title: A partial ordering approach for functional diversity.
abstract: Functional diversity is generally regarded as the constituent of biological diversity that considers how the species functional traits affect ecosystem processes. Due to its ecological relevance, a number of indices of functional diversity have been proposed to date based on distinct objectives and motivations. Such proliferation of indices can be at least partially overcome by a more fundamental mathematical approach. In this paper we propose an intrinsic ordering approach for abundance-weighted measures of functional diversity that is similar to the Lorenz curves used by ecologists for ordering evenness measures. We then discuss the relevance of a number of functional diversity indices that have a behavior compatible with the proposed partial ordering.
authors.affiliation: University of Rome "La Sapienza", Department of Environmental Biology, Piazzale Aldo Moro. carlo.ricotta@uniroma1.it
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ricotta
authors.forename: Laszlo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Szeidl
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moretti
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blasi
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D017753:Ecosystem