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Sustainability
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Functional Traits as Indicators of Environmental and Ecosystem Changes
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Functional Traits as Indicators of Environmental and Ecosystem Changes

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2023) | Viewed by 6955

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Irene Martín-Forés

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia
Interests: invasion ecology; plant community ecology; functional ecology; global change; biodiversity patterns
Dr. Greg R. Guerin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia
Interests: ecological modelling; landscape ecology; functional ecology; biodiversity patterns at continental scale
Dr. Samantha E. Munroe

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia
Interests: marine ecology; plant biology; functional ecology; ecological modelling

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ecological studies have recently moved from being centered in species identities and pairwise interactions, towards focusing on organisms’ functional traits and behavior. Functional traits are well-defined, measurable properties of organisms that strongly influence organismal performance, and therefore define how such organisms interact with their surrounding biophysical environment. Functional traits can be classified into response and effect traits; response traits characterize reactions to changes in the environment, whereas effect traits quantify the influence that organisms can have on ecosystem structure, processes and services. Functional traits are increasingly being used to model how ecological communities will respond to disturbances and abiotic and biotic changes, and how species will affect ecosystem function and services. Understanding macroecological processes via mechanistic models of functional diversity has revealed itself as crucial for understanding not only community dynamics but also ecosystem processes and functionality, particularly in response to the rapid global change that is occurring.

The upcoming Special Issue of Sustainability titled “Functional Traits as Indicators of Environmental and Ecosystem Changes” aims to advance knowledge in the use of functional traits as indicators of environmental change and disturbance in ecological disciplines. We hope that this Special Issue will be a landmark source of knowledge for the increasing use of trait-based approaches in ecological studies, and how functional ecology can provide useful insight to elucidate patterns in community ecology, invasion ecology, macroecological biodiversity patterns, biogeography, evolutionary ecology and social ecology.

We encourage authors to submit papers based on terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and considering functional traits of the plant and animal kingdoms. We especially welcome papers that focus on macroecological processes or which are conducted at large spatial scales, although this is not a requirement for submission. You are invited to submit an original article or communication based on your research in this area, or possibly a focused review paper on some aspect of the subject.

Please feel free to circulate this invitation to other colleagues that might be interested.

Dr. Irene Martín-Forés
Dr. Greg R. Guerin
Dr. Samantha E. Munroe
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ecosystem function
  • global change
  • realized niche
  • trait hypervolumes
  • response trait
  • effect trait
  • environmental change

