Résumé
There has been considerable focus on the impacts of environmental change on ecosystem function arising from changes in species richness. However, environmental change may affect ecosystem function without affecting richness, most notably by affecting population densities and community composition. Using a theoretical model, we find that, despite invariant richness, (1) small environmental effects may already lead to a collapse of function; (2) competitive strength may be a less important determinant of ecosystem function change than the selectivity of the environmental change driver and (3) effects on ecosystem function increase when effects on composition are larger. We also present a complementary statistical analysis of 13 data sets of phytoplankton and periphyton communities exposed to chemical stressors and show that effects on primary production under invariant richness ranged from −75% to +10%. We conclude that environmental protection goals relying on measures of richness could underestimate ecological impacts of environmental change.
| langue | Anglais |
|---|---|
| Pages | 1315-1324 |
| Nombre de pages | 10 |
| journal | Ecology Letters |
| Volume | 20 |
| Numéro | 10 |
| Les DOIs | |
| état | Publié - 1 oct. 2017 |
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Shifts of community composition and population density substantially affect ecosystem function despite invariant richness. / Spaak, Jurg W.; Baert, Jan M.; Baird, Donald J.; Eisenhauer, Nico; Maltby, Lorraine; Pomati, Francesco; Radchuk, Viktoriia; Rohr, Jason R.; Van den Brink, Paul J.; De Laender, Frederik.
Dans: Ecology Letters, Vol 20, Numéro 10, 01.10.2017, p. 1315-1324.Résultats de recherche: Contribution à un journal/une revue › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Shifts of community composition and population density substantially affect ecosystem function despite invariant richness
AU - Spaak, Jurg W.
AU - Baert, Jan M.
AU - Baird, Donald J.
AU - Eisenhauer, Nico
AU - Maltby, Lorraine
AU - Pomati, Francesco
AU - Radchuk, Viktoriia
AU - Rohr, Jason R.
AU - Van den Brink, Paul J.
AU - De Laender, Frederik
PY - 2017/10/1
Y1 - 2017/10/1
N2 - There has been considerable focus on the impacts of environmental change on ecosystem function arising from changes in species richness. However, environmental change may affect ecosystem function without affecting richness, most notably by affecting population densities and community composition. Using a theoretical model, we find that, despite invariant richness, (1) small environmental effects may already lead to a collapse of function; (2) competitive strength may be a less important determinant of ecosystem function change than the selectivity of the environmental change driver and (3) effects on ecosystem function increase when effects on composition are larger. We also present a complementary statistical analysis of 13 data sets of phytoplankton and periphyton communities exposed to chemical stressors and show that effects on primary production under invariant richness ranged from −75% to +10%. We conclude that environmental protection goals relying on measures of richness could underestimate ecological impacts of environmental change.
AB - There has been considerable focus on the impacts of environmental change on ecosystem function arising from changes in species richness. However, environmental change may affect ecosystem function without affecting richness, most notably by affecting population densities and community composition. Using a theoretical model, we find that, despite invariant richness, (1) small environmental effects may already lead to a collapse of function; (2) competitive strength may be a less important determinant of ecosystem function change than the selectivity of the environmental change driver and (3) effects on ecosystem function increase when effects on composition are larger. We also present a complementary statistical analysis of 13 data sets of phytoplankton and periphyton communities exposed to chemical stressors and show that effects on primary production under invariant richness ranged from −75% to +10%. We conclude that environmental protection goals relying on measures of richness could underestimate ecological impacts of environmental change.
KW - Algae
KW - biodiversity
KW - coexistence
KW - community ecology
KW - modelling
KW - primary production
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85029577319&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/ele.12828
DO - 10.1111/ele.12828
M3 - Article
VL - 20
SP - 1315
EP - 1324
JO - Ecology Letters
T2 - Ecology Letters
JF - Ecology Letters
SN - 1461-023X
IS - 10
ER -