The Functional Consequences of Biodiversity

by Kinzig, Ann P.; Pacala, Stephen W.; Tilman, David

• ISBN13: 9780691088228
• ISBN10: 0691088225
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-01-28
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

Does biodiversity influence how ecosystems function? Might diversity loss affect the ability of ecosystems to deliver services of benefit to humankind? Ecosystems provide food, fuel, fiber, and drinkable water, regulate local and regional climate, and recycle needed nutrients, among other things. An ecosyste's ability to sustain functioning may depend on the number of species residing in the ecosystem--its biological diversity--but this has been a controversial hypothesis. There are many unanswered questions about how and why changes in biodiversity could alter ecosystem functioning. This volume, written by top researchers, synthesizes empirical studies on the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and extends that knowledge using a novel and coordinated set of models and theoretical approaches. These experimental and theoretical analyses demonstrate that functioning usually increases with biodiversity, but also reveals when and under what circumstances other relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning might occur. It also accounts for apparent changes in diversity-functioning relationships that emerge over time in disturbed ecosystems, thereby addressing a major controversy in the field. The volume concludes with a blueprint for moving beyond small-scale studies to regional ones--a move of enormous significance for policy and conservation but one that will entail tackling some of the most fundamental challenges in ecology. In addition to the editors, the contributors are Juan Armesto, Claudia Neuhauser, Andy Hector, Clarence Lehman, Peter Kareiva, Sharon Lawler, Peter Chesson, Teri Balser, Mary K. Firestone, Robert Holt, Michel Loreau, Johannes Knops, David Wedin, Peter Reich, Shahid Naeem, Bernhard Schmid, Jasmin Joshi, and Felix Schlauml;pfer.

