Dealing with heterogeneous data to improve our knowledge of biodiversity dynamics and ecosystem function: perspectives from synthesis projects: presentation by Anne-Christine Monnet for Woodiv (Origin and congruence of taxonomic, phylogenetic, functional and paleoecological diversity patterns: the model of European-Mediterranean woody plant biodiversity) at the sfécologie conference 2018. for more information on the group: http://www.cesab.org/index.php/fr/projets-en-cours/projets-2014/123-woodiv

1. Dealing with heterogeneous data to improve our knowledge of
biodiversity dynamics and ecosystem function: perspectives from
synthesis projects.
Origin and congruence of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic
diversity of the Mediterranean trees
Anne-Christine Monnet and the Woodiv consortium

2. Project objectives
Toward a better understanding of the past and current drivers of the
spatial distribution of the woody diversity in the Mediterranean basin
… through a multifaceted approach of the diversity
2

3. Project objectives
Toward a better understanding of the past and current drivers of the
spatial distribution of the woody diversity in the Mediterranean basin
… through a multifaceted approach of the diversity
Þ
3

4. Project objectives
Toward a better understanding of the past and current drivers of the
spatial distribution of the woody diversity in the Mediterranean basin
… through a multifaceted approach of the diversity
Þ
4 Þ First challenge: To improve the knowledge on the spatial
distribution of Mediterranean trees

5. DATA
Botany
Stake-
holders
Population
genetics
Data
manage-
ment &
analysis
Ecology
Biogeogra
phy
The WOODIV consortium
5
Knowledge transfer
Scientists of
6 countries
2 successive
« synthesis
postdocs »
Interdiscipli-
narity

6. DATA
Botany
Stake-
holders
Population
genetics
Data
manage-
ment &
analysis
Ecology
Biogeogra
phy
The WOODIV consortium
6
Knowledge transfer
Scientists of
6 countries
2 successive
« synthesis
postdocs »
Interdiscipli-
narity
+ cultural
diffrences!

7. ü Challenge accepted: aggreeing on the tree definition
Médail,
Monnet,
Pavon,
Nikolic,
Dimopoulos,
Baccheta,
Arroyo,
Cheikh
Albassatneh,
Domina,
Fady,
Matevski,
Mifsud,
Leriche,
What is a
tree in the
Mediterrane
an Basin
hotspot? A
critical
analysis (in
prep.)
What is a tree?
7
Co-design
Spartium juceum, Sicily (F. Médail)

8. Definition: « a species that can potentially reach 3 meters in height
with a single stem and an arborescent habit (i.e. with a well
individualized crown) »
Þ More conservative than the definition of the Global Tree
Specialist Group (« at least 2 meters »)
Médail,
Monnet,
Pavon,
Nikolic,
Dimopoulos,
Baccheta,
Arroyo,
Cheikh
Albassatneh,
Domina,
Fady,
Matevski,
Mifsud,
Leriche,
What is a
tree in the
Mediterrane
an Basin
hotspot? A
critical
analysis (in
prep.)
What is a tree in the Med. basin?
8
Co-design

9. Definition: « a species that can potentially reach 3 meters in height
with a single stem and an arborescent habit (i.e. with a well
individualized crown) »
Þ More conservative than the definition of the Global Tree
Specialist Group (« at least 2 meters »)
… but we included 22 more taxa than the GTS database!
- Species that can form trees in some geographical situations or
ecological conditions (« cryptic » trees)
- Recently described species
- Different taxonomic conceptions (about hybrids, lumpers and
splitters)
Médail,
Monnet,
Pavon,
Nikolic,
Dimopoulos,
Baccheta,
Arroyo,
Cheikh
Albassatneh,
Domina,
Fady,
Matevski,
Mifsud,
Leriche,
What is a
tree in the
Mediterrane
an Basin
hotspot? A
critical
analysis (in
prep.)
What is a tree in the Med. basin?
9
Co-design

10. Mediterranean
Europe
13 countries
including
their islands
Checklist of tree taxa in the Med. Europe
10
Co-design

11. Médail,
Monnet,
Pavon,
Nikolic,
Dimopoulos,
Baccheta,
Arroyo,
Cheikh
Albassatneh,
Domina,
Fady,
Matevski,
Mifsud,
Leriche,
What is a
tree in the
Mediterrane
an Basin
hotspot? A
critical
analysis (in
prep.)
Checklist of tree taxa in the Med. Europe
11
Results
Native richness by countries / main islands in the Med-European region
Ø 210 species
Ø 246 taxa (species and subspecies)
Ø 46 endemic taxa
For comparison:
Ø 135 taxa in the medio-european
region
Ø 42 species in Central Europe

12. Mediterranean
Europe
13 countries
including their
islands
Objective:
synthetizing
existing
national
databases
ü Challenge
accepted:
dealing with
heterogeneity
in data and
data sharing
agreements
Building the occurrences database
12
Never give up

13. Building the occurrences database
13
Co-design
10x10 km
grid
Mediterranean
Europe
13 countries
including their
islands
Objective:
synthetizing
existing
national
databases
ü Challenge
accepted:
dealing with
heterogeneity
in data and
data sharing
agreements

