It is recognized that disturbances by fossorial small mammals are important factors determining plant community diversity, especially in grasslands. However, although information about the effects of disturbances by fossorial small mammals on species richness are starting to accumulate, we know little about the impact of these disturbances on the functional and phylogenetic facets of plant community diversity in grasslands.

In a study site located in the French Jura Mountains, we compared taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity of plant communities in areas highly disturbed by montane water vole (Arvicola terrestris) with areas lowly disturbed by this small mammal. In accordance with previous studies, we found that species richness was higher in highly disturbed communities. Indeed, competitive species unable to withstand disturbances were less abundant in disturbed communities, allowing species less adapted to competition for light to survive. Because these species have different trait values in comparison to strong competitors, functional richness was also higher in highly disturbed communities. Results were similar for phylogenetic richness, maybe due to the fact that the used metric was not independent from species richness. Although species composition differed between highly and lowly disturbed communities, functional composition was very similar. Thereby, the studied disturbances were probably not strong enough to affect plant community functioning. Rao functional diversity and functional evenness were not different between both community types. Interestingly, phylogenetic evenness was lower in highly disturbed areas, supporting the idea that disturbances might select for disturbance tolerance traits that are phylogenetically conserved.

Though correlational, our results suggest that water vole disturbances may modify multiple facets of plant community diversity, while ecosystem functioning is maintained across disturbance levels. Further research is needed to understand causal mechanisms in this system and the ecological repercussions of small mammal disturbances more broadly.

公认的是，小窝哺乳动物的干扰是决定植物群落多样性的重要因素，尤其是在草原上。然而，尽管有关沿海小哺乳动物干扰对物种丰富性影响的信息已开始积累，但我们对这些干扰对草原植物群落功能和系统发育方面的影响知之甚少。

在法国侏罗山的一个研究地点，我们比较了受山地水田鼠（Arvicola terrestris）高度干扰的地区植物群落的分类学，功能和系统发育多样性）受到这种小型哺乳动物干扰的区域很少。根据先前的研究，我们发现在高度受干扰的社区中物种丰富度更高。的确，在受干扰的社区中，无法抵御干扰的竞争性物种数量较少，这使得较不适应竞争光的物种得以生存。由于这些物种与强大的竞争者相比具有不同的特征值，因此在高度受干扰的社区中功能丰富性也更高。系统发育丰富度的结果相似，可能是由于所使用的度量标准与物种丰富度无关。尽管在受干扰程度较高的社区和受干扰程度较低的社区之间，物种组成有所不同，但功能组成却非常相似。因此，所研究的干扰可能不足以影响植物群落功能。两个社区类型之间的Rao功能多样性和功能均匀性没有差异。有趣的是，在高度受干扰的地区，系统发生的均匀性较低，这支持以下观点：干扰可能会选择系统发育上保守的干扰耐受性状。

尽管具有相关性，但我们的结果表明，水田鼠干扰可能会改变植物群落多样性的多个方面，而生态系统的功能则在干扰水平上得以维持。需要做进一步的研究以更广泛地了解该系统的因果机制以及小型哺乳动物干扰的生态影响。