Taxonomic and functional β-diversity of ants along tree plantation chronosequences differ between contrasting biomes

The replacement of natural by anthropogenic habitat changes biological communities in any biome. Variations in environmental conditions along the chronosequence of tree plantations may act as a gradient of environmental filtering where the gain or loss of species occurs. It is expected that environmental filtering increases with the decrease in environmental similarity between the plantations and the natural habitat. Young tree plantations are structurally more similar to grasslands than to mature plantations, which in turn are structurally more similar to subtropical forest than young plantations. This study compares patterns of beta diversity across exotic pine plantation chronosequences in contrasting biomes. We predict that taxonomic and functional beta diversity between plantation and the natural habitat assemblages increase with plantation age in grasslands and decrease in the subtropical forest. We sampled epigean ants and measured environmental variables at 54 plantations of different ages and natural habitats in grassland and forest biomes in Argentina. Taxonomic and functional beta diversity between natural habitat and pine plantations were estimated through dissimilarity indexes of turnover and nestedness. To assess the response of beta diversity estimators to plantation age we performed general linear and non-linear models. Results revealed opposite beta diversity patterns between biomes along the plantation cycle. Turnover increased and nestedness decreased with declining environmental similarity between pine plantations and the natural habitats; changes in the identity of the species were coupled to changes in their functional characteristics. Thus, a given environmental gradient may produce different diversity patterns depending on the regional species pool. Forestry practices that generate environmental conditions similar to natural environments could help to conserve species from the natural habitat.     

Comparative responses of termite functional and taxonomic diversity to land‐use change

1. While it is clear that land‐use change significantly impacts the taxonomic dimension of soil biodiversity, how the functional dimension responds to land‐use change is less well understood. 2. This study examined how the transformation of primary forests into rubber tree monocultures impacts individual termite species and how this change is reflected in termite taxonomic and functional α‐diversity (within site) and β‐diversity (among sites). 3. Overall, individual species responded strongly to land‐use change, whereby only 11 of the 27 species found were able to tolerate both habitats. These differences caused a 27% reduction in termite taxonomic richness and reduced taxonomic β‐diversity in rubber plantations compared with primary forests. The study also revealed that the forest conversion led to a shift in some termite species with smaller body size, shorter legs and smaller mandibular traits. Primary forests exhibited higher functional richness and functional β‐diversity of termite species, indicating that functional traits of termite species in rubber plantations are more evenly distributed. 4. The present study suggests that forest conversion does not merely decrease taxonomic diversity of termites, but also exerts functional trait filtering within some termite species. The results affirm the need for biodiversity assessments that combine taxonomic and functional indicators when monitoring the impact of land‐use change.     

Effect of environmental and spatial factors on the phylogenetic and functional diversity of the Mediterranean tree communities of Europe

• The tree flora of the Mediterranean Basin contains an outstanding taxonomic richness and a high proportion of endemic taxa. Contrary to other regions of the Mediterranean biome, a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the relationship between phylogenetic diversity, trait diversity and environmental factors in a spatial ecological context is lacking.
• We inferred the first calibrated phylogeny of 203 native tree species occurring in the European Mediterranean Basin based on 12 DNA regions. Using a set of four functional traits, we computed phylogenetic diversity for all 10,042 grid cells of 10 × 10 km spatial resolution to completely cover Mediterranean Europe. Then, we tested the spatial influence of environmental factors on tree diversity.
• Our results suggest that the nature of the relationship between traits and phylogeny varies among the different studied traits and according to the evolutionary distance considered. Phylogenetic diversity and functional diversity of European Mediterranean trees correlated strongly with species richness. High values of these diversity indices were located in the north of the study area, at high altitude, and minimum temperature of the coldest month. In contrast, the two phylogenetic indices that were not correlated with species richness (Mean Phylogenetic Distance, Phylogenetic Species Variability) were located in the south of the study area and were positively correlated with high altitude, soil organic carbon stock and sand soil texture.
• Our study provides support for the use of phylogenies in conservation biology to assess ecosystem functioning, and provides insights for the implementation of sustainable forest ecosystem management.

