生态系统性状对宏生态研究的启示与挑战

功能性状在器官-物种-种群-群落-生态系统水平都具有其特定的适应或功能优化的意义,但目前对功能性状的测定和研究大都局限于器官或物种水平。然而,当前高速发展的宏生态新研究技术和方法(如遥感观测、通量观测、模型模拟)的研究对象都是在生态系统或区域尺度上,如何将传统功能性状与其相连结并服务于生态环境问题和全球变化问题是科学界的一大难题。为了解决传统性状与宏生态研究"尺度不统一"和"量纲不统一"的难题,研究人员最新发展了"生态系统性状(Ecosystem traits, ESTs)"概念体系,并从"理念-数据源-推导方法-应用"等多角度为后续研究提供了可借鉴案例。生态系统性状将传统性状研究从器官水平拓展到了群落和生态系统水平,以单位土地面积为基础构建了传统性状与宏生态研究(或地学研究)的桥梁,开启了性状研究从"器官到群落"、从"经典理论验证到宏观应用"的美好愿景,为多学科交叉提供了新思路。然而,它在方法学和数据源等方面还存在诸多问题与挑战;在此,我们呼吁相关专家从研究方法、概念体系和应用实践上赋予"生态系统性状"更强大的生命力,尤其从动物群落性状和微生物群落性状等角度。本文在深入解读先前生态性状概念体系、理论意义和潜在挑战的基础上,结合最新进展进行了补充,希望通过广泛讨论,完善生态系统性状概念体系,逐步形成"以性状为基础的生态系统生态学"新研究框架,切实推动宏生态研究和区域生态环境问题的解决。     

植物功能性状对生态系统服务影响研究进展

全面认识和理解生态系统服务的形成机制是维持其持续供给的前提。植物功能性状直接参与多种生态系统过程, 影响生态系统服务供给, 探讨植物功能性状与生态系统服务的关系是揭示生态系统服务形成机制的重要途径。该文采用系统的文献综述方法, 分析了植物功能性状与生态系统服务关系的研究特点, 总结了影响不同生态系统服务的主要植物功能性状, 阐述了可能的影响途径。结果表明: 植物功能性状与生态系统服务关系研究以草地和森林等自然生态系统为主; 大部分研究集中在生态系统供给服务和支持服务, 包括生物量、净初级生产力、土壤肥力等; 根据植物功能性状对不同生态系统服务的影响程度, 植物功能性状可以聚类为土壤保持服务相关性状、水分循环相关性状、多功能相关性状、产品提供服务与养分循环相关性状以及授粉与生物控制服务相关性状; 并阐述了植物功能性状指标影响不同的生态系统服务途径。围绕植物功能性状对生态系统服务的影响, 今后尚需进一步探讨生态系统多功能性、植物功能性状相关性、气候变化和人类活动不确定性、时空尺度差异等因素对二者关系的影响。     

甲虫群落构建研究进展

甲虫作为节肢动物中一个庞大的类群,具有繁简各异的生活习性,在生态系统中发挥极为重要的作用.甲虫群落构建是群落生态研究的重要内容之一,可揭示不同生态环境下生物多样性的形成与维持机制.现阶段对甲虫群落构建的研究主要通过物种的功能性状,或将系统发育结构与物种功能性状相结合的方法,对群落构建过程进行解析,用以判断主要的驱动因素...     

Functional diversity is positively associated with biomass for lake diatoms

1. Recent work has emphasised the benefit of using functional measures when relating biodiversity to ecosystem functioning. In this study, we investigated the extent to which functional and taxonomic diversity might be related to summed biovolume in community assemblages of 212 species of diatoms collected from 65 temperate lakes in western and central Quebec, Canada. 2. We quantified functional diversity as both the total path‐length of a functional dendrogram (FD) and the variance in species traits (TV) for a given community. Selected traits included both size and responses to a set of environmental variables known to be influential for diatom communities. 3. Species richness, as well as both FD and TV, was positively associated with total diatom biovolume at the level of the entire diatom community, suggesting that diversity in response types (particularly to total phosphorus and pH) is important for diatom community production. 4. Although functional measures of diversity did not provide enhanced explanatory power over species richness, we argue that an exploration of functional traits potentially allows greater insight into the mechanisms underlying biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relations, indicating which traits might be most influential in driving community biomass production.     

