Shifts of community composition and population density substantially affect ecosystem function despite invariant richness

Jurg W. Spaak; Jan M. Baert; Donald J. Baird; Nico Eisenhauer; Lorraine Maltby; Francesco Pomati; Viktoriia Radchuk; Jason R. Rohr; Paul J. Van den Brink; Frederik De Laender

doi:10.1111/ele.12828

Shifts of community composition and population density substantially affect ecosystem function despite invariant richness

Jurg W. Spaak, Jan M. Baert, Donald J. Baird, Nico Eisenhauer, Lorraine Maltby, Francesco Pomati, Viktoriia Radchuk, Jason R. Rohr, Paul J. Van den Brink, Frederik De Laender

Résultats de recherche: Contribution à un journal/une revue › Article › Revue par des pairs

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 originale	Anglais
Pages (de - à)	1315-1324
Nombre de pages	10
journal	Ecology Letters
Volume	20
Numéro de publication	10
Les DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12828
Etat de la publication	Publié - 17 sept. 2017

Financement

This article is a joint effort of the working group sEcoToxDiv and an outcome of a workshop kindly supported by sDiv, the Synthesis Centre of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig (DFG FZT 118). This research used resources of the Plateforme Technologique de Calcul Intensif (PTCI) (http://www.ptci.unamur.be) located at the University of Namur, Belgium, which is supported by the FRS-FNRS under convention No 2.4520.11. The PTCI is member of the Consortium des \u00C9quipements de Calcul Inten-sif (C\u00C9CI) (http://www.ceci-hpc.be). J.M.B. is indebted to the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) for his PhD research fellow grant (B/12958/01). J.R.R. was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (EF-1241889), the National Institutes of Health (R01GM109499, R01TW010286), the US Department of Agriculture (NRI 2006-01370, 2009-35102-0543), and the US Environmental Protection Agency (CAREER 83518801). F.D.L. received support from grants of the University of Namur (FSR Impul-sionnel 48454E1), and the Fund for Scientific Research, FNRS (PDR T.0048.16). D.J.B would like to acknowledge support through the Discovery Grant program of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. F.P. was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF grant CRSII2_147654). We acknowledge the valuable input of three referees.

Bailleurs de fonds	Numéro du bailleur de fonds
National Institutes of Health
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Synthesis Centre of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Fogarty International Center	R01TW010286
Université de Namur	FSR Impul-sionnel 48454E1
United States Environmental Protection Agency	83518801
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft	2.4520.11, FZT 118
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung	147654, CRSII2_147654
National Science Foundation	EF-1241889
Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS	PDR T.0048.16
Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek - Vlaanderen (FWO)	B/12958/01
U.S. Department of Agriculture	2009-35102-0543, NRI 2006-01370
National Institute of General Medical Sciences	R01GM109499

SDG des Nations Unies

Ce résultat contribue à ou aux Objectifs de développement durable suivants

Accès au document

10.1111/ele.12828License: CC BY-NC

Autres fichiers et liens

Link to publication in Scopus

Coexistence, Stress, et le fonctionnement des écosystèmes Aquatiques
De Laender, F. (Responsable du Projet)
1/10/16 → 30/09/20
Projet: Recherche
Phytoplankton diversity and ecosystem functioning along gradients of grazing and toxicity
De Laender, F. (Responsable du Projet) & KULKARNI, D. (Co-investigateur)
1/07/15 → 1/07/16
Projet: Recherche
sEcoToxDiv: Workshop funded by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) to organize a workshop on “Ecotoxicology for B-EF research: designing novel multi-trophic B-EF experiments
De Laender, F. (Responsable du Projet) & Van den Brink, P. J. (Co-investigateur)
15/12/14 → 1/05/15
Projet: Recherche

Plateforme Technologique Calcul Intensif
Champagne, B. (!!Manager)
Plateforme technologique Calcul intensif
Equipement/installations: Plateforme technolgique

ECOSUMMIT 2016
De Laender, F. (Orateur invité)
2016 → …
Activité: Participation ou organisation d'un événement › Participation à une conférence, un congrès

