LIfunspace will provide researchers working with functional traits across the tree of life with an indispensable asset to easily explore: (i) the main features of any functional trait space, (ii) the relationship between a functional trait space and any other biological or non-biological factor that might contribute to shaping species functional diversity. C_LI

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

Plant spectral diversity from high-resolution multispectral imagery detects functional diversity patterns in coastal dune communities.

O_LIRemote sensing is a fundamental tool to monitor biodiversity over large spatial extents. However, it is still not clear whether spectral diversity (SD - variation of spectral response across a set of pixels) may represent a fast and reliable proxy for different biodiversity facets such as taxonomic (TD) and functional diversity (FD) across different spatial scales. C_LIO_LIWe used fine resolution (3 cm) multispectral imagery on coastal dune communities in Italy to explore SD patterns across spatial scales and assess SD relationships with TD and FD along the environmental gradient. C_LIO_LIWe measured TD as species richness, while SD and FD were computed using probability densities functions based on pixels and species position in multivariate spaces based on pixel values and traits, respectively. We assessed how SD is related to TD and FD, we compared SD and FD patterns in multivariate space occupation, and we explored diversity patterns across spatial scales using additive partitioning (i.e., plot, transect, and study area). C_LIO_LIWe found a strong correspondence between the patterns of occupation of the functional and spectral spaces and significant relationships were found along the environmental gradient. TD showed no significant relationships with SD. However, TD and SD showed higher variation at broader scale while most of FD variation occurred at plot level. C_LIO_LIBy measuring FD and SD with a common methodological framework, we demonstrate the potential of SD in approximating functional patterns in plant communities. We show that SD can retrieve information about FD at very small scale, which would otherwise require very intensive sampling efforts. Overall, we show that SD retrieved using high resolution images is able to capture different aspects of FD, so that the occupation of the spectral space is analogous to the occupation of the functional space. Studying the occupation of both spectral and functional space brings a more comprehensive understanding of the factors that influence the distribution and abundance of plant species across environmental gradients. C_LI

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Functional traits trade-offs define plant population stability worldwide

O_LIEcological theory posits that temporal stability patterns in plant populations are associated with differences in species ecological strategies. However, empirical evidence is lacking about which traits, or trade-offs, underlie species stability, specially across different ecosystems. C_LIO_LITo address this, we compiled a global collection of long-term permanent vegetation records (>7000 plots from 78 datasets) from a wide range of habitats and combined this with existing trait databases. We tested whether the observed inter-annual variability in species abundance (coefficient of variation) was related to multiple individual traits and multivariate axes of trait variations (PCoA axes). C_LIO_LIWe found that species with greater leaf dry matter content and seed mass were consistently more stable over time (lower variability in species abundance) although other leaf traits played a significant role as well, albeit weaker. Using multivariate axes did not improve predictions by specific traits. C_LIO_LIOur results confirm existing theory, providing compelling empirical evidence on the importance of specific traits, which point at ecological trade-offs in different resource use and dispersal strategies, on the stability of plant populations worldwide. C_LI

ecology↗