The article "Incorporating Plant Functional Diversity Effects in Ecosystem Service Assessments" by Sandra Díaz, Sandra Lavorel, Francesco de Bello, Fabien Quétier, Karl Grigulis, and T. Matthew Robson explores the impact of plant functional diversity (FD) on ecosystem properties (EP) and their relevance to ecosystem services (ES). The authors propose a systematic approach to understand how changes in land cover affect EP through modifications in FD. They articulate various conceptual models linking plant trait values with EP and propose a generic procedure to reduce uncertainty in predicting EP and derived ES. The framework is applied to a grassland system in the central French Alps, where changes in FD due to land use affect important ES for local stakeholders. The study highlights the importance of considering different components of FD, such as community-weighted mean (CWM) and functional divergence (FDvg), in predicting EP and ES. The authors conclude that their framework contributes to a new area of research at the intersection of land change science and fundamental ecology, providing a quantitative tool for assessing the impacts of land cover changes on ecosystem services.The article "Incorporating Plant Functional Diversity Effects in Ecosystem Service Assessments" by Sandra Díaz, Sandra Lavorel, Francesco de Bello, Fabien Quétier, Karl Grigulis, and T. Matthew Robson explores the impact of plant functional diversity (FD) on ecosystem properties (EP) and their relevance to ecosystem services (ES). The authors propose a systematic approach to understand how changes in land cover affect EP through modifications in FD. They articulate various conceptual models linking plant trait values with EP and propose a generic procedure to reduce uncertainty in predicting EP and derived ES. The framework is applied to a grassland system in the central French Alps, where changes in FD due to land use affect important ES for local stakeholders. The study highlights the importance of considering different components of FD, such as community-weighted mean (CWM) and functional divergence (FDvg), in predicting EP and ES. The authors conclude that their framework contributes to a new area of research at the intersection of land change science and fundamental ecology, providing a quantitative tool for assessing the impacts of land cover changes on ecosystem services.