Effect of Canal Bank Engineering Disturbance on Plant Communities: Analysis of Taxonomic and Functional Beta Diversity

We aimed to determine how patterns of functional and taxonomic dissimilarities their components differ between disturbed undisturbed plant communities. Taxonomic (species) (trait) diversity are key aspects biodiversity, respective important in scaling for informing conservation. utilized a pseudo-experimental setting, the Basingstoke Canal, UK, where sections canal bank have been repaired over four-year period interspersed with left undisturbed. collected community data, computed beta partitioned them into species loss replacement components. compared plots respect these dissimilarity measures, time since disturbance, invasive species, life-forms environmental dissimilarity. found high levels (85–90%) (70–76%) sites, primarily driven by turnover. The total was lower than Disturbed sites had greater between-site abundances both turnover nestedness site diverged strongly from null expectations. no significant effects variables or possibly indicating dominance stochastic, local-scale processes. However, phanerophyte richness higher therophyte richness. Our results indicate that small-scale disturbances may increase between-community anthropogenic habitats without increasing lending support conservation enhances habitat heterogeneity promote its corresponding biotic functions.