What is functional diversity in science?
Functional diversity is a component of biodiversity that generally concerns the range of things that organisms do in communities and ecosystems. Choosing which traits to include in a particular measure of functional diversity will depend on the specific aims of a particular study.
What is an example of functional diversity?
Some examples include understanding species competitive abilities, patterns of species co-occurrence, community assembly, and the role of different traits on ecosystem functioning.
How is functional diversity measured?
Functional diversity is a function of the species abundances in the community. The functional diversity of an ecosystem is measured by use of indices. Diversity index is a mathematical measure of species diversity in a given community. They also take the relative abundances of different species into account.
Does scientific experiments affect biodiversity?
While studies of randomly assembled experimental communities with varying species richness have played a major role in biodiversity–ecosystem function theory, they have distinct limitations for explaining how non-experimental communities behave.
What is the purpose of functional diversity?
Functional diversity is of ecological importance because it, by definition, is the component of diversity that influences ecosystem dynamics, stability, productivity, nutrient balance, and other aspects of ecosystem functioning.
What is functional diversity and how do we care?
Functional diversity is a relatively nuanced way of comparing organisms based on their ecological differences, but its not a panacea. It may depend strongly on which traits are considered, interactions among multiple traits, and what the goals of the analysis are (and whether they may change).
Why is biodiversity and scientific method important to scientists?
One reason scientists often give to increase the number and size of protected areas of the world is the importance of keeping the biodiversity they contain for the future: New medicines may not be discovered, or extinctions may happen, if no actions are taken to preserve species and their habitat.
What is the scientific role of biodiversity?
Ecological life support— biodiversity provides functioning ecosystems that supply oxygen, clean air and water, pollination of plants, pest control, wastewater treatment and many ecosystem services. Recreation—many recreational pursuits rely on our unique biodiversity , such as birdwatching, hiking, camping and fishing.
What is beta diversity in biology?
In ecology, beta diversity (β-diversity or true beta diversity) is the ratio between regional and local species diversity. The term was introduced by R. H. Whittaker together with the terms alpha diversity (α-diversity) and gamma diversity (γ-diversity). As a result, there are now many defined types of beta diversity.
What is functional diversity in microbiology?
Microbial functional diversity is a constituent of biodiversity that includes wide range of metabolic activities that can influence numerous aspects of ecosystem functioning like ecosystem stability, nutrient availability, ecosystem dynamics, etc.