植物功能性状研究进展

植物功能性状是指植物体具有的与其定植、存活、生长和死亡紧密相关的一系列核心植物属性,且这些属性能够显著影响生态系统功能,并能够反映植被对环境变化的响应.越来越多的研究表明,相比大多数基于植物分类和数量的研究,植物功能性状在种群、群落和生态系统尺度上,都已成为解决重要生态学问题的可靠途径.本文回顾了植物功能性状研究的发展历程,总结了近10年来基于植物功能性状研究的前沿科学问题,包括功能性状的全球分布格局和内在关联,沿环境梯度的变化规律,功能多样性的定义及应用,与群落物种共存机制和群落动态变化的关系,与系统发育的关系,对生态系统功能的影响以及对各类干扰的影响和响应.尽管功能性状研究已经延伸到生态学领域的各个方面,有力推动了各个前沿科学问题的研究发展,仍然有很多值得关注和着重研究的方向.本文也对未来基于植物功能性状的研究,从性状测量和选取、研究方法以及研究方向上提出了展望,并指出,在当前全球气候变化背景下,功能性状也可应用于指导生物多样性保护和生态系统管理政策的制定.     

Trait‐based ecology of terrestrial arthropods

In focusing on how organisms' generalizable functional properties (traits) interact mechanistically with environments across spatial scales and levels of biological organization, trait‐based approaches provide a powerful framework for attaining synthesis, generality and prediction. Trait‐based research has considerably improved understanding of the assembly, structure and functioning of plant communities. Further advances in ecology may be achieved by exploring the trait–environment relationships of non‐sessile, heterotrophic organisms such as terrestrial arthropods, which are geographically ubiquitous, ecologically diverse, and often important functional components of ecosystems. Trait‐based studies and trait databases have recently been compiled for groups such as ants, bees, beetles, butterflies, spiders and many others; however, the explicit justification, conceptual framework, and primary‐evidence base for the burgeoning field of ‘terrestrial arthropod trait‐based ecology’ have not been well established. Consequently, there is some confusion over the scope and relevance of this field, as well as a tendency for studies to overlook important assumptions of the trait‐based approach. Here we aim to provide a broad and accessible overview of the trait‐based ecology of terrestrial arthropods. We first define and illustrate foundational concepts in trait‐based ecology with respect to terrestrial arthropods, and justify the application of trait‐based approaches to the study of their ecology. Next, we review studies in community ecology where trait‐based approaches have been used to elucidate how assembly processes for terrestrial arthropod communities are influenced by niche filtering along environmental gradients (e.g. climatic, structural, and land‐use gradients) and by abiotic and biotic disturbances (e.g. fire, floods, and biological invasions). We also review studies in ecosystem ecology where trait‐based approaches have been used to investigate biodiversity–ecosystem function relationships: how the functional diversity of arthropod communities relates to a host of ecosystem functions and services that they mediate, such as decomposition, pollination and predation. We then suggest how future work can address fundamental assumptions and limitations by investigating trait functionality and the effects of intraspecific variation, assessing the potential for sampling methods to bias the traits and trait values observed, and enhancing the quality and consolidation of trait information in databases. A roadmap to guide observational trait‐based studies is also presented. Lastly, we highlight new areas where trait‐based studies on terrestrial arthropods are well positioned to advance ecological understanding and application. These include examining the roles of competitive, non‐competitive and (multi‐)trophic interactions in shaping coexistence, and macro‐scaling trait–environment relationships to explain and predict patterns in biodiversity and ecosystem functions across space and time. We hope this review will spur and guide future applications of the trait‐based framework to advance ecological insights from the most diverse eukaryotic organisms on Earth.     

