Abstract
Large-scale ecological variations across Earth have important consequences for biodiversity and, therefore, forbiological conservation. Despite the widespread use of ecological maps in conservation schemes, they have been based mainly on structural and compositional features but scarcely on functional dimensions of life. Incorporating functional variables complements and improves the descriptions of regionalizations and offers a new understanding of biodiversity patterns. The development of remote sensing measurement allows for the description of the functional patterns of ecosystems through Ecosystem Functional Types (EFTs), opening new opportunities to analyze the geography of life. This article aims to examine the relationships between ecological regionalization based on components and structure and patterns of ecosystem functioning. As proof of case, we chose the Baja California peninsula, whose singularity has generated a rich variety of ecological and biogeographical interpretations, mainly based on ecosystem components and structure. We hypothesize that patterns in ecosystem functioning reflect ecoregionalization based on composition and structure features. We identified Ecosystem Functional Types (EFTs), from three descriptors of the seasonal curves of MODIS Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) from 2001 to 2017. We characterized each ecoregion in terms of ecosystem functioning and we carried out a correspondence analysis between the EFTs classification and the ecoregions. At a large scale, EFTs showed a pattern with three general regions from northwest to south, capturing the north-south transition of climatic regimes shown in the ecoregions map, from the northwestern Mediterranean area to the southern tropical zone, with a desert transition area between them. However, differences between the functional characterization and some ecoregions were detected in ecoregions identified as discrepancy areas between authors. In particular, some ecoregions considered Mediterranean showed a Desert character in its functioning, and others considered as Desert were Tropical functionally. EFTs remotely sensed measured at regional scales provide the basis for a more comprehensive regionalization of geographical patterns of life and, therefore, an improvement for future conservation purposes.
Highlights
Understanding how geographical patterns and which factors are driving them have been for a long time one of the main goals of naturalists and the foundational roots of biogeography as science (Lomolino et al, 2015, 2017)
Our aim was to examine the relationships between biological regionalization based on the biota components and structure and patterns of ecosystem functioning revealed by the geographical distribution of Ecosystem Functional Types (EFTs)
The geographical limits in ecosystem functioning of the southern half of the Peninsula, between Desert and Tropical regions (EFTs map; Figure 3) showed significant differences with the limits established in the ecoregions map
Summary
Understanding how geographical patterns and which factors are driving them have been for a long time one of the main goals of naturalists and the foundational roots of biogeography as science (Lomolino et al, 2015, 2017). The Earth system has been characterized by large ecological units whose boundaries can be defined based on past or current physical and biological forces (Whittaker, 1970; Box, 1981; Dinerstein et al, 1995; Olson et al, 2001; Bailey, 2009; Kreft & Jetz, 2010). These ecological units or ecoregions can be identified at various spatial scales and/or hierarchical levels, which determines our perception of the system (Bailey, 2004). These units represent human constructs derived from a boundary-setting exercise in which there is not always a consensus on how to define it and map their extent (Donoghue & Edwards, 2014; Moncrieff et al, 2016), which makes ecological maps hypotheses
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
