Ecosystem functioning is linked to microbial evenness and community composition along depth gradient in a semiarid lake

AbstractMarine heatwaves are increasing worldwide, with several negative impacts on biological communities and ecosystems. This 24-day study tested heatwaves' effect with distinct duration and recovery periods on benthic estuarine communities' diversity and contribution to ecosystem functioning experimentally. The communities were obtained from a temperate estuary, usually subjected to high daily thermal amplitudes. Our goal was to understand the communities' response to the thermal change, including the community descriptors and behavioural changes expected during heat extremes. We measured community composition and structural changes and the bioturbation process and nutrient release as ecosystem functioning measurements. Overall, our findings highlight the potential tolerance of studied estuarine species to the temperature ranges tested in the study, as community composition and structure were similar, independently of the warming effect. We detected a slight trend for bioturbation and nutrient release increase in the communities under warming, yet these responses were not consistent with the heatwaves exposure duration. Overall, we conclude on the complexity of estuarine communities’ contribution to functioning under warming, and the importance of scalable experiments with benthic organisms' responses to climate variability, accommodating longer time scales and replication. Such an approach would set more efficient expectations towards climate change mitigation or adaptation in temperate estuarine ecosystems.

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Predicting changes in community composition and ecosystem functioning from plant traits: revisiting the Holy Grail

Functional Ecology ◽

10.1046/j.1365-2435.2002.00664.x ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 16 (5) ◽

pp. 545-556 ◽

Cited By ~ 1764

Author(s):

S. Lavorel ◽

E. Garnier

Keyword(s):

Community Composition ◽

Ecosystem Functioning ◽

Plant Traits ◽

Holy Grail

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Species Loss and Ecosystem Functioning: Effects of Species Identity and Community Composition

Oikos ◽

10.2307/3547058 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 81 (2) ◽

pp. 389 ◽

Cited By ~ 155

Author(s):

Amy J. Symstad ◽

David Tilman ◽

John Willson ◽

Johannes M. H. Knops

Keyword(s):

Community Composition ◽

Ecosystem Functioning ◽

Species Loss ◽

Species Identity

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Effects of organism size and community composition on ecosystem functioning

Ecology Letters ◽

10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00830.x ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 8 (12) ◽

pp. 1271-1282 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Zachary T. Long ◽

Peter J. Morin

Keyword(s):

Community Composition ◽

Ecosystem Functioning

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Effects of Liming on the Epipelic Algal Community of Woods Lake, New York

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f89-039 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 46 (2) ◽

pp. 287-294 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Deborah A. Roberts ◽

Charles W. Boylen

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Community Composition ◽

New York State ◽

Water Clarity ◽

Algal Community ◽

Depth Gradient ◽

Before And After ◽

Woods Lake ◽

Depth Zonation ◽

Zonation Patterns

The biovolume and species composition of algae on the sediment along a depth gradient were determined before and after liming of acidic (pH 4.9), oligotrophic Woods Lake in the Adirondack Park in New York State (Herkimer Co., NY, USA). The epipelic algal community was dominated by diatoms and cyanobacteria prior to and following liming. Distinct depth zonation patterns of community composition were evident and unaffected by CaCO3 addition. Treatment with calcite increased pH from 4.9 to above 9.0, caused ANC to rise from 0 to >400 μeq∙L−1, and immediately reduced overall water clarity which subsequently improved during the summer. There was a significant decrease (p <0.001) in total algal biovolume after liming corresponding to a significant reduction in biovolume of Hapalosiphon pumilus at the deepest sites. Total diatom biovolume was not significantly changed as a result of the addition of calcite; however, a shift in community composition from dominance by Navicula tenuicephala and Fragilaria acidobiontica to dominance by Achnanthes microcephala and Anomoeoneis vitrea was observed following liming.

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Can plant functional traits explain shifts in community composition in a changing Arctic?

Arctic Science ◽

10.1139/as-2020-0036 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Katlyn Rose Betway ◽

Robert D. Hollister ◽

Jeremy May ◽

Jacob A. Harris ◽

William Gould ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Composition ◽

Functional Traits ◽

Ecosystem Functioning ◽

Repeated Measures ◽

Vascular Plant ◽

Plant Cover ◽

The Arctic ◽

And Function ◽

Northern Alaska ◽

Over Time

The Arctic is warming more than twice the global average. Graminoids, deciduous shrubs, and evergreen shrubs have been shown to increase in cover in some regions, but not others. To better understand why plant response varies across regions, we compared change in cover over time with nine functional traits of twelve dominant species at three regions in northern Alaska (Utqiaġvik, Atqasuk, and Toolik Lake). Cover was measured three times from 2008 to 2018. Repeated measures ANOVA found one species showed a significant change in cover over time; Carex aquatilis increased at Atqasuk by 12.7%. Canonical correspondence analysis suggested a relationship between shifts in species cover and traits, but Pearson and Spearman correlations did not find a significant trend for any trait when analyzed individually. Investigation of community-weighted means (CWM) for each trait revealed no significant changes over time for any trait at any region. Whereas, estimated ecosystem values for several traits important to ecosystem functioning showed consistent increases over time at two regions (Utqiaġvik and Atqasuk). Results thus indicate that vascular plant community composition and function have remained consistent over time; however, documented increases in total plant cover have important implications for ecosystem functioning.

