The metric matters when assessing diversity: Assessing lepidopteran species richness and diversity in two habitats under different disturbance regimes. Issue 22 (26th October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kirkpatrick, Lucinda; Mitchell, Sonia N.; Park, Kirsty J.
• Is Part Of: Ecology and evolution. Volume 8:Issue 22(2018)
• Page Start: 11134
• Page End: 11142
• Publication Date: 2018-10-26
• Subjects: anthropogenic disturbance -- functional diversity -- habitat management -- Lepidoptera; Ecology -- Periodicals; Evolution -- Periodicals; 577.05
• DOI: 10.1002/ece3.4581
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2045-7758

Abstract

Abstract: How we measure diversity can have important implications for understanding the impacts of anthropogenic pressure on ecosystem processes and functioning. Functional diversity quantifies the range and relative abundance of functional traits within a given community and, as such, may provide a more mechanistic understanding of ecosystems. Here, we use a novel approach to examine how lepidopteran richness and diversity, weighted by species abundance, differ between habitats under different disturbance regimes (highly disturbed non‐native plantations and less disturbed broadleaf woodlands), both with and without constraining by similarity due to shared taxonomy or functional traits. Comparisons of diversity between the two habitats differed according to which metric was being used; while species richness was 58% greater in broadleaf woodlands, after accounting for species similarity due to shared functional traits, there was little difference between woodland types under two different disturbance regimes. Functional diversity varied within the landscape but was similar in paired broadleaf and plantation sites, suggesting that landscape rather than local factors drive biotic homogenization in plantation dominated landscapes. The higher richness in broadleaf sites appears to be driven by rare species, which share functional traits with more common species. Moth populations in disturbed, plantation sites represent a reduced subset of moth species compared to broadleaf sites, and may be more vulnerable to disturbance pressures such as clear‐felling operations due to low community resilience. Abstract : Functional diversity provides a mechanistic understanding of the impacts of anthropogenic disturbance on animal communities. Using a novel approach to assess diversity weighted by abundance we compare functional richness, diversity, and redundancy of lepidopteran communities under different disturbance regimes. While raw species richness was lower in disturbed sites, functional richness did not vary. Biotic functional homogenisation in both broadleaf and plantation sites suggests that landscape rather than local factors drive reduced functional diversity.