     

Agriculture erases climate constraints on soil nematode communities across large spatial scales

Anthropogenic conversion of natural to agricultural land reduces aboveground biodiversity. Yet, the overall consequences of land‐use changes on belowground biodiversity at large scales remain insufficiently explored. Furthermore, the effects of conversion on different organism groups are usually determined at the taxonomic level, while an integrated investigation that includes functional and phylogenetic levels is rare and absent for belowground organisms. Here, we studied the Earth's most abundant metazoa—nematodes—to examine the effects of conversion from natural to agricultural habitats on soil biodiversity across a large spatial scale. To this aim, we investigated the diversity and composition of nematode communities at the taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic level in 16 assemblage pairs (32 sites in total with 16 in each habitat type) in mainland China. While the overall alpha and beta diversity did not differ between natural and agricultural systems, all three alpha diversity facets decreased with latitude in natural habitats. Both alpha and beta diversity levels were driven by climatic differences in natural habitats, while none of the diversity levels changed in agricultural systems. This indicates that land conversion affects soil biodiversity in a geographically dependent manner and that agriculture could erase climatic constraints on soil biodiversity at such a scale. Additionally, the functional composition of nematode communities was more dissimilar in agricultural than in natural habitats, while the phylogenetic composition was more similar, indicating that changes among different biodiversity facets are asynchronous. Our study deepens the understanding of land‐use effects on soil nematode diversity across large spatial scales. Moreover, the detected asynchrony of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity highlights the necessity to monitor multiple facets of soil biodiversity in ecological studies such as those investigating environmental changes.     

Influence of land use on the taxonomic and functional diversity of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) in the southern Atlantic forest of Argentina

The degradation and replacement of native ecosystems affects both their taxonomic and functional biodiversity. However, native species may find a gradient of habitat suitability in different land uses within a region. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of land use on the taxonomic and functional diversity of dung beetle assemblages in the southern Atlantic forest of Argentina. Dung beetles were sampled in both the native forest (control) and different land uses (Pine and Yerba mate plantations and cattle pastures) during the 2014 summer, using pitfall traps baited with human feces and rotten meat. Samplings were taken from 20 different sites, with five replicates of each land use and the native forest (100 pitfall traps in total). A total of 1699 beetles of 27 species were captured. Canthon quinquemaculatus, Canthon conformis and Dichotomius sericeus were the most abundant species. Cattle pastures were the land use most negatively affected in their taxonomic and functional diversity, particularly large paracoprid dung beetles. Pine plantations maintained their taxonomic and functional diversity in relation to the native forest and Yerba mate plantations showed, in general, an intermediate situation. Microclimatic conditions (average temperature and humidity and maximum temperature) were correlated with functional diversity (the proportion of large paracoprid dung beetles decreased with increasing temperature) and are probably good predictors to explain the observed patterns of functional diversity of dung beetles. The development of sustainable production systems that preserve the native biodiversity requires the conservation of key components from the ecological niche of native species, especially microclimatic conditions.     

Concave trade-off curves between crop production and taxonomic,functional and phylogenetic diversity of birds

In a context of land scarcity, food production and biodiversity conservation objectives compete for land. The shape of the relationship between these two objectives may be helpful to inform decision-making. However, the metrics used to evaluate this relationship have so far been restricted to species abundances and species richness, which give no information on possible consequences on ecosystem functioning or on evolution history. Indeed, the shapes of the relationship between food production and other diversity facets, such as functional diversity and phylogenetic diversity, have rarely been studied. We considered 3 diversity facets: taxonomic diversity, functional diversity and phylogenetic diversity. For each facet, several biodiversity metrics have been proposed. The objective of this work was to investigate whether the shape of the trade-off curve between food production and biodiversity metrics depended on the considered facet of biodiversity. Using data from the national agricultural statistics, we computed edible energy from crops and from livestock on a nation-wide gradient covering French agroecosystems. Using bird observation data provided by the French Breeding Bird Survey (FBBS), we computed 9 (3 for each facet) biodiversity metrics in 516 different sites of the FBBS. The trade-off curves were then computed using additive mixed models. All metrics decreased along a crop production gradient. For functional and taxonomic diversity metrics, the slope was steeper at high levels of production, suggesting that actions aiming at increasing local taxonomic or functional diversity may be more efficient in regions with highest crop production, if restoration follows the same trajectory as biodiversity loss. The decrease was steeper for functional diversity than for taxonomic diversity, suggesting that agriculture can reduce the functional diversity of birds more than their taxonomic diversity.     

