The use of phylogenies in ecology is increasingly common and has broadened our
understanding of biological diversity. Ecological sub‐disciplines, particularly conservation, …

Environmental filtering, where the environment selects against certain species, is thought to
be a major mechanism structuring communities. However, recent criticisms cast doubt on …

Ecosystem functioning relies heavily on below‐ground processes, which are largely regulated
by plant fine‐roots and their functional traits. However, our knowledge of fine‐root trait …

In the face of the biodiversity crisis, it is argued that we should prioritize species in order to
capture high functional diversity (FD). Because species traits often reflect shared evolutionary …

Aim Biogeographical theory and conservation valuation schemes necessarily involve
assessing how biodiversity is distributed through space and ‘biodiversity’ encapsulates many …

Niche differences are key to understanding the distribution and structure of biodiversity. To
examine niche differences, we must first characterize how species occupy niche space, and …

The β‐null deviation measure, developed as a null model for β‐diversity, is increasingly
used in empirical studies to detect the underlying structuring mechanisms in communities (eg …

The order of species arrival during community assembly can greatly affect species coexistence,
but the strength of these effects, known as priority effects, appears highly variable across …

pez is an R package that permits measurement, modelling and simulation of phylogenetic
structure in ecological data. pez contains the first implementation of many methods in R, and …

Emphasis has been put in recent ecological research on investigating phylogenetic, functional
and taxonomic facets of biological diversity. While a flourishing number of indices have …