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 4272 KiB  
Article
Modelling Climate Using Leaves of Nothofagus cunninghamii—Overcoming Confounding Factors
by Kathryn E. Hill, Stuart C. Brown, Alice Jones, Damien Fordham and Robert S. Hill
Sustainability 2023, 15(9), 7603; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15097603 - 5 May 2023
Viewed by 1657
Abstract
Fossil leaf anatomy has previously been used as a proxy for paleoclimate. However, the exposure of leaves to sun or shade during their growth can lead to morphotype differences that confound the interpretation of fossil leaf anatomy in relation to climate and prevent [...] Read more.
Fossil leaf anatomy has previously been used as a proxy for paleoclimate. However, the exposure of leaves to sun or shade during their growth can lead to morphotype differences that confound the interpretation of fossil leaf anatomy in relation to climate and prevent reliable paleoclimate reconstruction. This work aims to model the differences in leaf anatomy that are due to various climatic drivers and differences attributable to sun or shade positions, using Nothofagus cunninghamii as the model species. Leaves from the sun and shade parts of three trees have been sampled from each of 11 sites in Victoria and Tasmania, Australia. The gross morphological and cuticular features have been scored and modelled with climate data from the sites. Random forest models can accurately predict Nothofagus cunninghamii contemporary climatic conditions of the spring temperature and summer rainfall based on leaf anatomical measurements. Leaf area, stomatal density and epidermal cell density are the most accurate predictors of whether a leaf grew in the sun or shade. Leaf area is also the strongest predictor of the maximum and minimum spring temperatures and rainfall. The models have implications for the use of fossilised leaves in paleoclimate reconstruction. The models we have built can be used to effectively predict whether a fossil leaf was from a sun or shade position on the tree and thus enable more reliable inference of paleoclimate by removing the confounding issues of variable leaf anatomy due to sun exposure during growth. Finally, these models could conceivably be used to make predictions of past paleoclimatic conditions provided suitable training and validation data on climatic conditions are available. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Traits as Indicators of Environmental and Ecosystem Changes)
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13 pages, 1921 KiB  
Article
Functional Traits Mediate the Natural Enemy Response to Land Use at the Local Scale
by María Noel Szudruk Pascual, Verónica Chillo, Lucas A. Garibaldi and Mariano M. Amoroso
Sustainability 2023, 15(9), 7469; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15097469 - 2 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2376
Abstract
Arthropods are key nodes for the provision of ecosystem services such as pest control, but their response to land-use change is highly variable depending on the scale of analysis and the natural enemies’ life histories. We evaluate the effects of landscape- and local-scale [...] Read more.
Arthropods are key nodes for the provision of ecosystem services such as pest control, but their response to land-use change is highly variable depending on the scale of analysis and the natural enemies’ life histories. We evaluate the effects of landscape- and local-scale variables of natural enemies’ communities on small-scale agriculture. We consider functional response traits to attain a mechanistic understanding of the effect of land-use changes on the biodiversity and resilience of natural enemies’ communities. Predator and parasitoid arthropods were collected from thirteen raspberry farms to estimate functional diversity, complementarity, and redundancy indices. We found no effects of landscape heterogeneity, local habitat, or management practices on natural enemies’ functional diversity. Regarding resilience, complementarity was high at most of the sites and was not affected by the landscape or local variables. However, redundancy was affected by two management practices. Weed control decreased natural enemies’ abundance as well as the abundance of walker generalist predators and flying specialist parasitoids, while habitat richness decreased flying generalist predators. These results highlight the importance of management when the landscape matrix is heterogeneous. We conclude that small-scale agriculture in a heterogeneous landscape supports a functionally diverse enemy community, potentially promoting the resilience of pest control to land-use change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Traits as Indicators of Environmental and Ecosystem Changes)
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18 pages, 3941 KiB  
Article
Linear Landscape Elements and Heteropteran Assemblages within Mediterranean Vineyard Agroecosystems
by Natalia Rosas-Ramos, Josep D. Asís, Marta Goula, Iván Ballester-Torres and Laura Baños-Picón
Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12435; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912435 - 29 Sep 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1603
Abstract
In agricultural systems, linear habitat features and resource shifting over the season can shape insect communities. When evaluating insect assemblages, the use of trait-based approaches allows measuring of the functional component of diversity which, combined with a taxonomical perspective, may help to understand [...] Read more.
In agricultural systems, linear habitat features and resource shifting over the season can shape insect communities. When evaluating insect assemblages, the use of trait-based approaches allows measuring of the functional component of diversity which, combined with a taxonomical perspective, may help to understand how environmental factors drive community structuring. In Mediterranean vineyard agroecosystems, we assessed Heteroptera communities to evaluate linear habitat type (hedgerow vs. grass strip) and seasonality drive assemblages from both a taxonomical and a trait-based perspective. Morphometric traits related to dispersal ability or microhabitat and resource use were measured. Heteroptera community composition varied from hedgerows to strips and also changed over the season. However, the taxonomical response was not as strong as the trait one. Trait composition of the omnivorous heteropteran community remained stable when compared to those of phytophagous and predatory heteropterans, which were more sensitive to the evaluated factors. Given that each linear habitat type supports communities with different trait compositions, we highlight the importance of preserving a variety of habitats to achieve a high functional diversity. We also emphasize the need to develop studies at different spatial scales that allow to better understand the significance of landscape elements on shaping insect assemblages across different climatic regions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Traits as Indicators of Environmental and Ecosystem Changes)
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