Does taxonomic homogenization imply functional homogenization in temperate forest herb layer communities?

Biotic homogenization, the decrease in beta diversity among formerly distinct species assemblages, has been recognized as an important form of biotic impoverishment for more than a decade. Although researchers have stressed the importance of the functional dimension to understand its potential ecological consequences, biotic homogenization has mostly been studied at a taxonomic level. Here, we explore the relationship between taxonomic and functional homogenization using data on temperate forest herb layer communities in NW Germany, for which taxonomic homogenization has recently been demonstrated. We quantified beta diversity by partitioning Rao’s quadratic entropy. We found a general positive relationship between changes in taxonomic and functional beta diversity. This relationship was stronger if multiple functional traits were taken into account. Averaged across sites, however, taxonomic homogenization was not consistently accompanied by functional homogenization. Depending on the traits considered, taxonomic homogenization occurred also together with functional differentiation or no change in functional beta diversity. The species shifts responsible for changes in beta diversity differed substantially between taxonomic and functional beta diversity measures and also among functional beta diversity measures based on different traits. We discuss likely environmental drivers for species shifts. Our study demonstrates that functional homogenization must be explicitly studied as an independent phenomenon that cannot be inferred from taxonomic homogenization.     

Beyond taxonomic diversity patterns: how do α, β and γ components of bird functional and phylogenetic diversity respond to environmental gradients across France?

Aim To test how far can macroecological hypotheses relating diversity to environmental factors be extrapolated to functional and phylogenetic diversities, i.e. to the extent to which functional traits and evolutionary backgrounds vary among species in a community or region. We use a spatial partitioning of diversity where regional or γ‐diversity is calculated by aggregating information on local communities, local or α‐diversity corresponds to diversity in one locality, and turnover or β‐diversity corresponds to the average turnover between localities and the region. Location France. Methods We used the Rao quadratic entropy decomposition of diversity to calculate local, regional and turnover diversity for each of three diversity facets (taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional) in breeding bird communities of France. Spatial autoregressive models and partial regression analyses were used to analyse the relationships between each diversity facet and environmental gradients (climate and land use). Results Changes in γ‐diversity are driven by changes in both α‐ and β‐diversity. Low levels of human impact generally favour all three facets of regional diversity and heterogeneous landscapes usually harbour higher β‐diversity in the three facets of diversity, although functional and phylogenetic turnover show some relationships in the opposite direction. Spatial and environmental factors explain a large percentage of the variation in the three diversity facets (>60%), and this is especially true for phylogenetic diversity. In all cases, spatial structure plays a preponderant role in explaining diversity gradients, suggesting an important role for dispersal limitations in structuring diversity at different spatial scales. Main conclusions Our results generally support the idea that hypotheses that have previously been applied to taxonomic diversity, both at local and regional scales, can be extended to phylogenetic and functional diversity. Specifically, changes in regional diversity are the result of changes in both local and turnover diversity, some environmental conditions such as human development have a great impact on diversity levels, and heterogeneous landscapes tend to have higher diversity levels. Interestingly, differences between diversity facets could potentially provide further insights into how large‐ and small‐scale ecological processes interact at the onset of macroecological patterns.     