放牧对草原植物功能性状影响研究进展

植物功能性状的表达和植被环境适应性相关,植物功能性状之间的权衡变化体现了植物在放牧胁迫下资源的重新整合和获取.本文总结了放牧干扰下植物功能性状表达的差异性,着重将放牧干扰与植物功能性状相结合,介绍了植物功能性状的变异来源是植物遗传特征与环境过滤相互协调的结果,归纳了放牧对植物营养性状、繁殖性状的影响,以及植物可以通过调...     

植物功能性状与森林生态系统服务的关系研究综述

植物功能性状途径是揭示生物多样性与生态系统服务关系的重要视角,尽管植物功能性状与生态系统服务的关系在单一地点的研究取得突出进展,但对于植物功能性状与生态系统服务的关系仍缺乏整体认识。以森林生态系统为对象,通过系统文献检索及筛选,收集了216篇文献,应用整合分析和二分网络分析等方法,探讨了植物功能性状对森林生态系统服务及其权衡与协同关系的影响。结果表明：植物叶片功能性状关注最多,占研究性状数量的48%,生态系统服务中关注最多是生物量、土壤肥力、病虫害控制和固碳服务;81.1%的植物功能性状与生态系统服务关系组表现为稳定的正向或负向关系,而关联植物功能性状多的生态系统服务（生物量、固碳服务、土壤水分、土壤肥力和病虫害控制）往往与植物功能性状表现为不稳定关系;森林生态系统中存在6组"植物功能性状-生态系统服务簇（简称"性状-服务簇"）：水循环相关的性状-服务簇、土壤保持相关的性状-服务簇、物质生产相关的性状-服务簇、灾害控制相关的性状-服务簇、养分循环相关的性状-服务簇和授粉相关的性状-服务簇,揭示了各性状-服务簇内生态系统服务的权衡或协同关系以及与各性状-服务簇关系密切的植物功能性状。该研究从总体上阐明了植物功能性状与森林生态系统服务关系的研究重点和进展、揭示了植物功能性状对森林生态系统服务影响效应的方向和强度,可为深化森林生态系统服务形成机制认识以及协调生态系统服务权衡关系提供科学依据。     

Going beyond limitations of plant functional types when predicting global ecosystem–atmosphere fluxes: exploring the merits of traits‐based approaches

Aim Despite their importance for predicting fluxes to and from terrestrial ecosystems, dynamic global vegetation models have insufficient realism because of their use of plant functional types (PFTs) with constant attributes. Based on recent advances in community ecology, we explore the merits of a traits‐based vegetation model to deal with current shortcomings. Location Global. Methods A research review of current concepts and information, providing a new perspective, supported by quantitative analysis of a global traits database. Results Continuous and process‐based trait–environment relations are central to a traits‐based approach and allow us to directly calculate fluxes based on functional characteristics. By quantifying community assembly concepts, it is possible to predict trait values from environmental drivers, although these relations are still imperfect. Through the quantification of these relations, effects of adaptation and species replacement upon environmental changes are implicitly accounted for. Such functional links also allow direct calculation of fluxes, including those related to feedbacks through the nitrogen and water cycle. Finally, a traits‐based model allows the prediction of new trait combinations and no‐analogue ecosystem functions projected to arise in the near future, which is not feasible in current vegetation models. A separate calculation of ecosystem fluxes and PFT occurrences in traits‐based models allows for flexible vegetation classifications. Main conclusions Given the advantages described above, we argue that traits‐based modelling deserves consideration (although it will not be easy) if one is to aim for better climate projections.     

