1. Land-use change frequently reduces local species diversity. Species losses will often result in loss of trait diversity, with likely consequences for community functioning. However, the converse need not be generally true: management approaches that succeed in retaining species richness could nevertheless fail to maintain trait diversity. We evaluated this possibility using bee communities i...

Population genetic diversity is widely accepted as important to the conservation and management of wildlife. However, habitat features may differentially affect evolutionary processes that facilitate population genetic diversity among sympatric species. We measured genetic diversity for two pond-breeding amphibian species (Dwarf salamanders, Eurycea quadridigitata; and Southern Leopard frogs, L...

Native and exotic sessile invertebrates can act as habitat modifiers and influence the diversity and composition of associated epifaunal communities. Theory and empirical research predict that greater habitat structural complexity will generally result in higher abundance, richness, and diversity of epifaunal species. We evaluated the impact of a recently introduced, structurally complex bryozo...

Recent research reports that many populations of species showing a wide trophic niche (generalists) are made up of both generalist individuals and individuals with a narrow trophic niche (specialists), suggesting trophic specializations at an individual level. If true, foraging strategies should be associated with individual quality and fitness. Optimal foraging theory predicts that individuals...

Ecosystems worldwide are facing habitat homogenization due to human activities. Although it is commonly proposed that such habitat homogenization can have negative repercussions for ecosystem functioning, this question has yet to receive explicit scientific attention. We expand on the framework for evaluating the functional consequences of biodiversity loss by scaling up from the level of speci...

Community similarity is the proportion of species richness in a region that is shared on average among communities within that region. The slope of local richness (alpha diversity) regressed on regional richness (gamma diversity) can serve as an index of community similarity across regions with different regional richness. We examined community similarity in corals at three spatial scales (amon...

We used pitfall trapping to investigate the effects of elevation, plant density and soil structure on species diversity and the impact of these habitat factors on lizard habitat selectivity in the Qom Province in the Central Plateau of Iran. From a total of 12 1-ha plots, we captured 363 individuals of 15 species of lizards (six species of Lacertidae, five species of Agamidae, two species of Ge...

The structure of coral reef habitat has a pronounced influence on the diversity, composition and abundance of reef-associated fishes. However, the particular features of the habitat that are most critical are not always known. Coral habitats can vary in many characteristics, notably live coral cover, topographic complexity and coral diversity, but the relative effects of these habitat character...

Mangrove habitats are under severe land use pressure throughout the world and Australia is no exception. Here we describe the heterogeneity of mangrove habitat and its relationship with mangrove bird diversity. We examined the role of mangrove habitat complexity in determining the richness of avian mangrove dependent species (MDS) and interior species, overall bird species richness and density....