Functional and phylogenetic diversity of an agricultural matrix avifauna: The role of habitat heterogeneity in Afrotropical farmland

Varied strategies to alleviate the loss of farmland biodiversity have been tested, yet there is still insufficient evidence supporting their effectiveness, especially when considering phylogenetic and functional diversity alongside traditional taxonomic diversity metrics. This conservation challenge is accentuated in the Afrotropics by the rapid agricultural expansion and intensification for the production of cash crops and by a comparative lack of research. In this study, we assessed how farming practices influence avian phylogenetic and functional diversity. We conducted point‐count surveys to assess avian diversity in monocultures of tea and mixed crop farming systems surrounding the Nyungwe rainforest in south‐west Rwanda, allowing us to investigate the drivers of avian diversity at farm level. Species composition was found to be moderately different between farm types, with mixed crop farms supporting higher phylogenetic diversity than tea plantations. There were no significant seasonal differences in species composition, functional or phylogenetic diversity. Overall, functional diversity did not differ between farm types, but the dispersion of trophic‐related traits was significantly higher in mixed crop farms. Both functional and phylogenetic diversity were influenced by floristic diversity, vegetation height, tree number, and elevation to varying degrees. Our results also (i) highlight the role of farmland heterogeneity (e.g., crop species composition, height, and tree cover extent) in encouraging avian functional and phylogenetic diversity in the Afrotropics and (ii) indicate that the generally negative biodiversity impacts of monoculture agriculture can be partially alleviated by extensive agroforestry with an emphasis on indigenous tree species.     

Taxonomic,functional, and phylogenetic β‐diversity patterns of stream fish assemblages in tropical agroecosystems

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Fish taxonomic,functional, and phylogenetic diversity and their vulnerabilities in the largest river in southeastern China

1. Freshwater biodiversity is currently under multiple threats. Conservation of freshwater fish biodiversity needs to be prioritized because natural conservation resources are always limited.
2. Samples were collected at 24 sites in the Min River, the largest basin in southeastern China. Taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity were analyzed. Biodiversity vulnerability was measured by removing one species each time out of the community with replacement.
3. Results suggested that hotspots for taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity were located at two impounded sites, while for functional diversity were those sites with no upstream dams. Little congruence was observed between taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity. Fragmentation of river network connectivity caused by dams was a significant factor affecting the biodiversity patterns. Beta turnover was the driving component for beta diversity, indicating that biodiversity dissimilarity along the river was mostly explained by environmental sorting. Fifteen out of 16 species that contributed the most to different facets of biodiversity were mostly endemic, either they had distinctive functional traits or they were the most prevalent species. Sites with the highest diversity vulnerability were characterized by these distinctive species. Functional diversity was more vulnerable to species loss comparing with the other two biodiversity facets.
4. Prioritizing those biodiversity hotspots, sites with extreme functional vulnerability, and those distinctive endemic species which contributed the most to biodiversity vulnerability is suggested in the Min River. The study found evidence that congruence among different facets of biodiversity is hard to achieve, and functional diversity is the most vulnerable in a freshwater system fragmented by intensive dam constructions. This work will help to develop systematic conservation planning from the perspective of different biodiversity facets.

     

Water body type and land cover shape the dragonfly communities (Odonata) in the Pampa biome,Rio Grande do Sul,Brazil

The biogeographical region known as the Pampa biome in southern Brazil, was originally mainly covered with open fields or grassland, with areas of riparian forest surrounding the water bodies. Today this landscape appears highly fragmented due to agricultural activities such as rice cultivation, extensive cattle farming, and forest plantations. Studies have shown that the Pampa biome has high levels of biodiversity and endemism, but with regard to invertebrates, this biome is still one of the least known in Brazil. We therefore designed a study comparing the dragonfly (Odonata) communities to environmental and landscape features in this area, measuring diversity by species richness, relative abundance and Shannon index. Our results showed that the Pampa is a biome very rich in odonates, and that the species communities are highly dependent on the environmental conditions of the area. Habitats such as Rivers/Streams, bordered by native grasslands and riparian forests, were shown to harbour communities that were ecologically more complex and sensitive than other habitat types. Man-made lakes and agricultural areas displayed lower levels of biodiversity and odonate communities dominated by generalist species. By combining data on the communities of Odonata and other taxa, our analyses may be instrumental in determining priority areas for future conservation measures within the area.     

