Towards mechanistic integration of the causes and consequences of biodiversity

Shaopeng Wang; Pubin Hong; Peter B Adler; Eric Allan; Yann Hautier; Bernhard Schmid; Jurg W Spaak; Yanhao Feng

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2024.02.008

Towards mechanistic integration of the causes and consequences of biodiversity

Trends Ecol Evol. 2024 Mar 18:S0169-5347(24)00054-5. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2024.02.008. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Shaopeng Wang¹, Pubin Hong², Peter B Adler³, Eric Allan⁴, Yann Hautier⁵, Bernhard Schmid⁶, Jurg W Spaak⁷, Yanhao Feng⁸

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Institute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Science, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. Electronic address: shaopeng.wang@pku.edu.cn.
² Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Institute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Science, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
³ Department of Wildland Resources and the Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA.
⁴ Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, 3013 Bern, Switzerland; Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, Mittelstrasse 43, Bern 3012, Switzerland.
⁵ Ecology and Biodiversity Group, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584, CH, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
⁶ Remote Sensing Laboratories, Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
⁷ Landscape ecology, RPTU Kaiserslautern Landau, 76829 Landau, Germany.
⁸ State Key Laboratory of Herbage Improvement and Grassland Agro-ecosystems, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China.

PMID: 38503639
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2024.02.008

Abstract

The global biodiversity crisis has stimulated decades of research on three themes: species coexistence, biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships (BEF), and biodiversity-ecosystem functional stability relationships (BEFS). However, studies on these themes are largely independent, creating barriers to an integrative understanding of the causes and consequences of biodiversity. Here we review recent progress towards mechanistic integration of coexistence, BEF, and BEFS. Mechanisms underlying the three themes can be linked in various ways, potentially creating either positive or negative relationships between them. That said, we generally expect positive associations between coexistence and BEF, and between BEF and BEFS. Our synthesis represents an initial step towards integrating causes and consequences of biodiversity; future developments should include more mechanistic approaches and broader ecological contexts.

Keywords: biodiversity-ecosystem functioning; ecosystem stability; mechanisms; species coexistence.

Publication types

Review