Biodiversidad en el Siglo XXI: más allá del conteo de especies

Abstract

In modern ecology, the traditional diversity indexes (usually of richness, abundance, and species evenness) have been highly revealing and useful for monitoring community and ecosystem processes. However, around two decades ago, a pioneering research team noticed that these indexes did not completely resolve their open questions. Thus, they suggested changing the way biodiversity was measured. At its base, this new methodology considers the distance between species (in phylogenetic or functional terms) before subsequently applying the appropriate biodiversity indexes. Including phylogenetic and functional elements in the evaluation of diversity allows us to approach the concept of biodiversity in a more comprehensive way.