青藏高原北部戈壁植物群落物种、功能与系统发育β多样性分布格局及其影响因素

戈壁荒漠广泛分布于全球干旱和极旱区域, 是我国陆地生态系统的重要组成部分。由于自然环境恶劣和交通条件限制, 目前有关戈壁植物群落物种、功能和系统发育等多维度β多样性形成机制的系统研究还很缺乏, 严重制约着对戈壁植物多样性维持机制的认知。本文以青藏高原北部61个典型戈壁生境植物群落为研究对象, 通过构建系统发育树和测量8个关键功能性状, 获取戈壁生境的物种、功能和系统发育β多样性, 比较3个维度β多样性格局与零模型的差异, 同时量化环境距离和地理距离对其的相对影响, 以探讨戈壁植物多样性的形成机制。结果显示: (1)戈壁植物的物种、功能和系统发育β多样性均表现出显著的距离衰减效应; (2)戈壁植物的物种、功能和系统发育β多样性均表现为非随机的格局; (3)由于功能性状趋同进化, 植物功能和系统发育β多样性变化趋势并不一致; (4)环境差异对植物3个维度β多样性均有着比空间距离更为重要的影响, 且土壤含水量、地表砾石盖度等局域生境因素的影响比气候更为强烈。以上结果表明, 戈壁植物的β多样性可能主要由局域生境过滤作用控制, 且不同维度的β多样性分布格局并不一致。     

Plant–plant interactions determine natural restoration of plant biodiversity over time,in a degraded mined land

Restoration of degraded environments is essential to mitigate adverse impacts of human activities on ecosystems. Plant–plant interactions may provide effective means for restoring degraded arid lands, but little is understood about these impacts. In this regard, we analyzed the effects of two dominant nurse plants (i.e., Artemisia sieberi and Stipa arabica) on taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity across different ages of land abandonment (i.e., control, recent, and old ages) in a limestone mine site in Iran. In addition, we considered two spatial scales: i) the plot scale (i.e., under 1m2 plots) and ii) the vegetation‐patch scale (i.e., under the canopies of nurse plants), to assess nurse plant effects, land abandonment ages, and their relative importance on biodiversity facets by performing Kruskal–Wallis H test and variation partitioning analysis. Our results indicated an increase in taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity at the plot scale, when considering the presence of nurse plants under old ages of land abandonment. Such significant differences were consistent with the positive effects of Artemisia patches on taxonomic diversity and Stipa patches on functional and phylogenetic diversity. In addition, we found a larger contribution from nurse plants than land abandonment age on biodiversity variation at both spatial scales studied. Therefore, these results indicate the importance of plant–plant interactions in restoring vegetation, with their effects on the presence of beneficiary species and their functional and phylogenetic relatedness depending on the nurse life forms under the stress‐gradient hypothesis.     

Phylobetadiversity among Forest Types in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest Complex

Phylobetadiversity is defined as the phylogenetic resemblance between communities or biomes. Analyzing phylobetadiversity patterns among different vegetation physiognomies within a single biome is crucial to understand the historical affinities between them. Based on the widely accepted idea that different forest physiognomies within the Southern Brazilian Atlantic Forest constitute different facies of a single biome, we hypothesize that more recent phylogenetic nodes should drive phylobetadiversity gradients between the different forest types within the Atlantic Forest, as the phylogenetic divergence among those forest types is biogeographically recent. We compiled information from 206 checklists describing the occurrence of shrub/tree species across three different forest physiognomies within the Southern Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Dense, Mixed and Seasonal forests). We analyzed intra-site phylogenetic structure (phylogenetic diversity, net relatedness index and nearest taxon index) and phylobetadiversity between plots located at different forest types, using five different methods differing in sensitivity to either basal or terminal nodes (phylogenetic fuzzy weighting, COMDIST, COMDISTNT, UniFrac and Rao’s H). Mixed forests showed higher phylogenetic diversity and overdispersion than the other forest types. Furthermore, all forest types differed from each other in relation phylobetadiversity patterns, particularly when phylobetadiversity methods more sensitive to terminal nodes were employed. Mixed forests tended to show higher phylogenetic differentiation to Dense and Seasonal forests than these latter from each other. The higher phylogenetic diversity and phylobetadiversity levels found in Mixed forests when compared to the others likely result from the biogeographical origin of several taxa occurring in these forests. On one hand, Mixed forests shelter several temperate taxa, like the conifers Araucaria and Podocarpus. On the other hand, tropical groups, like Myrtaceae, are also very representative of this forest type. We point out to the need of more attention to Mixed forests as a conservation target within the Brazilian Atlantic Forest given their high phylogenetic uniqueness.     

