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Towards an assessment of multiple ecosystem processes and services via functional traits

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Abstract

Managing ecosystems to ensure the provision of multiple ecosystem services is a key challenge for applied ecology. Functional traits are receiving increasing attention as the main ecological attributes by which different organisms and biological communities influence ecosystem services through their effects on underlying ecosystem processes. Here we synthesize concepts and empirical evidence on linkages between functional traits and ecosystem services across different trophic levels. Most of the 247 studies reviewed considered plants and soil invertebrates, but quantitative trait–service associations have been documented for a range of organisms and ecosystems, illustrating the wide applicability of the trait approach. Within each trophic level, specific processes are affected by a combination of traits while particular key traits are simultaneously involved in the control of multiple processes. These multiple associations between traits and ecosystem processes can help to identify predictable trait–service clusters that depend on several trophic levels, such as clusters of traits of plants and soil organisms that underlie nutrient cycling, herbivory, and fodder and fibre production. We propose that the assessment of trait–service clusters will represent a crucial step in ecosystem service monitoring and in balancing the delivery of multiple, and sometimes conflicting, services in ecosystem management.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the RUBICODE Coordination Action (Rationalising Biodiversity Conservation in Dynamic Ecosystems) funded under the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Commission (Contract No. 036890). We are grateful for the critical comments from John Haslett, Fabien Quétier and several anonymous reviewers. Petr Šmilauer provided constructive suggestions on the multivariate example.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, UMR CNRS 5553, Université Joseph Fourier, 38041, Grenoble Cedex 9, France

    Francesco de Bello & Sandra Lavorel

  2. MBIV (CONICET-UNC) and FCEFyN, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Casilla de Correo 495, 5000, Córdoba, Argentina

    Sandra Díaz

  3. Department of Plant and Invertebrate Ecology, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 2JQ, UK

    Richard Harrington & Jonathan Storkey

  4. Institute of Ecological Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Johannes H. C. Cornelissen & Matty P. Berg

  5. Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Soil and Ecosystem Ecology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, UK

    Richard D. Bardgett

  6. Cátedra de Métodos Cuantitativos Aplicados, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires, C1417DSE, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Pablo Cipriotti

  7. Applied Zoology/Hydrobiology, Faculty of Biology and Geography, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45117, Essen, Germany

    Christian K. Feld & Daniel Hering

  8. IMAR-CIC, Department of Zoology, University of Coimbra, 3004-517, Coimbra, Portugal

    Pedro Martins da Silva & Jose Paulo Sousa

  9. Centre for Agri-Environmental Research, University of Reading, Reading, Berks, RG6 6AR, UK

    Simon G. Potts

  10. Department of Environmental Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7050, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

    Leonard Sandin

  11. Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 901-83, Umeå, Sweden

    David A. Wardle

  12. Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University Centre for the Environment, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK

    Paula A. Harrison

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  1. Francesco de Bello
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  2. Sandra Lavorel
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  3. Sandra Díaz
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  4. Richard Harrington
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  5. Johannes H. C. Cornelissen
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  6. Richard D. Bardgett
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  7. Matty P. Berg
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  8. Pablo Cipriotti
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  9. Christian K. Feld
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  10. Daniel Hering
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  11. Pedro Martins da Silva
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  13. Leonard Sandin
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  14. Jose Paulo Sousa
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  15. Jonathan Storkey
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  16. David A. Wardle
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  17. Paula A. Harrison
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francesco de Bello.

Appendix

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Table 1 Species and traits relating to different ecosystem services (categories modified from Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005) and underlying processes
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de Bello, F., Lavorel, S., Díaz, S. et al. Towards an assessment of multiple ecosystem processes and services via functional traits. Biodivers Conserv 19, 2873–2893 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-010-9850-9

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