14. ü Challenge accepted: synthetizing existing databases
- International & European datases (GBIF, euforgen…)
- National Forest inventories
- National Atlas of Distribution
Building the occurrences database
14
Co-design

15. Building the occurrences database
15
Co-design
Occurrences of Abies pinsapo (Spanish fir)

16. Building the occurrences database
16
Co-design
Occurrences of Abies pinsapo (Spanish fir)
Filtering:
Ø Native vs. introduced at the country scale
Ø Naturalized vs. planted populations within the country… when
possible

17. Building the occurrences database
17
Co-design
Occurrences of Abies pinsapo (Spanish fir)
Filtering:
Ø Native vs. introduced at the country scale
Ø Naturalized vs. planted populations within the country… when
possible
Þ Automate cleaning data processing
Þ Critical insights into native distribution for biogeographical studies

18. Building the occurrences database
18
Co-design
Occurrences of Abies pinsapo (Spanish fir)
Filtering:
Ø Native vs. introduced at the country scale
Ø Naturalized vs. planted populations within the country… when
possible
Þ Automate cleaning data processing
Þ Critical insights into native distribution for biogeographical studies
Please repeat
the process
for 246 taxa
x 17
countries/islands

19. ü Challenge accepted: synthetizing existing databases
- International & European datases (GBIF, euforgen…)
- National forestry inventories
- National Atlas
Þ WOODIV occurrences database: critical insights for
biogeographical studies into the spatial distribution of native tree
species including often neglected or cryptic Mediterranean
species
Building the occurrences database
19
Co-design
Ordonnez & Svenning 2015 Influence of
glacial-interglaciacl climate stability and
accessibility on the geographic patterns in
functional diversityc

20. ü Challenge accepted: synthetizing existing databases
Building the occurrences database
20
Co-design
… But what if no data?

21. ü Challenge accepted: synthetizing existing databases
… But what if no data?
Building the occurrences database
21
Co-design
Occurrences of Pistacia lentiscus

22. ü Challenge accepted: synthetizing existing databases
… But what if no data?
Building the occurrences database
22
Co-design
Occurrences of Pistacia lentiscus

23. ü Challenge accepted: synthetizing existing databases
… But what if no data?
Building the occurrences database
23
Co-design
Occurrences of Pistacia lentiscus

24. Species-level phylogeny of Med. tree taxa
24
Mediterranean basin: the
biggest of the region with
Mediterranean climate but
no dated phylogeny of
woody taxa

25. Species-level phylogeny of Med. tree taxa
25
ü Challenge accepted: collecting molecular sequences from
GenBank and new samples (parallel project)
Marwan Cheikh Albassatneh
PhD Student
Ø 72 new samples (collected in Spain, Italy,
Montenegro, Greece… and from herbarium
collections)
Ø Today: only 10% of species missing in a
species-level phylogeny
Cheikh
Albassatneh,
Ponger, Monnet,
Médail, Leriche,
Escudero,
Arroyo, Spanu,
Bagnoli,
Vendramin,
Fady. A genus-
level dated
phylogeny of
Mediterranean
tree species of
southern of
Europe (in
prep.)

26. Toward a multifaceted approach of woody
diversity
26
taxonomy
functional
traits
occurrencesphylogeny
Selection & extraction
in TRY database:
2 Species-level
phylogeny
2 Checklist of Euro-
Med. trees taxa
2 Occurrences dataset
in Euro-Med
Þ WOODIV data is becoming a reference dataset for phylogeny and occurrences of
trees in the European Mediterranean bassin

27. Toward a multifaceted approach of woody
diversity
27
taxonomy
functional
traits
occurrencesphylogeny
Ø Taking advantage of the
best practices & lessons
from a literature review on
the multifaceted approach
First submission of the proposal: 2012
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

28. Conceptual basis
Toward a multifaceted approach of woody
diversity
28
taxonomy
functional
traits
occurrencesphylogeny
Ø Taking advantage of the
best practices & lessons
from a literature review on
the multifaceted approach
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Tomorrow – 14:00
“Relevance of the
multifaceted approach for
conservation”

29. Conceptual basis
Toward a multifaceted approach of woody
diversity
29
taxonomy
functional
traits
occurrencesphylogeny
Tomorrow – 14:00
“Relevance of the
multifaceted approach for
conservation”
Ø Taking advantage of the
best practices & lessons
from a literature review on
the multifaceted approach
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
was this morning! :-(

30. Conceptual basis
Toward a multifaceted approach of woody
diversity
30
taxonomy
functional
traits
occurrencesphylogeny
Challenging but fruitful collaboration between botanists and
ecologists of many countries
ü checklist of trees in Mediterranean Europe
ü species-level phylogeny
ü long lasting & reusable database on tree occurrences
ÞRewarding effort for future biogeographical studies in the
Mediterranean region from the synthesis of publicly available data
ÞPotentially a first step to expand the approach to the Southern
part of the Mediterranean basin

31. Acknowledgements
Thank you for your attention!
Thanks to the CESAB,
The Labex OT-Med,
& the WOODIV members