Geographic patterns and environmental correlates of taxonomic and phylogenetic beta diversity for large-scale angiosperm assemblages in China

A full understanding of the origin and maintenance of β-diversity patterns in a region requires exploring the relationships of both taxonomic and phylogenetic β-diversity (TBD and PBD, respectively), and their respective turnover and nestedness components, with geographic and environmental distances. Here, we simultaneously investigated all these aspects of β-diversity for angiosperms in China. Specifically, we evaluated the relative importance of environmental filtering vs dispersal limitation processes in shaping β-diversity patterns. We found that TBD and PBD as quantified using a moving window approach decreased towards higher latitudes across the whole of China, and their turnover components were correlated with latitude more strongly than their nestedness components. When quantifying β-diversity as pairwise distances, geographic and climatic distances across China together explained 60 and 53% of the variation in TBD and PBD, respectively. After the variation in β-diversity explained by climatic distance was accounted for, geographic distance independently explained about 23 and 12% of the variation in TBD and PBD, respectively, across China. Overall, our results suggest that environmental filtering based on climatic tolerance conserved across lineages is the main force shaping β-diversity patterns for angiosperms in China.     

Multiple facets of stream macroinvertebrate alpha diversity are driven by different ecological factors across an extensive altitudinal gradient

Environmental filtering and spatial structuring are important ecological processes for the generation and maintenance of biodiversity. However, the relative importance of these ecological drivers for multiple facets of diversity is still poorly understood in highland streams. Here, we examined the responses of three facets of stream macroinvertebrate alpha diversity to local environmental, landscape‐climate and spatial factors in a near‐pristine highland riverine ecosystem. Taxonomic (species richness, Shannon diversity, and evenness), functional (functional richness, evenness, divergence, and Rao's Quadratic entropy), and a proxy of phylogenetic alpha diversity (taxonomic distinctness and variation in taxonomic distinctness) were calculated for macroinvertebrate assemblages in 55 stream sites. Then Pearson correlation coefficient was used to explore congruence of indices within and across the three diversity facets. Finally, multiple linear regression models and variation partitioning were employed to identify the relative importance of different ecological drivers of biodiversity. We found most correlations between the diversity indices within the same facet, and between functional richness and species richness were relatively strong. The two phylogenetic diversity indices were quite independent from taxonomic diversity but correlated with functional diversity indices to some extent. Taxonomic and functional diversity were more strongly determined by environmental variables, while phylogenetic diversity was better explained by spatial factors. In terms of environmental variables, habitat‐scale variables describing habitat complexity and water physical features played the primary role in determining the diversity patterns of all three facets, whereas landscape factors appeared less influential. Our findings indicated that both environmental and spatial factors are important ecological drivers for biodiversity patterns of macroinvertebrates in Tibetan streams, although their relative importance was contingent on different facets of diversity. Such findings verified the complementary roles of taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity, and highlighted the importance of comprehensively considering multiple ecological drivers for different facets of diversity in biodiversity assessment.     

