Anthropogenic disturbances have serious impacts on ecosystems across the world. Understanding the effects of disturbance on woodlands, especially in regions where local people depend on these natural resources, is essential for sustainable natural resource management and biodiversity conservation. In this study, we evaluated the effects of anthropogenic disturbance, specifically selective logging of Brachystegia floribunda, on woodlands by comparing species composition, species diversity and functional diversity of woody plants between disturbed and undisturbed woodlands. We combined species data and functional trait data for leaves, fruits and other traits related to resource and disturbance responses to calculate functional indices (functional richness, evenness and divergence) and community‐weighted means of each trait. Shifts in taxonomic species composition were analysed using nonmetric multi‐dimensional scaling. Species composition differed significantly between disturbed and undisturbed woodlands. Tree density was greater in disturbed woodlands, whereas evenness, functional evenness and functional divergence were greater in undisturbed woodlands. In terms of forest cover, selective logging of B. floribunda appeared to have little impact on Miombo woodlands, but some shifts in functional traits, such as the shift from a deciduous to evergreen phenology, may increase the vulnerability of these ecosystems to environmental change, especially drought.

中文翻译：

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人为干扰对马拉维北部Miombo林地物种组成，物种多样性和功能多样性的影响

人为干扰对世界各地的生态系统造成了严重影响。了解干扰对林地的影响，特别是在当地人依赖这些自然资源的地区，对于可持续的自然资源管理和生物多样性保护至关重要。在这项研究中，我们评估了人为干扰的影响，特别是对Brachystegia floribunda的选择性伐木。通过比较受干扰和未受干扰的林地之间木本植物的物种组成，物种多样性和功能多样性，在林地上进行研究。我们将叶片，果实和其他与资源和干扰响应相关的性状的物种数据和功能性状数据进行组合，以计算每个性状的功能性指标（功能丰富度，均匀度和发散度）和社区加权平均值。使用非度量多维标度分析了生物分类物种组成的变化。受干扰和未受干扰的林地之间的物种组成差异很大。在受干扰的林地中，树木密度更大，而在未受干扰的林地中，树木的均匀度，功能均匀性和功能差异更大。在森林覆盖率方面，B。floribunda的选择性伐木 似乎对Miombo林地影响不大，但功能性状的某些转变（例如从落叶物候到常绿物候的转变）可能会增加这些生态系统对环境变化（特别是干旱）的脆弱性。