Research
| Title： | A refined functional group approach reveals novel insights into effects of urbanization on river macroinvertebrate communities |
|---|---|
| First author： | Liu, Zhenyuan; Heino, Jani; Ge, Yihao; Zhou, Tingting; Jiang, Yinan; Mo, Yangxin; Cui, Yongde; Wang, Weimin; Chen, Yushun; Zhang, Junqian; Xie, Zhicai |
| Journal： | LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY |
| Years： | 2023 |
| DOI： | 10.1007/s10980-023-01612-2 |
| Abstract： | ContextUrbanization-induced environmental changes are key causes of community disassembly in freshwater systems. Given that species' traits are closely linked to environmental tolerances, trait-based approaches allow predicting ecological community responses to urbanization. These responses are typically mediated by a suite of traits of organisms (i.e., trait combinations). Trait combinations reflect species' functional strategies and potential fitness, and different taxa possessing the same trait combinations could respond similarly to stressors. To date, little is known about how urbanization restructures ecological communities from the perspective focusing on trait combinations.ObjectivesWe aimed to explore how urbanization restructures ecological community patterns and underlying drivers through affecting different taxa with specific trait combinations.MethodsWe first proposed a functional grouping approach that centers on assigning the whole metacommunity into several homogeneous groups with similar trait combinations. We formed the groupings using hierarchical clustering analysis. We illustrated this approach using a dataset of river macroinvertebrates and multiple-scale environmental variables (i.e., local, land-use and spatial factors). Distance-based redundancy analysis and variation partitioning were used to quantify the roles of ecological drivers in structuring different groups.ResultsA total of six functional groups were identified from the metacommunity of 190 taxa. The relative abundance of two groups increased with the urbanization level (tolerant groups), while the others decreased (sensitive groups). Furthermore, local and land-use variables explained more of community variation for the sensitive groups, while the relative importance of spatial factors was stronger for the tolerant groups.ConclusionOur findings suggest that examining how urbanization reshapes ecological communities benefits from assigning the entire metacommunity into different functional groups. The identified functional groups exhibited different responses to urbanization and were shaped by different ecological drivers. We expected that the proposed functional group approach would provide new insights into mechanisms underlying community disassembly caused by urbanization. |
