Functional rarity of plants in German hay meadows - Patterns on the species level and mismatches with community species richness.

ABSTRACT: Functional rarity (FR) - a feature combining a species' rarity with the distinctiveness of its traits - is a promising tool to better understand the ecological importance of rare species and consequently to protect functional diversity more efficiently. However, we lack a systematic understanding of FR on both the species level (which species are functionally rare and why) and the community level (how is FR associated with biodiversity and environmental conditions). Here, we quantify FR for 218 plant species from German hay meadows on a local, regional, and national scale by combining data from 6500 vegetation relevés and 15 ecologically relevant traits. We investigate the association between rarity and trait distinctiveness on different spatial scales via correlation measures and show whi

SUBMITTER: Walther G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9526122 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature