Biodiversity and ecosystem functions depend on environmental conditions and resources rather than the geodiversity of a tropical biodiversity hotspot


Abstract:

Biodiversity and ecosystem functions are highly threatened by global change. It has been proposed that geodiversity can be used as an easy-to-measure surrogate of biodiversity to guide conservation management. However, so far, there is mixed evidence to what extent geodiversity can predict biodiversity and ecosystem functions at the regional scale relevant for conservation planning. Here, we analyse how geodiversity computed as a compound index is suited to predict the diversity of four taxa and associated ecosystem functions in a tropical mountain hotspot of biodiversity and compare the results with the predictive power of environmental conditions and resources (climate, habitat, soil). We show that combinations of these environmental variables better explain species diversity and ecosystem functions than a geodiversity index and identified climate variables as more important predictors than habitat and soil variables, although the best predictors differ between taxa and functions. We conclude that a compound geodiversity index cannot be used as a single surrogate predictor for species diversity and ecosystem functions in tropical mountain rain forest ecosystems and is thus little suited to facilitate conservation management at the regional scale. Instead, both the selection and the combination of environmental variables are essential to guide conservation efforts to safeguard biodiversity and ecosystem functions.

Año de publicación:

2021

Keywords:

    Fuente:

    scopusscopus
    googlegoogle

    Tipo de documento:

    Article

    Estado:

    Acceso abierto

    Áreas de conocimiento:

    • Ecosistema
    • Biodiversidad
    • Ecología

    Áreas temáticas de Dewey:

    • Ecología
    • Economía de la tierra y la energía
    • Factores que afectan al comportamiento social
    Procesado con IAProcesado con IA

    Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible:

    • ODS 15: Vida de ecosistemas terrestres
    • ODS 13: Acción por el clima
    • ODS 17: Alianzas para lograr los objetivos
    Procesado con IAProcesado con IA