The role of trait‐based approaches in understanding stream fish assemblages

1. The use of trait‐based approaches to examine the ecology of stream fish assemblages is increasing. However, selection of traits that will be useful in testing spatial or temporal hypotheses about ecological organisation is currently limited by availability of data, rather than empirical evaluation. 2. We analysed two data sets of stream fish assemblages to compare taxonomy and trait‐based approaches. The Wabash River temporal data set is based on 25 years of boat electrofishing collections over a 230‐km river distance. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management data set of stream collections in the state of Indiana was selected to represent a spatial database. We compared several trait‐based approaches: reproductive guilds, life history variables, biomonitoring metrics, ecosystem‐based functional guilds and feeding and ecosystem interaction guilds. 3. Analyses of fish assemblages that are designed to detect how environmental variation structures fish assemblages can expect similar results using taxonomic or trait‐based approaches. Results of trait‐based approaches will vary according to the spatial extent of the region and the number of unique entities of trait groups for a given data set. However, taxonomic analyses accounted for more variation than any trait‐based analyses.     

The essential role of biodiversity in the key axes of ecosystem function

Biodiversity is essential for maintaining the terrestrial ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF). Recent studies have revealed that the variations in terrestrial ecosystem functions are captured by three key axes: the maximum productivity, water use efficiency, and carbon use efficiency of the ecosystem. However, the role of biodiversity in supporting these three key axes has not yet been explored. In this study, we combined the (i) data collected from more than 840 vegetation plots across a large climatic gradient in China using standard protocols, (ii) data on plant traits and phylogenetic information for more than 2,500 plant species, and (iii) soil nutrient data measured in each plot. These data were used to systematically assess the contribution of environmental factors, species richness, functional and phylogenetic diversity, and community-weighted mean (CWM) and ecosystem traits (i.e., traits intensity normalized per unit land area) to EMF via hierarchical partitioning and Bayesian structural equation modeling. Multiple biodiversity attributes accounted for 70% of the influence of all the variables on EMF, and ecosystems with high functional diversity had high resource use efficiency. Our study is the first to systematically explore the role of different biodiversity attributes, including species richness, phylogenetic and functional diversity, and CWM and ecosystem traits, in the key axes of ecosystem functions. Our findings underscore that biodiversity conservation is critical for sustaining EMF and ultimately ensuring human well-being.     

Functional richness outperforms taxonomic richness in predicting ecosystem functioning in natural phytoplankton communities

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Microbial functional diversity: From concepts to applications

Functional diversity is increasingly recognized by microbial ecologists as the essential link between biodiversity patterns and ecosystem functioning, determining the trophic relationships and interactions between microorganisms, their participation in biogeochemical cycles, and their responses to environmental changes. Consequently, its definition and quantification have practical and theoretical implications. In this opinion paper, we present a synthesis on the concept of microbial functional diversity from its definition to its application. Initially, we revisit to the original definition of functional diversity, highlighting two fundamental aspects, the ecological unit under study and the functional traits used to characterize it. Then, we discuss how the particularities of the microbial world disallow the direct application of the concepts and tools developed for macroorganisms. Next, we provide a synthesis of the literature on the types of ecological units and functional traits available in microbial functional ecology. We also provide a list of more than 400 traits covering a wide array of environmentally relevant functions. Lastly, we provide examples of the use of functional diversity in microbial systems based on the different units and traits discussed herein. It is our hope that this paper will stimulate discussions and help the growing field of microbial functional ecology to realize a potential that thus far has only been attained in macrobial ecology.     

