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We are in a modern biodiversity crisis that will restructure community compositions and ecological functions globally. Large mammals, important contributors to ecosystem function, have been affected directly by purposeful extermination and indirectly by climate and land-use changes, yet functional turnover is rarely assessed on a global scale using metrics based on functional traits. Using ecometrics, the study of functional trait distributions and functional turnover, we examine the relationship between vegetation cover and locomotor traits for artiodactyl and carnivoran communities. We show that the ability to detect a functional relationship is strengthened when locomotor traits of both primary consumers (artiodactyls, n = 157 species) and secondary consumers (carnivorans, n = 138 species) are combined into one trophically integrated ecometric model. Overall, locomotor traits of 81% of communities accurately estimate vegetation cover, establishing the advantage of trophically integrated ecometric models over single-group models (58 to 65% correct). We develop an innovative approach within the ecometrics framework, using ecometric anomalies to evaluate mismatches in model estimates and observed values and provide more nuance for understanding relationships between functional traits and vegetation cover. We apply our integrated model to five paleontological sites to illustrate mismatches in the past and today and to demonstrate the utility of the model for paleovegetation interpretations. Observed changes in community traits and their associated vegetations across space and over time demonstrate the strong, rapid effect of environmental filtering on community traits. Ultimately, our trophically integrated ecometric model captures the cascading interactions between taxa, traits, and changing environments.
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Geography of artiodactyl locomotor morphology as an environmental predictor
Abstract AimWe investigate locomotor function in artiodactyls, represented by calcaneal gear ratio, as it relates to multiple environments. Using an ecometric approach, we develop a trait–environment model to investigate ecosystem‐level changes through time and to reconstruct past environments. We apply the trait–environment model to a case study of six sites in Kenya to evaluate changes over the past 100 years. LocationGlobal. MethodsLocomotor morphology was represented by calcaneal gear ratios measured as the overall length of a calcaneum divided by length of its in‐lever, that is calcaneal tuber. We collected calcaneal gear ratio measurements from skeletal specimens of 157 artiodactyl species in museum collections and used species’ spatial distributions to determine the composition of 47,420 communities globally. For 21,827 communities with three or more species of artiodactyls, we used maximum likelihood to model ecometric relationships between community‐level locomotor morphology and five environmental variables, including mean annual temperature, annual precipitation, elevation, vegetation cover and ecoregion province. ResultsCommunity mean gear ratios range from 1.43 to 1.56 (µ = 1.50). Mean gear ratios are highest in the tropical regions and lowest in the mid‐latitudes. Variance in mean calcaneal gear ratio is related to ecoregion division (68.6%), vegetation cover (63.5%) and precipitation (60.7%). In a case study of Kenyan sites, we demonstrate habitat homogenization patterns that match mammal community turnover patterns. Main conclusionsWith this ecometric framework, fossils of artiodactyl post‐crania can be used to assist in interpreting past ecoregion, vegetation cover and precipitation for a more comprehensive understanding of palaeoenvironment. These relationships between functional traits and environment will enable better models of biotic responses for conservation of functional diversity under changing environments.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2010680
- PAR ID:
- 10449618
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Diversity and Distributions
- Volume:
- 27
- Issue:
- 9
- ISSN:
- 1366-9516
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 1818-1831
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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