Dispersal syndromes can link intraspecific trait variability and meta-ecosystem functioning

Abstract

Dispersal mediates the flow of organisms in meta-communities and subsequently energy and material flows in meta-ecosystems. Individuals within species often vary in dispersal tendency depending on their phenotypic traits (i.e., dispersal syndromes), but the implications of dispersal syndromes for meta-ecosystems have been rarely studied. Using empirical examples on vertebrates, arthropods, and microbes, we highlight that key functional traits can be linked to dispersal. We argue that this coupling between dispersal and functional traits can have consequences for meta-ecosystem functioning, mediating flows of functional traits and thus the spatial heterogeneity of ecosystem functions. As dispersal syndromes may be genetically determined, the spatial heterogeneity of functional traits may be further carried over across generations and link meta-ecosystem functioning to evolutionary dynamics.

Keywords: animal movement; dispersal syndrome; ecosystem functioning; phenotypic variability.