Abstract
Predicting the capacity of ecosystems to absorb impacts from disturbance events (resilience), including land-use intensification and landscape fragmentation, is challenging in the face of global change. Little is known about the impacts of fragmentation on ecosystem functioning from a multi-dimensional perspective (multiple traits). This study used 58 500-m linear transects to quantify changes in the functional composition and resilience of vascular plant communities in response to an increase in landscape fragmentation in 18 natural scrubland fragments embedded within a matrix of abandoned crop fields in Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park, Almería, Spain. Changes in functional community composition were measured using functional diversity indices (functional richness and functional dispersion) that were based on 12 plant traits. Resilience was evaluated using the functional redundancy and response diversity from the perspective of plant dispersal, which is important, particularly, in fragmented landscapes. Scrubland fragmentation was measured using the Integral Index of Connectivity (IIC). The functional richness of the plant communities was higher in the most fragmented scrubland. Conversely, the functional dispersion (i.e., spread) of trait values among species in the functional trait space was lower at the most fragmented sites; consequently, the ecological tolerance of the vegetation to scrubland fragmentation decreased. Classifying the plant species into four functional groups indicated that fragmentation favoured an increase in functional redundancy in the ‘short basal annual forbs and perennial forbs’ group, most of which are species adapted to degraded soils. An assessment based on the traits associated with plant dispersal indicated that the resilience of ‘woody plants’, an important component in the Mediterranean scrubland, and habitat fragmentation were negatively correlated; however, the correlation was positive in the ‘short basal annual forbs and perennial forbs’ and the ‘grasses’ groups.
Highlights
Predicting changes in ecosystem resilience to environmental stress is an important subject in ecological research [1] because the changes can increase the vulnerability of an ecosystem to disturbance events
The best GLMM for functional dispersion in the plant communities included the terms dIIC, exposure to sea, distance to sea, and the interaction term dIIC x exposure to sea, which indicated that scrubland fragmentation significantly reduced the functional dispersion in the plant communities (p = 0.0001; Fig. 2)
The exposure to sea term was not significant; the interaction effect with dIIC was negative and significant, which indicated that the functional dispersion in the plant communities was highest at the least fragmented sites that were not exposed to the sea (p
Summary
Predicting changes in ecosystem resilience to environmental stress is an important subject in ecological research [1] because the changes can increase the vulnerability of an ecosystem to disturbance events (e.g., fire, grazing, land-use intensification, habitat fragmentation). Ecosystem resilience is defined as the ability of its constituent species to tolerate such events and thereby allow the ecosystem to maintain or recover its functions and processes [2], [3]. The resilience in ecosystem functioning can be eroded by, for instance, land-use intensification [6], which modifies the landscape and can affect the amount of habitats or other resources that are required by species. Functional diversity provides a mechanistic link between ecosystem resilience and species [1]
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