Contient cette citation

@article{9a1d5b5fe58b4c52a0d24cb6a913b7b4,

title = "Shifts of community composition and population density substantially affect ecosystem function despite invariant richness",

abstract = "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.",

keywords = "Algae, biodiversity, coexistence, community ecology, modelling, primary production",

author = "Spaak, {Jurg W.} and Baert, {Jan M.} and Baird, {Donald J.} and Nico Eisenhauer and Lorraine Maltby and Francesco Pomati and Viktoriia Radchuk and Rohr, {Jason R.} and {Van den Brink}, {Paul J.} and {De Laender}, Frederik",

note = "Funding Information: This article is a joint effort of the working group sEcoToxDiv and an outcome of a workshop kindly supported by sDiv, the Synthesis Centre of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig (DFG FZT 118). This research used resources of the Plateforme Technologique de Calcul Intensif (PTCI) (http://www.ptci.unamur.be) located at the University of Namur, Belgium, which is supported by the FRS-FNRS under convention No 2.4520.11. The PTCI is member of the Consortium des {\'E}quipements de Calcul Inten-sif (C{\'E}CI) (http://www.ceci-hpc.be). J.M.B. is indebted to the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) for his PhD research fellow grant (B/12958/01). J.R.R. was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (EF-1241889), the National Institutes of Health (R01GM109499, R01TW010286), the US Department of Agriculture (NRI 2006-01370, 2009-35102-0543), and the US Environmental Protection Agency (CAREER 83518801). F.D.L. received support from grants of the University of Namur (FSR Impul-sionnel 48454E1), and the Fund for Scientific Research, FNRS (PDR T.0048.16). D.J.B would like to acknowledge support through the Discovery Grant program of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. F.P. was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF grant CRSII2_147654). We acknowledge the valuable input of three referees. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 The Authors Ecology Letters published by CNRS and John Wiley & Sons Ltd Copyright: Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

year = "2017",

month = sep,

day = "17",

doi = "10.1111/ele.12828",

language = "English",

volume = "20",

pages = "1315--1324",

journal = "Ecology Letters",

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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

N1 - Funding Information: This article is a joint effort of the working group sEcoToxDiv and an outcome of a workshop kindly supported by sDiv, the Synthesis Centre of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig (DFG FZT 118). This research used resources of the Plateforme Technologique de Calcul Intensif (PTCI) (http://www.ptci.unamur.be) located at the University of Namur, Belgium, which is supported by the FRS-FNRS under convention No 2.4520.11. The PTCI is member of the Consortium des Équipements de Calcul Inten-sif (CÉCI) (http://www.ceci-hpc.be). J.M.B. is indebted to the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) for his PhD research fellow grant (B/12958/01). J.R.R. was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (EF-1241889), the National Institutes of Health (R01GM109499, R01TW010286), the US Department of Agriculture (NRI 2006-01370, 2009-35102-0543), and the US Environmental Protection Agency (CAREER 83518801). F.D.L. received support from grants of the University of Namur (FSR Impul-sionnel 48454E1), and the Fund for Scientific Research, FNRS (PDR T.0048.16). D.J.B would like to acknowledge support through the Discovery Grant program of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. F.P. was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF grant CRSII2_147654). We acknowledge the valuable input of three referees. Publisher Copyright: © 2017 The Authors Ecology Letters published by CNRS and John Wiley & Sons Ltd Copyright: Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2017/9/17

Y1 - 2017/9/17

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

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U2 - 10.1111/ele.12828

DO - 10.1111/ele.12828

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85029577319

SN - 1461-023X

VL - 20

SP - 1315

EP - 1324

JO - Ecology Letters

JF - Ecology Letters

IS - 10

ER -

Shifts of community composition and population density substantially affect ecosystem function despite invariant richness

Résumé

Financement

SDG des Nations Unies

Accès au document

Autres fichiers et liens

Empreinte digitale

Projets

Coexistence, Stress, et le fonctionnement des écosystèmes Aquatiques

Phytoplankton diversity and ecosystem functioning along gradients of grazing and toxicity

sEcoToxDiv: Workshop funded by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) to organize a workshop on “Ecotoxicology for B-EF research: designing novel multi-trophic B-EF experiments

Équipement

Plateforme Technologique Calcul Intensif

Activités

ECOSUMMIT 2016

Contient cette citation