Land-use change is the leading driver of global biodiversity loss thus characterising its impacts on the functional structure of ecological communities is an urgent challenge. Using a database describing vertebrate assemblages in different land uses, we assess how the type and intensity of land use affect the functional diversity of vertebrates globally. We find that human land uses alter local functional structure by driving declines in functional diversity, with the strongest effects in the most disturbed land uses (intensely used urban sites, cropland and pastures), and among amphibians and birds. Both tropical and temperate areas experience important functional losses, which are only partially offset by functional gains. Tropical assemblages are more likely to show decreases in functional diversity that exceed those expected from species loss alone. Our results indicate that land-use change non-randomly reshapes the functional structure of vertebrate assemblages, raising concerns about the continuation of ecological processes sustained by vertebrates.

中文翻译：

---

人类土地集约利用对脊椎动物功能多样性产生负面影响

土地利用变化是全球生物多样性丧失的主要驱动力，因此表征其对生态群落功能结构的影响是一项紧迫的挑战。使用描述不同土地利用中脊椎动物组合的数据库，我们评估土地利用的类型和强度如何影响全球脊椎动物的功能多样性。我们发现人类土地利用通过推动功能多样性下降改变了当地的功能结构，在最受干扰的土地利用（密集使用的城市场地、农田和牧场）以及两栖动物和鸟类中影响最大。热带和温带地区都经历了重要的功能损失，这些损失只能被功能收益部分抵消。热带组合更有可能表现出功能多样性的减少，超过仅由物种丧失所预期的减少。我们的研究结果表明，土地利用变化非随机地重塑了脊椎动物组合的功能结构，引发了人们对脊椎动物维持的生态过程持续性的担忧。