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Changes in Community Composition of Tropical Evergreen Forests during Succession in Ta Dung National Park, Central Highlands of Vietnam

Forests ◽

10.3390/f11121358 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (12) ◽

pp. 1358

Author(s):

Nguyen Hong Hai ◽

Nguyen Thanh Tan ◽

Tran Quang Bao ◽

Any Mary Petritan ◽

Trinh Hien Mai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Structure ◽

Community Composition ◽

Ecosystem Functioning ◽

Forest Community ◽

Old Growth ◽

Phylogenetic Structure ◽

Study Region ◽

Successional Forests ◽

Successional Stages ◽

Central Highlands

Degradation of tropical forests is a major driver of the global extinction crisis. A key question is understanding the role of evolution history during forest succession in the context of forest restoration for maintaining ecosystem function and stability. This study was conducted in a fragmented forest landscape in the central highlands of Vietnam. We sampled living trees with diameters at breast height of ≥6.0 cm in nineteen 0.25 ha plots to evaluate forest community structure changes over two early successional stages (<10 years and 10–20 years old) after abandonment and old-growth. We used both statistically metric and nonmetric analyses to examine correlations of community composition during successional stages and along elevational gradients. We found that (i) significant differences existed in the structural compositions between early successional forests and old-growth forests, but did not exist within early successional forests; (ii) the phylogenetic structure shifted from overdispersion to clustering with increasing successional ages; and (iii) above-ground biomass (AGB), representing ecosystem functioning, significantly increased from early-to-late successional stages, but did not correlate with phylogenetic diversity or elevation. Our results revealed that the forest community structure was strongly affected by degradation, particularly AGB and phylogenetic structure. These findings have clear implications for sustaining biodiversity persistence and ecosystem functioning in human-modified landscapes in the study region.

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Restoring wetland prairies: tradeoffs among native plant cover, community composition, and ecosystem functioning

Ecosphere ◽

10.1890/es12-00261.1 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 3 (12) ◽

pp. art121 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Laurel Pfeifer-Meister ◽

Bart R. Johnson ◽

Bitty A. Roy ◽

Santiago Carreño ◽

Julie L. Stewart ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Composition ◽

Ecosystem Functioning ◽

Plant Cover ◽

Native Plant

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Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in dynamic landscapes

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2015.0267 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 371 (1694) ◽

pp. 20150267 ◽

Cited By ~ 97

Author(s):

Ulrich Brose ◽

Helmut Hillebrand

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Community Composition ◽

Real World ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Ecosystem Functioning ◽

Species Traits ◽

Theme Issue ◽

Temporal Scales ◽

Varying Environments ◽

Dynamic Communities

The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF) and its consequence for ecosystem services has predominantly been studied by controlled, short-term and small-scale experiments under standardized environmental conditions and constant community compositions. However, changes in biodiversity occur in real-world ecosystems with varying environments and a dynamic community composition. In this theme issue, we present novel research on BEF in such dynamic communities. The contributions are organized in three sections on BEF relationships in (i) multi-trophic diversity, (ii) non-equilibrium biodiversity under disturbance and varying environmental conditions, and (iii) large spatial and long temporal scales. The first section shows that multi-trophic BEF relationships often appear idiosyncratic, while accounting for species traits enables a predictive understanding. Future BEF research on complex communities needs to include ecological theory that is based on first principles of species-averaged body masses, stoichiometry and effects of environmental conditions such as temperature. The second section illustrates that disturbance and varying environments have direct as well as indirect (via changes in species richness, community composition and species' traits) effects on BEF relationships. Fluctuations in biodiversity (species richness, community composition and also trait dominance within species) can severely modify BEF relationships. The third section demonstrates that BEF at larger spatial scales is driven by different variables. While species richness per se and community biomass are most important, species identity effects and community composition are less important than at small scales. Across long temporal scales, mass extinctions represent severe changes in biodiversity with mixed effects on ecosystem functions. Together, the contributions of this theme issue identify new research frontiers and answer some open questions on BEF relationships in dynamic communities of real-world landscapes.

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