PS 5-63 - Plant-frugivore taxonomic and functional diversity relationships in the Tropical Andes

Monday, August 7, 2023

5:00 PM – 6:30 PM PDT

Location: ESA Exhibit Hall

Presenting Author(s)

Hazel J. Anderson

Graduate Student
Department of Integrative Biology; Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program, Michigan State University, United States

Coauthor(s)

BG

Beth E. Gerstner

PhD Candidate
Department of Fisheries & Wildlife; Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program, Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan, United States
PZ

Phoebe L. Zarnetske

Associate Professor
Department of Integrative Biology; Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program; Institute for Biodiversity, Ecology, Evolution, and Macrosystems, Michigan State University, United States

Abstract: Quantifying spatial patterns of biodiversity is important not only for determining conservation priorities and ecosystem function, but also for clarifying the underlying processes of community assembly, species-area relationships, and environmental filtering. Many studies have documented the need to move past solely focusing on taxonomic diversity (TD) to quantity biodiversity and have emphasized the advantages of using traits to determine functional diversity (FD), which reflects the roles species play in their communities and ecosystems. Yet there is a lack of knowledge about how taxonomic and functional diversity covaries across spatial scales, and between taxonomic groups that depend on each other. Plant-frugivore communities are an ideal focal group for filling these gaps due to their sufficient trait and occurrence data, and the consumptive and seed dispersal interactions between plants and their frugivorous (fruit-eating) birds and mammals species. Here we focus on the Tropical Andes, a biodiversity hotspot, and quantify scale-dependent relationships of TD and FD for plants and frugivores. All plant and frugivore species with records in Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela were used; the resulting data were harmonized taxonomically. We obtained plant and frugivore occurrence data from GBIF, plant trait data from BIEN and TRY, and frugivore trait data from the Frugivoria database. These data were used to calculate TD and FD for all plants, fruiting plants, and frugivores at various spatial grains in the Tropical Andes. We expect that 1) areas with high fruiting plant TD and FD will be most positively correlated with areas with high frugivore TD and FD due to their interdependence; 2) the TD and FD of plants and frugivores will be more positively related at local to intermediate spatial grains where the influence of biotic interactions is strongest and weakest at coarse grains where traits cluster more and species are more functionally redundant. Preliminary results in Ecuador show both high plant TD and frugivore TD in forested areas and a peak in plant TD in mid-elevation areas. The results of this study will advance knowledge of how TD and FD covary across spatial scales, and will further our ability to prioritize conservation areas that maintain biotic interactions and maximize biodiversity across multiple dimensions.