Start Date
28-3-2022 3:45 PM
End Date
28-3-2022 5:00 PM
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
Understanding the impacts of biodiversity loss on ecosystem functions and services represents a major focus of contemporary environmental biology, but its progress hinges on advances in the study of functional diversity. Traditional approaches to functional diversity, however, have centered on taking virtually any measure of an organism’s biology, or an organism’s functional traits (OFTs), often assuming that variation in OFTs among species reflects ecological and evolutionary tradeoffs. Contemporary issues, however, require more creative approaches to the quantification and analysis of OFTs. Here, I present results from four of our group’s research that illustrate the value of more creative approaches to OFTs; (1) nutritional traits of fish, (2) vulnerability traits of birds, (3) thermal traits of plants, and (4) correlated traits in island biogeographic systems. This wide array of studies provides a more nuanced framework for linking the loss of functional diversity to changes in ecosystems and their functions and services.
Biography
Shahid is Professor of Ecology and Chair of E3B. He obtained his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley, and has served on the faculty of U. Minnesota, U. Washington, and is currently a Professor at Columbia U. Recipient of the Ecological Society of America’s (ESA’s) Buell and Mercer Awards, the Lenfest Distinguished Faculty award, he is also an ISI highly cited author, fellow of the AAAS, and an Aldo Leopold Leadership fellow. He will serve as President of the ESA 2022-2025.
Additional Links
ORCID
Thinking creatively about functional diversity and functional traits (BEF)
Understanding the impacts of biodiversity loss on ecosystem functions and services represents a major focus of contemporary environmental biology, but its progress hinges on advances in the study of functional diversity. Traditional approaches to functional diversity, however, have centered on taking virtually any measure of an organism’s biology, or an organism’s functional traits (OFTs), often assuming that variation in OFTs among species reflects ecological and evolutionary tradeoffs. Contemporary issues, however, require more creative approaches to the quantification and analysis of OFTs. Here, I present results from four of our group’s research that illustrate the value of more creative approaches to OFTs; (1) nutritional traits of fish, (2) vulnerability traits of birds, (3) thermal traits of plants, and (4) correlated traits in island biogeographic systems. This wide array of studies provides a more nuanced framework for linking the loss of functional diversity to changes in ecosystems and their functions and services.