TY  - JOUR
A1  - Blaum, Niels
A1  - Mosner, Eva
A1  - Schwager, Monika
A1  - Jeltsch, Florian
T1  - How functional is functional?Ecological groupings in terrestrial animal ecology - towards an animal functional type approach
JF  - Biodiversity and conservation
N2  - Understanding mechanisms to predict changes in plant and animal communities is a key challenge in ecology. The need to transfer knowledge gained from single species to a more generalized approach has led to the development of categorization systems where species' similarities in life strategies and traits are classified into ecological groups (EGs) like functional groups/types or guilds. While approaches in plant ecology undergo a steady improvement and refinement of methodologies, progression in animal ecology is lagging behind. With this review, we aim to initiate a further development of functional classification systems in animal ecology, comparable to recent developments in plant ecology. We here (i) give an overview of terms and definitions of EGs in animal ecology, (ii) discuss existing classification systems, methods and application areas of EGs (focusing on terrestrial vertebrates), and (iii) provide a "roadmap towards an animal functional type approach" for improving the application of EGs and classifications in animal ecology. We found that an animal functional type approach requires: (i) the identification of core traits describing species' dependency on their habitat and life history traits, (ii) an optimization of trait selection by clustering traits into hierarchies, (iii) the assessment of "soft traits" as substitute for hardly measurable traits, e.g. body size for dispersal ability, and (iv) testing of delineated groups for validation including experiments.
KW  - Ecological classification
KW  - Functional type
KW  - Guild
KW  - Functional trait
KW  - Trait selection
KW  - Effect group
KW  - Response group
KW  - Environmental relationships
Y1  - 2011
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-011-9995-1
SN  - 0960-3115
VL  - 20
IS  - 11
SP  - 2333
EP  - 2345
PB  - Springer
CY  - Dordrecht
ER  -