Functional redundancy and sensitivity of fish assemblages in European rivers, lakes and estuarine ecosystems.
Sci Rep
; 7(1): 17611, 2017 12 14.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-29242556
ABSTRACT
The impact of species loss on ecosystems functioning depends on the amount of trait similarity between species, i.e. functional redundancy, but it is also influenced by the order in which species are lost. Here we investigated redundancy and sensitivity patterns across fish assemblages in lakes, rivers and estuaries. Several scenarios of species extinction were simulated to determine whether the loss of vulnerable species (with high propensity of extinction when facing threats) causes a greater functional alteration than random extinction. Our results indicate that the functional redundancy tended to increase with species richness in lakes and rivers, but not in estuaries. We demonstrated that i) in the three systems, some combinations of functional traits are supported by non-redundant species, ii) rare species in rivers and estuaries support singular functions not shared by dominant species, iii) the loss of vulnerable species can induce greater functional alteration in rivers than in lakes and estuaries. Overall, the functional structure of fish assemblages in rivers is weakly buffered against species extinction because vulnerable species support singular functions. More specifically, a hotspot of functional sensitivity was highlighted in the Iberian Peninsula, which emphasizes the usefulness of quantitative criteria to determine conservation priorities.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Ecosistema
/
Biodiversidad
/
Peces
Tipo de estudio:
Diagnostic_studies
Límite:
Animals
País/Región como asunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Sci Rep
Año:
2017
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Francia