Effects of Trophic Skewing of Species Richness on Ecosystem Functioning in a Diverse Marine Community

Macromycetes are a group of fungi characterized by the production of fruit bodies and are highly relevant in most terrestrial ecosystems as pathogens, mutualists, and organic matter decomposers. Habitat transformation can drastically alter macromycete communities and diminish the contribution of these organisms to ecosystem functioning; however, knowledge on the effect of urbanization on macrofungal communities is scarce. Diversity metrics based on functional traits of macromycete species have shown to be valuable tools to predict how species contribute to ecosystem functionality since traits determine the performance of species in ecosystems. The aim of this study was to assess patterns of species richness, functional diversity, and composition of macrofungi in an urban ecosystem in Southwest Mexico, and to identify microclimatic, environmental, and urban factors related to these patterns in order to infer the effect of urbanization on macromycete communities. We selected four oak forests along an urbanization gradient and established a permanent sampling area of 0.1 ha at each site. Macromycete sampling was carried out every week from June to October 2017. The indices used to measure functional diversity were functional richness (FRic), functional divergence (FDig), and functional evenness (FEve). The metric used to assess variation of macrofungal ecological function along the study area was the functional value. We recorded a total of 134 macromycete species and 223 individuals. Our results indicated a decline of species richness with increased urbanization level related mainly to microclimatic variables, and a high turnover of species composition among study sites, which appears to be related to microclimatic and urbanization variables. FRic decreased with urbanization level, indicating that some of the available resources in the niche space within the most urbanized sites are not being utilized. FDig increased with urbanization, which suggests a high degree of niche differentiation among macromycete species within communities in urbanized areas. FEve did not show notable differences along the urbanization gradient, indicating few variations in the distribution of abundances within the occupied sections of the niche space. Similarly, the functional value was markedly higher in the less urbanized site, suggesting greater performance of functional guilds in that area. Our findings suggest that urbanization has led to a loss of macromycete species and a decrease in functional diversity, causing some sections of the niche space to be hardly occupied and available resources to be under-utilized, which could, to a certain extent, affect ecosystem functioning and stability.

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Marine biodiversity–ecosystem functions under uncertain environmental futures

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2010.0022 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 365 (1549) ◽

pp. 2107-2116 ◽

Cited By ~ 61

Author(s):

Mark T. Bulling ◽

Natalie Hicks ◽

Leigh Murray ◽

David M. Paterson ◽

Dave Raffaelli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Species Richness ◽

Ecosystem Functioning ◽

Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ◽

Nutrient Release ◽

Future Climate Change ◽

Marine Biodiversity ◽

Invertebrate Species ◽

Atmospheric Carbon

Anthropogenic activity is currently leading to dramatic transformations of ecosystems and losses of biodiversity. The recognition that these ecosystems provide services that are essential for human well-being has led to a major interest in the forms of the biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationship. However, there is a lack of studies examining the impact of climate change on these relationships and it remains unclear how multiple climatic drivers may affect levels of ecosystem functioning. Here, we examine the roles of two important climate change variables, temperature and concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, on the relationship between invertebrate species richness and nutrient release in a model benthic estuarine system. We found a positive relationship between invertebrate species richness and the levels of release of NH 4 -N into the water column, but no effect of species richness on the release of PO 4 -P. Higher temperatures and greater concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide had a negative impact on nutrient release. Importantly, we found significant interactions between the climate variables, indicating that reliably predicting the effects of future climate change will not be straightforward as multiple drivers are unlikely to have purely additive effects, resulting in increased levels of uncertainty.

