Rare species contribute disproportionately to the functional structure of species assemblages

• Published in: Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Vol. 283; no. 1828; p. 20160084
• Main Authors: Leitão, Rafael P., Zuanon, Jansen, Villéger, Sébastien, Williams, Stephen E., Baraloto, Christopher, Fortunel, Claire, Mendonça, Fernando P., Mouillot, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England The Royal Society 13.04.2016; Royal Society, The
• Subjects: Animals; Biodiversity; Birds - physiology; Brazil; Conservation; Conservation of Natural Resources; Extinction; Extinction, Biological; Fishes - physiology; French Guiana; Functional Diversity; Life Sciences; Null Models; Population Density; Queensland; Rainforest; Rarity Index; Trees - physiology; Tropical Biodiversity; functional diversity; conservation; extinction; rarity index; null models; tropical biodiversity; nature conservation; biodiversité; région tropicale; diversité fonctionnelle
• ISSN: 0962-8452; 1471-2954; 1471-2954
• DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.0084

There is broad consensus that the diversity of functional traits within species assemblages drives several ecological processes. It is also widely recognized that rare species are the first to become extinct following human-induced disturbances. Surprisingly, however, the functional importance of ra...