植物功能性状与环境和生态系统功能

植物性状反映了植物对生长环境的响应和适应,将环境、植物个体和生态系统结构、过程与功能联系起来(所谓的“植物功能性状”)。该文介绍了植物功能性状的分类体系,综述了国内外植物功能性状与气候(包括气温、降水、光照)、地理空间变异(包括地形地貌、生态梯度、海拔)、营养、干扰(包括火灾、放牧、生物入侵、土地利用)等环境因素,以及与生态系统功能之间关系的研究进展,探讨了全球变化(气候变化和CO₂浓度升高)对个体和群落植物功能性状的影响。植物功能性状的研究已经取得很多成果,并应用于全球变化、古植被恢复和古气候定量重建、环境监测与评价、生态保护和恢复等研究中,但大尺度、多生境因子下的植物功能性状研究仍有待于加强,同时需要改进性状的测量手段;我国的植物功能性状研究还需要更加明朗化和系统化。     

Phylogenetic trait conservatism and the evolution of functional trade-offs in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi

The diversity of functional and life-history traits of organisms depends on adaptation as well as the legacy of shared ancestry. Although the evolution of traits in macro-organisms is well studied, relatively little is known about character evolution in micro-organisms. Here, we surveyed an ancient and ecologically important group of microbial plant symbionts, the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, and tested hypotheses about the evolution of functional and life-history traits. Variation in the extent of root and soil colonization by AM fungi is constrained to a few nodes basal to the most diverse groups within the phylum, with relatively little variation associated with recent divergences. We found no evidence for a trade-off in biomass allocated to root versus soil colonization in three published glasshouse experiments; rather these traits were positively correlated. Partial support was observed for correlated evolution between fungal colonization strategies and functional benefits of the symbiosis to host plants. The evolution of increased soil colonization was positively correlated with total plant biomass and shoot phosphorus content. Although the effect of AM fungi on infection by root pathogens was phylogenetically conserved, there was no evidence for correlated evolution between the extent of AM fungal root colonization and pathogen infection. Variability in colonization strategies evolved early in the diversification of AM fungi, and we propose that these strategies were influenced by functional interactions with host plants, resulting in an evolutionary stasis resembling trait conservatism.     

植物性状研究的机遇与挑战:从器官到群落

植物性状(Plant trait)或植物功能性状(Plant functional trait)通常是指植物对外界环境长期适应与进化后所表现出的可量度、且与生产力优化或环境适应等密切相关的属性。近几十年来,植物性状研究在性状-生产力、性状-养分、性状间相互关系、性状-群落结构维持等方面取得了卓越成就。然而,由于大多数性状调查都是以植物群落内优势种或亚优势种为对象,使其在探讨群落尺度的性状-功能关系、性状数据如何用于改进或优化模型、性状数据如何与遥感连接等问题时,存在空间尺度和量纲不匹配的极大挑战。为了破解上述难题,亟需发展新的、基于单位土地面积的群落性状(Community trait)概念体系、数据源和计算方法等,推动植物性状数据与快速发展的宏观生态学新技术(遥感、模型和通量观测等)相结合,既拓展了植物性状研究范畴,又可推动其更好地服务于区域生态环境问题的解决。所定义的群落性状(如叶片氮含量、磷含量、比叶面积、气孔密度、叶绿素含量等),是在充分考虑群落内所有物种的性状实测数据,再结合比叶面积、生物量异速生长方程和群落结构数据等,推导而成的基于单位土地面积的群落性状。受测试方法的影响,传统的直接算术平均法或相对生物量加权平均法所获得的群落水平的植物性状(如叶片氮含量g/kg或%),虽然可以有效地探讨群落结构维持机制,由于无法实现对群落性状在量纲上向单位土地面积转换,使它很难与模型和遥感数据相匹配。基于单位土地面积的群落性状,可在空间尺度匹配(或量纲匹配)的前提下实现个体水平测定的植物性状数据与生态模型和遥感观测相联系,更好地探讨区域尺度下自然生态系统结构和功能的关系及其对全球变化的响应与适应。同时,它也可更好地建立群落水平的性状-功能的定量关系(非物种水平),为更好地探讨自然群落结构维持机制和生产力优化机制提供了新思路。     

