Hi Wayne, I've been interested in the meaning of "function" in ecology for a couple of years and the most exhaustive and synthetic attempt to define the multiple meanings of the term as it features in the ecology literature are by Kurt Jax. You may want to have a look at :
Jax 2005 "Function and “functioning” in ecology: what does it mean?" in Oikos, Volume 111, Issue 3, pages 641–648, December 2005 Jax 2010 Ecosystem Functioning, Cambridge University Press. This is work that I could call philosophical but by a ecological scientist. I'm myself doing some work on the topic as a PHD student in philosophy of ecology, so I would appreciate any suggestion of reading on the topic. Hope Jax helps! Best, Antoine > Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2012 07:50:32 -0700 > From: [email protected] > Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Ecosystem function definition Re: [ECOLOG-L] Visualizing > functional diversity > To: [email protected] > > Ling and Ecolog: > > It seems to me that before one moves into method, one should understand the > question first, and I make no claim to being able to do so. When you say "I > have done an extensive literature search and have not found where this has > been done before . . . " were you referring to a definition of ecosystem > function or to the methodology? > > I remember well a conversation with Dick Vogl years ago when I blithely used > the term "ecosystem function." Dick said "I'm not sure that anybody knows > what ecosystem function is." Vogl had a way of stimulating one's thinking > with stuff like that. I do have some vague ideas about what ecosystem > function is, but I have never brought it all together, so I thought maybe > you had, or knew of someone who had, as you seemed to be using the term at > least as confidently as I did when Vogl made his statement. > > My thoughts about ecosystem function are still at the question phase and yet > consist of an assemblage of "stuff" like Juan mentioned rather than a > complete explanation of the phenomenon. "Functional diversity" is to me a > yet more mysterious concept which I would have to come to understand before > venturing forth any ideas about methodology, and certainly would have no > clue about the relative usefulness of one method or set of methods over the > other. > > It does, however, seem sensible to me that almost any kind of comparative > analysis of similar ecosystem subsets like estuaries would be useful, even > if it would not, in of itself, get at causality, for example, as it would at > least pave the way toward further analysis. > > This is the sort of question that I think might be helped by the proposal I > have submitted to the Smithsonian Encyclopedia of Life program and kindly > posted by one of the staff. Briefly, that proposal is to begin to gather > data on organisms' ranges of requirements and limitations. > > I hope someone can lead me to whoever may have defined ecosystem function in > a comprehensive, scientific way that is widely accepted by the discipline. > > WT > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "ling huang" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2012 8:52 PM > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Visualizing functional diversity > > > Hi > > No (sorry Wayne I was not clear) my response was not to the 'Please describe > function in ecosystems.question,' but about the 'but I have done an > extensive literature search and have not found where this has been done > before - perhaps because it is a bad idea for other reasons?' and 'Would it > also be appropriate to use these values in a PAM or other clustering method > to identify estuaries that are more/less similar in functional diversity?' > > I am suggesting to make use of some stat software such as SAS or SYSTAT and > do a multivariate cluster analysis on the variables (functional diversity > variables on hand) for the statistical grouping of like estuaries. These > variables may well include a subset of those mentioned by Juan; namely > '(regulation [climate, > nutrient cycling, pollination], habitat [refugia, nursery, etc.], > information [scientific info, recreation, cultural and aesthetic] and > production [food, genetic and medicinal resources, raw materials, etc.] > functions)'. > > Best wishes, > Ling > Ling Huang > Sacramento City College > > Thanks, Juan; I do appreciate the reference, but I am looking for a > simper answer than that--a scientifically-based explanation of what > ecosystem function means as an actual or theoretical feature of actual > ecosystems. I am definitely not interested in ". . . an anthropocentric > concept (as humans depend on ecosystems to survive) because is described > as the capacity of the natural processes to provide an array of direct > or indirect services or benefits to humans." I would be delighted to > hear a discussion of benefits to humans some other time, however, but I > do not want this discussion to wander off the central, very basic > question now. > > WT > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Juan Alvez > To: Wayne Tyson > Cc: [email protected] > Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2012 10:25 AM > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Visualizing functional diversity > > > Hi Wayne, > > You can best visualize ecosystem functions in a paper written 10 years ago > by De Groot and others, > > (Ref: de Groot, R.S., Wilson, M.A., Boumans, R.M.J., 2002. A typology > for the classification, description and valuation of ecosystem > functions, goods and services. Ecological Economics 41, 393-408.). > > It describes four main ecosystem functions (regulation [climate, > nutrient cycling, polination], habitat [refugia, nursery, etc.], > information [scientific info, recreation, cultural and aesthetic] and > production [food, genetic and medicinal resources, raw materials, etc.] > functions). > It is certainly an anthropocentric concept (as humans > depend on ecosystems to survive) because is described as the capacity of > the natural processes to provide an array of direct or indirect > services or benefits to humans. > > Best, > Juan > > > --- On Thu, 9/27/12, Wayne Tyson <[email protected]> wrote: > > From: Wayne Tyson <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Visualizing functional diversity > To: "ling huang" <[email protected]>, [email protected] > Date: Thursday, September 27, 2012, 5:34 PM > > Ling and Ecolog: > > No, I'm not. I'm looking for just what I asked. I would like your (or > anybody's) explanation of what you mean by ecosystem function--in plain > language. > > I presume that that would be very easy to do. I kept my question simple in > the hopes of getting such an answer, but I would welcome an explanation of > "functional diversity" too. > > WT > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "ling huang" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2012 1:15 PM > Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Visualizing functional diversity > > > It sounds as though you are looking to do a cluster analysis for statistical > grouping of like estuaries. This method is outlined in virtually all > multivariate analysis books. PROC CLUSTER is the SAS procedure. > > Best > > Ling > Ling Huang > Sacramento City College > > --- On Wed, 9/26/12, Wayne Tyson <[email protected]> wrote: > > From: Wayne Tyson <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Visualizing functional diversity > To: [email protected] > Date: Wednesday, September 26, 2012, 7:11 PM > > Please describe function in ecosystems. > > WT > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Katharine Miller" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2012 4:07 PM > Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Visualizing functional diversity > > > Hello, > > I have used Rao's quadratic entropy to evaluate functional diversity between > a number of estuaries for which I also have a GIS database. I would like to > be able to visualize which sites are more functionally similar across the > region to evaluate patterns in dispersal, etc. > > I know it is possible to use the pairwise functional beta diversity values > as a distance matrix in a Mantel test or multivariate regression on > distances matrices (MRM) when comparing functional diversity to, for > example, environmental data. Would it also be appropriate to use these > values in a PAM or other clustering method to identify estuaries that are > more/less similar in functional diversity? > > This is likely to sound like a very naive question, but I have done an > extensive literature search and have not found where this has been done > before - perhaps because it is a bad idea for other reasons? > > Any insights and/or references on this approach would be greatly > appreciated. > > Thank you > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 10.0.1427 / Virus Database: 2441/5295 - Release Date: 09/27/12 >