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii
List of Contributors	xix
List of Figures	xxi
List of Tables	xxv
Opening Remarks	1	(8)
Ann P. Kinzig
PART 1 Empirical Progress
Biodiversity, Composition, and Ecosystem Processes: Theory and Concepts	9	(33)
David Tilman
Clarence Lehman
Introduction	9	(2)
Definitions of Diversity	11	(4)
Problems Related to Experiments and Observations	14	(1)
Diversity, Productivity, and Resource Dynamics	15	(14)
Sampling Effect Models	16	(7)
Niche Differentiation Models	23	(6)
Diversity and Stability	29	(10)
Measures of Stability	29	(1)
Components of Temporal Stability	30	(4)
Diversity and Temporal Stability in Multispecies Models	34	(5)
Summary	39	(2)
Acknowledgments	41	(1)
Experimental and Observational Studies of Diversity, Productivity, and Stability	42	(29)
David Tilman
Johannes Knops
David Wedin
Peter Reich
Diversity and Stability	43	(6)
Diversity, Productivity, and Nutrient Dynamics	49	(4)
New Results from the Cedar Creek Biodiversity Experiment	53	(14)
Methods	53	(1)
Soil Nitrate	54	(1)
Community Cover and Biomass	54	(6)
Species Number and Composition	60	(3)
Weedy Invasion and Fungal Pathogens	63	(2)
Patterns in Native Grassland	65	(2)
Summary and Synthesis	67	(3)
Acknowledgments	70	(1)
Biodiversity and the Functioning of Grassland Ecosystems: Multi-Site Comparisons	71	(25)
Andy Hector
Introduction	71	(1)
The Biodepth Project	72	(17)
Multiple Influences on Productivity	74	(1)
Differences between Locations	74	(1)
Species Richness versus Functional Groups	75	(4)
Richness versus Composition	79	(2)
Effects of Nitrogen Fixers	81	(1)
The Sampling Effect and Biodiversity Mechanisms	82	(2)
Testing the Sampling Effect	84	(5)
Summary of the Biodepth Results	89	(1)
Comparisons with Related Studies	89	(5)
Relationships within and between Sites	93	(1)
Summary	94	(1)
Acknowledgments	95	(1)
Autotrophic-Heterotrophic Interactions and Their Impacts on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning	96	(24)
Shahid Naeem
Introduction	96	(2)
Fundamentals	98	(3)
Classes of Trophically Defined Functional Groups	98	(2)
The Producer--Decomposer Codependency (PDC)	100	(1)
Fundamental Trophic Structure	101	(1)
Heterotrophic Diversity and Ecosystem Functioning	101	(11)
Decomposers and Producers Affect Each Other via Carbon Exchange	102	(1)
Consumers Affect the Biomass of Producers and Decomposers	103	(1)
Trophic Structure Influences Rates of Material Cycling	104	(1)
Heterotrophic Diversity Affects levels and Stability of Ecosystem Processes	105	(4)
Heterotrophs Modulate Producer Diversity Effects	109	(2)
Summary of Empirical Findings	111	(1)
Implications for Autotroph-Only Models	112	(2)
Decomposers	113	(1)
Trophic Levels	113	(1)
Material Pools	113	(1)
Discussion	114	(6)
Empirical Evidence for Biodiversity-Ecosystem Functioning Relationships	120	(31)
Bernhard Schmid
Jasmin Joshi
Felix Schlapfer
Introduction	120	(3)
Plant Diversity Effects on Ecosystem Functioning	123	(17)
General Patterns under Uniform Conditions	124	(12)
General Patterns under Variable Conditions	136	(4)
Biodiversity Effects among Trophic Levels	140	(1)
Review of Empirical Studies	140	(1)
Importance of Biological Interactions	140	(1)
Designing Empirical Studies to Measure Biodiversity-Ecosystem Functioning Relationships	141	(9)
Relevance of Existing Studies	141	(7)
Suggestions for Future Studies	148	(2)
Acknowledgments	150	(1)
The Transition from Sampling to Complementarity	151	(18)
Stephen Pacala
David Tilman
Conclusions	165	(4)
PART 2 Theoretical Extensions
Introduction to Theory and the Common Ecosystem Model	169	(6)
Stephen Pacala
Ann P. Kinzig
The Common Ecosystem Model	171	(3)
Summary of the Basic Model	174	(1)
Successional Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning	175	(38)
Ann P. Kinzig
Stephen Pacala
Introduction	175	(4)
The Successional Niche in a Simple Mechanistic Ecosystem Model	179	(14)
Case Studies	183	(2)
Results	185	(8)
Competition-Colonization in a Simple Mechanistic Ecosystem Model	193	(19)
Local versus Global Performance	195	(2)
Cases Considered	197	(5)
Results	202	(10)
Conclusions	212	(1)
Environmental Niches and Ecosystem Functioning	213	(33)
Peter Chesson
Stephen Pacala
Claudia Neuhauser
Introduction	213	(2)
Environmental Niches	215	(8)
Temporal Niches	216	(6)
Spatial and Spatio-Temporal Niches	222	(1)
Ecosystem Functioning	223	(14)
Ecosystem Functioning with Spatial Niches	224	(2)
Ecosystem Functioning with Temporal Niches: Lottery Models	226	(2)
Ecosystem Functioning with Temporal Niches: a Mediterranean Ecosystem	228	(9)
Discussion	237	(7)
Acknowledgments	244	(1)
Appendix	245	(1)
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning: The Role of Trophic Interactions and the Importance of System Openness	246	(19)
Robert D. Holt
Michel Loreau
Introduction	246	(1)
The Sampling Effect Model and Community Assembly	247	(1)
Importance of Trophic Complexity and System Openness	248	(2)
Toward an Ecosystem Model with Trophic Interactions	250	(6)
Ecosystem Closed at Top, Open at Bottom	252	(4)
Ecosystem Closed at Bottom, Open at Top	256	(1)
Discussion	256	(3)
Conclusions	259	(3)
Acknowledgments	262	(3)
PART 3 Applications and Future Directions
Linking Soil Microbial Communities and Ecosystem Functioning	265	(29)
Teri C. Balser
Ann P. Kinzig
Mary K. Firestone
Introduction	265	(1)
Challenges in Linking Microbial Communities and Ecosystem Functioning	266	(5)
Application of Macroscale Diversity Theory to Microorganisms	267	(1)
Microbial Ecology Contribution to the Study of Ecosystem Functioning	268	(1)
Ecosystem Science and Microbial Ecology	269	(2)
Linking Microbial Community Composition and Ecosystem Functioning: A Review of Concepts and Models	271	(7)
Broad versus Narrow Processes	271	(1)
Application of Physiological Ecology	272	(4)
Microbial Strategies: Physiological Constraints and Trade-Offs	276	(2)
Timeline of Microbial Response: Conceptual Model of Microbial Role in Ecosystem Functioning	278	(7)
Microbial Response: Four Phases	278	(4)
Microbial Community Response to Modulator versus Resource Change	282	(2)
Relevance to the Timescale of Global Changes	284	(1)
Conclusions and Future Research Needs	285	(2)
Acknowledgments	287	(1)
Appendix
Linking Microbial Community Composition and Ecosystem Functioning: Incorporating Microbial Dynamics in the Common Ecosystem Model	287	(7)
How Relevant to Conservation Are Studies Linking Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning?	294	(20)
Sharon P. Lawler
Juan J. Armesto
Peter Kareiva
Introduction	294	(1)
Conservation Philosophies and Ecological Science	295	(3)
Studies of Biodiversity-Ecosystem Functioning Relationships: Origins and Recent Critiques	298	(3)
Four Unresolved Issues	301	(7)
Relating Biodiversity Theory and Experiments to Losses in Biodiversity Caused by Humans	308	(5)
Where Should Biodiversity Research Move in the Future If It Is to Best Address Conservation Problems?	310	(2)
Do Conservationists Need the Results of Biodiversity Experiments to Justify Their Work?	312	(1)
Acknowledgments	313	(1)
Looking Back and Peering Forward	314	(17)
Ann P. Kinzig
Stephen Pacala
David Tilman
References	331	(28)
Index	359