木本植物茎叶功能性状及其关系随环境变化的研究进展

植物功能性状反映了植物对生长环境的响应和适应,是植物与环境相互作用的结果。植物功能性状之间的关系决定了植物的生活史对策,进而影响多物种的共存和生物多样性的维持。本文综述了叶大小、比叶面积、叶寿命和木质密度、叶大小-小枝大小、叶内生物量分配和叶大小-数量等随环境变化的研究进展,并简述其变化机理。植物功能性状及其关系的研究已经取得了很多成果,建立起了一套有效的研究方法和理论体系;但在今后的研究中,还需要对植物的地上部分和地下部分植物性状之间的协变关系、当年生末端小枝上功能性状间的关系的普遍性,以及叶大小-数量的等速关系在整个被子植物中的保守程度等几个方面进行深入研究。我国常绿阔叶林物种的植物功能性状及其关系研究较少,有待加强和系统化。     

延河流域植物群落功能性状对环境梯度的响应

研究群落水平上的植物功能性状特征及其随环境梯度的变化规律,对认识不同环境梯度下植物群落的形成及其对环境的适应机制具有重要意义。以延河流域不同环境梯度下的稳定的自然植物群落为对象,测量了植物群落组成物种的叶厚度、比叶面积、叶组织密度、比根长、根组织密度、单位质量叶氮含量、单位质量根氮含量、种子质量、种子体积等9个性状,然后以物种重要值为基础加权平均得到各个性状在群落水平上的平均值(即群落性状值);以现有的环境因子栅格图为基础,利用ArcGIS提出各群落对应的环境因子值,同时测定各个群落的土壤水分,分析群落各性状值与环境因子的关系,并建立关系模型。结果表明:在群落水平上,9个植物功能性状分别与13个环境因子存在不同程度的相关性,同时这9个植物功能性状对8个环境因子梯度(土壤水分、年4-10月平均气温、年7-9月总降雨量、降雨季节变化、年平均降雨量、年平均蒸发量、坡度、坡向)的响应特征较好,不同植物功能性状间具有较好相关性。群落水平上植物功能性状及其组合随环境梯度的规律性变化,反映了延河流域植被群落构建过程中环境对功能性状的筛选效应。该研究结果对该区的植被恢复重建的物种选择及植被布局规划具有重要的实践意义。     

植物群落功能多样性计算方法

以性状为基础的功能多样性指数在预测生态系统功能中起到越来越重要的作用.本文对近年来陆续出现的植物群落功能多样性指数进行综述.依据物种多样性指数的组成,功能多样性指数分为功能丰富度、功能均匀度和功能离散度指数.介绍了这3类指数的计算方法,有助于更好、更准确地理解“生物多样性-环境-生态系统功能”的关系.     

藏东木本植物群落功能性状分布与环境的关系

研究植物群落功能性状间的相关关系及其对环境变化的响应,能够有效揭示植物功能性状的权衡模式及其对环境的适应策略。藏东昌都地区位于横断山脉西北部,复杂气候地貌孕育了丰富的植物资源,是青藏高原森林灌丛生态系统主要组分和国际生物多样性保护的热点地区。以藏东森林灌丛群落优势木本植物为研究对象,在大量野外调查基础上,采用相关分析、主成分分析、线性回归和方差分析等方法,研究了该区域植物功能性状间的相关关系、功能性状对环境变量的响应规律以及功能性状的变异来源。结果表明：(1)藏东木本植物表现出适应高寒环境的性状权衡模式,即：比叶面积、叶体积较小而叶干物质含量较大,叶磷含量和叶钾含量协同变化;(2)海拔和气候变量共同驱动着藏东木本植物功能性状的变化,并且藏东木本植物倾向于采取“高投入—慢回报”提高御寒能力的保守型适应策略;(3)海拔是影响藏东植物功能性状变异最显著的环境变量,种间变异在藏东植物群落功能性状随环境变化中起主要作用。研究结果揭示了藏东木本植物功能性状的权衡模式及其对高寒环境的适应策略,有助于加深对藏东自然植物资源分布规律和生态功能的认识,为区域生态系统功能和生物多样性保护提供科学依据。