Conservation of functional diversity in temperate and tropical agricultural

landscapes: patterns and mechanisms at farm and landscape scales.

Fabrice DeClerck, CATIE Costa Rica Margie Mayfield, University of Queensland - Australia

Stacy Philpott, University of Toledo - USA

The questions

Does land use intensification reduce functional diversity?

Does it matter?

What about response diversity and/or ecological redundancy?

… if yes, erosion of ecosystem function, and resilience to environmental change.

Live Fence

Forest

Landuse Intensity

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PastureLow tree density

2°Forest

PastureHigh Tree Density

Sanchez et al

Flynn et al. Ecology Letters (2009) 12:22-33 DeClerck NCEAS DGS

Flynn et al. Ecology Letters (2009) 12:22-33 DeClerck NCEAS DGS

Does land use intensification reduce functional diversity?

How is functional diversity lost with intensification?

Flynn et al. Ecology Letters (2009) 12:22-33 DeClerck NCEAS DGS

71 Species Total

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What is functional redundancy within

taxonomic groups with land use change?

Flynn et al. Ecology Letters (2009) 12:22-33 DeClerck NCEAS DGS

Forest Fragment: 25 extinct

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Live Fence: 41 extinctForest Fragment: 25 extinct

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Live Fence: 41 extinctForest Fragment: 25 extinct

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Live Fence: 41 extinctForest Fragment: 25 extinct Pasture: 64 extinct

Functional Diversity Decreases with landuse Intensity

Flynn et al. Ecology Letters (2009) 12:22-33 DeClerck NCEAS DGS

Ecological redundancy

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• Redundancy = number of species within a functional group• High redundancy = high resilience to environmental change• Why? compensatory responses

Functionalgroups 1 to 6

Group 6: higherredundancy& resilience

Group 6: lowerredundancy& resilience

Costa Rica728(3)

Nicaragua240(2)

Quebec243 (1)

New Zealand54(1)

Australian RF1028 (4)

China453 (2)

USA, NC 38(1)

Australian WL52(1)

Portugual110 (1)

Laos 53(1)

Study Sites, Species Richness (landscapes)

± 3000 species; 17 landscapes; 17 functional traits

Functional trait Effect ResponseSpecific leaf area (SLA) XWood density XGrowth form XHeight XLeaf phenology X XNutrient uptake strategy X XPhotosynthetic pathway X XRaunkiaer life form XClonality XDispersal mode XLeaf size XMaximum propagule longevity XPhysical defense XPollination syndrome XResprouting ability XSeed mass XLifespan X

a) Species in effect trait space

a) Species in effect trait space

b) Functional effect groups

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a) Species in effect trait space

b) Functional effect groups

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Nat

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c) Species in each land use

a) Species in effect trait space

b) Functional effect groups

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c) Species in each land use

e) Spearmanρbetween land use intensity and response

diversity

Res

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nse

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ty

Land use intensity

ρ = -0.9

d) Functional dispersion (response diversity) for

each effect group in each land use

Effect size formeta-analysis

Correlation coefficientr

-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0

Nicaragua (Matiguas)Australia sub-tropics 1Nicaragua (Rivas)Australia WT (Atherton)China (Hainan lowland)USA (North Carolina)New ZealandAustralia sub-tropics 2Costa Rica (La Palma)China (Hainan montane)Australia WL (NSW)PortugalCosta Rica (Las Cruces)LaosQuebecAustralia WT (Tully)Costa Rica (Puerto Jimenez)

Summaryr = -0.22

p = 0.0003

Redundancy decreases with land use intensification

Conclusions• Land use intensification leads to lower functional diversity, function and redundancy

• Can agroforestry sytstems be better managed to maintain this functional diversity and redundnacy?

•Can we eco-engineer agroforestry system with multifunctionality, and multifunctional redundancy?

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function In Managed Landscapes

THANKS!