FUNDIVA

Towards a framework to quantify and attribute changes in functional diversity

Human pressures are driving over a million species towards extinction. In response, the Kunming-Montreal Global Framework seeks to halt biodiversity loss and preserve ecosystem services.. Meeting these goals requires moving beyond approaches focused on taxonomic diversity that overlook functional diversity, a key driver of ecosystem functioning, stability, and resilience. To date, studies of functional diversity change have been largely restricted to local scales, rarely addressed long-term dynamics, and mostly relied on descriptive or correlative methods that cannot attribute observed changes to specific drivers, limiting their value for conservation action.

 

 

FUNDIVA addresses these gaps by developing a unified framework to observe, detect, and attribute changes in functional diversity across space and time. The project integrates trait-based data with long-term abundance time series, applies advanced statistical modelling and causal inference methods, to deliver reproducible workflows. By enabling robust attribution of change to underlying drivers, FUNDIVA will strengthen biodiversity assessments and support evidence-based management and tracking of global biodiversity commitments.