A periodic table for ecology? A chemist's view of plant functional types
A periodic table for ecology? A chemist's view of plant functional types
复制标题
生态学的元素周期表？
DOI：
10.2307/3236286
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发表时间：
1996
影响因子：
2.8
通讯作者：
W. Steffen
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
W. Steffen
在全球变化研究中，正在推广一种功能类型方法，即通过将功能相似的生物体分组到单一分类中来减少自然界中发现的复杂性。本文探讨了全球变化生态学中这种功能类型方法与化学元素周期表之间的类比。当应用于定义生态学中功能类型的“自下而上”方法时，这种类比就失败了。在这种方法中，根据某些功能的相似性，将大量生物体划分为较小的群体。生态功能不是一个生物实体的简单属性，就像电子结构是一种化学元素一样，而是一个复杂的化学和物理系统，经常与环境发生强烈的相互作用。与元素周期表的类比可能在“自上而下”的方法中用作组织工具，其中使用建模上下文来定义“元素”的数量及其属性。这将详细说明植物的功能类型。每个PFT被赋予特征，使其对变化驱动力（如温度、降水、土壤养分、扰动）的响应得以预测。“组合规则”决定了特定生态系统中pft的混合如何变化以形成不同的生态系统，这将与化学化合物的类比相对应。然而，这些要求对类比的有用性提出了重大挑战，即使是作为“自上而下”方法中的组织工具。
A functional type approach, in which the complex- ity found in nature is reduced by grouping organisms that are functionally similar into a single classification, is being pro- moted in global change research. This paper examines a pro- posed analogy between this functional type approach in global change ecology and the periodic table of the elements in chemistry. When applied to a 'bottom-up' approach for defin- ing functional types in ecology, in which large numbers of organisms are classified into smaller groups based on similar- ity of certain functions, the analogy fails. Ecological functions are not simple attributes of a biological entity, as electronic structure is for a chemical element, but are themselves com- plex chemical and physical systems that often interact strongly with the environment. The analogy to the periodic table may be of some use as an organizing tool in a 'top-down' approach in which a modelling context is used to define the number of 'elements' and their properties. This will be elaborated for plant functional types. Each PFT is assigned characteristics that allow its response to the driving forces of change, e.g. temperature, precipitation, soil nutrients, disturbance, to be predicted. 'Rules of combination' determine how the mix of PFTs in a particular ecosystem changes to form different ecosystems, which would correspond in the analogy to chemi- cal compounds. However, these requirements present signifi- cant challenges to the usefulness of the analogy, even as an organizing tool in the 'top-down' approach.