Contrasting Taxonomic and Phylogenetic Diversity Responses to Forest Modifications: Comparisons of Taxa and Successive Plant Life Stages in South African Scarp Forest

The degradation of natural forests to modified forests threatens subtropical and tropical biodiversity worldwide. Yet, species responses to forest modification vary considerably. Furthermore, effects of forest modification can differ, whether with respect to diversity components (taxonomic or phylogenetic) or to local (α-diversity) and regional (β-diversity) spatial scales. This real-world complexity has so far hampered our understanding of subtropical and tropical biodiversity patterns in human-modified forest landscapes. In a subtropical South African forest landscape, we studied the responses of three successive plant life stages (adult trees, saplings, seedlings) and of birds to five different types of forest modification distinguished by the degree of within-forest disturbance and forest loss. Responses of the two taxa differed markedly. Thus, the taxonomic α-diversity of birds was negatively correlated with the diversity of all plant life stages and, contrary to plant diversity, increased with forest disturbance. Conversely, forest disturbance reduced the phylogenetic α-diversity of all plant life stages but not that of birds. Forest loss neither affected taxonomic nor phylogenetic diversity of any taxon. On the regional scale, taxonomic but not phylogenetic β-diversity of both taxa was well predicted by variation in forest disturbance and forest loss. In contrast to adult trees, the phylogenetic diversity of saplings and seedlings showed signs of contemporary environmental filtering. In conclusion, forest modification in this subtropical landscape strongly shaped both local and regional biodiversity but with contrasting outcomes. Phylogenetic diversity of plants may be more threatened than that of mobile species such as birds. The reduced phylogenetic diversity of saplings and seedlings suggests losses in biodiversity that are not visible in adult trees, potentially indicating time-lags and contemporary shifts in forest regeneration. The different responses of taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity to forest modifications imply that biodiversity conservation in this subtropical landscape requires the preservation of natural and modified forests.     

Shifts in soil bacterial community after eight years of land-use change

The interaction between plants, soil and microorganisms is considered to be the major driver of ecosystem functions and any modification of plant cover and/or soil properties might affect the microbial structure, which, in turn, will influence ecological processes. Assuming that soil properties are the major drivers of soil bacterial diversity and structure within the same soil type, it can be postulated whether plant cover causes significant shifts in soil bacterial community composition. To address this question, this study used 16S rRNA pyrosequencing to detect differences in diversity, composition and/or relative abundance of bacterial taxa from an area covered by pristine forest, as well as eight-year-old grassland surrounded by the same forest. It was shown that a total of 69% of the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were shared between environments. Overall, forest and grassland samples presented the same diversity and the clustering analysis did not show the occurrence of very distinctive bacterial communities between environments. However, 11 OTUs were detected in statistically significant higher abundance in the forest samples but in lower abundance in the grassland samples, whereas 12 OTUs occurred in statistically significant higher abundance in the grassland samples but in lower abundance in the forest samples. The results suggested the prevalence of a resilient core microbial community that did not suffer any change related to land use, soil type or edaphic conditions. The results illustrated that the history of land use might influence present-day community structure.     

Are different facets of plant diversity well protected against climate and land cover changes? A test study in the French Alps

Climate and land cover changes are important drivers of the plant species distributions and diversity patterns in mountainous regions. Although the need for a multifaceted view of diversity based on taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic dimensions is now commonly recognized, there are no complete risk assessments concerning their expected changes. In this paper, we used a range of species distribution models in an ensemble‐forecasting framework together with regional climate and land cover projections by 2080 to analyze the potential threat for more than 2500 plant species at high resolution (2.5 × 2.5 km) in the French Alps. We also decomposed taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity facets into α and β components and analyzed their expected changes by 2080. Overall, plant species threats from climate and land cover changes in the French Alps were expected to vary depending on the species' preferred altitudinal vegetation zone, rarity, and conservation status. Indeed, rare species and species of conservation concern were the ones projected to experience less severe change, and also the ones being the most efficiently preserved by the current network of protected areas. Conversely, the three facets of plant diversity were also projected to experience drastic spatial re‐shuffling by 2080. In general, the mean α‐diversity of the three facets was projected to increase to the detriment of regional β‐diversity, although the latter was projected to remain high at the montane‐alpine transition zones. Our results show that, due to a high‐altitude distribution, the current protection network is efficient for rare species, and species predicted to migrate upward. Although our modeling framework may not capture all possible mechanisms of species range shifts, our work illustrates that a comprehensive risk assessment on an entire floristic region combined with functional and phylogenetic information can help delimitate future scenarios of biodiversity and better design its protection.