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Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: Effects of the loss of salamander species richness

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.0902579106 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 106 (18) ◽

pp. E48-E48 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

L. Gamfeldt

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Ecosystem Functioning ◽

Biodiversity And Ecosystem Functioning ◽

Salamander Species

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Aquatic biodiversity enhances multiple nutritional benefits to humans

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1917487118 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 118 (15) ◽

pp. e1917487118

Author(s):

Joey R. Bernhardt ◽

Mary I. O’Connor

Keyword(s):

Fatty Acids ◽

Species Richness ◽

Human Health ◽

Ecosystem Functioning ◽

Full Range ◽

Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽

Well Being ◽

Total Biomass ◽

Aquatic Animal ◽

Nutritional Benefits

Humanity depends on biodiversity for health, well-being, and a stable environment. As biodiversity change accelerates, we are still discovering the full range of consequences for human health and well-being. Here, we test the hypothesis—derived from biodiversity–ecosystem functioning theory—that species richness and ecological functional diversity allow seafood diets to fulfill multiple nutritional requirements, a condition necessary for human health. We analyzed a newly synthesized dataset of 7,245 observations of nutrient and contaminant concentrations in 801 aquatic animal taxa and found that species with different ecological traits have distinct and complementary micronutrient profiles but little difference in protein content. The same complementarity mechanisms that generate positive biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning in terrestrial ecosystems also operate in seafood assemblages, allowing more diverse diets to yield increased nutritional benefits independent of total biomass consumed. Notably, nutritional metrics that capture multiple micronutrients and fatty acids essential for human well-being depend more strongly on biodiversity than common ecological measures of function such as productivity, typically reported for grasslands and forests. Furthermore, we found that increasing species richness did not increase the amount of protein in seafood diets and also increased concentrations of toxic metal contaminants in the diet. Seafood-derived micronutrients and fatty acids are important for human health and are a pillar of global food and nutrition security. By drawing upon biodiversity–ecosystem functioning theory, we demonstrate that ecological concepts of biodiversity can deepen our understanding of nature’s benefits to people and unite sustainability goals for biodiversity and human well-being.

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Species richness and identity both determine the biomass of global reef fish communities

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-27212-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jonathan S. Lefcheck ◽

Graham J. Edgar ◽

Rick D. Stuart-Smith ◽

Amanda E. Bates ◽

Conor Waldock ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Environmental Factors ◽

Reef Fish ◽

Ecosystem Functioning ◽

Fish Community ◽

Ecosystem Functions ◽

Rocky Reef ◽

Community Biomass ◽

Number Of Species ◽

Declining Species

AbstractChanging biodiversity alters ecosystem functioning in nature, but the degree to which this relationship depends on the taxonomic identities rather than the number of species remains untested at broad scales. Here, we partition the effects of declining species richness and changing community composition on fish community biomass across >3000 coral and rocky reef sites globally. We find that high biodiversity is 5.7x more important in maximizing biomass than the remaining influence of other ecological and environmental factors. Differences in fish community biomass across space are equally driven by both reductions in the total number of species and the disproportionate loss of larger-than-average species, which is exacerbated at sites impacted by humans. Our results confirm that sustaining biomass and associated ecosystem functions requires protecting diversity, most importantly of multiple large-bodied species in areas subject to strong human influences.

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Multitrophic functional diversity predicts ecosystem functioning in experimental assemblages of estuarine consumers

10.7287/peerj.preprints.540v3 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Jonathan S Lefcheck ◽

J. Emmett Duffy

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Food Web ◽

Functional Diversity ◽

Ecosystem Functioning ◽

Structural Equation ◽

A Priori ◽

Functional Trait ◽

Trophic Levels ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Experimental Investigations

The use of functional traits to explain how biodiversity affects ecosystem functioning has attracted intense interest, yet few studies have a priori altered functional diversity, especially in multitrophic communities. Here, we manipulated multivariate functional diversity of estuarine grazers and predators within multiple levels of species richness to test how species richness and functional diversity predicted ecosystem functioning in a multitrophic food web. Community functional diversity was a better predictor than species richness for the majority of ecosystem properties, based on general linear mixed effects models. Combining inferences from 8 traits into a single multivariate index increased prediction accuracy of these models relative to any individual trait. Structural equation modeling revealed that functional diversity of both grazers and predators was important in driving final biomass within trophic levels, with stronger effects observed for predators. We also show that different species drove different ecosystem responses, with evidence for both sampling effects and complementarity. Our study extends experimental investigations of functional trait diversity to a multilevel food web, and demonstrates that functional diversity can be more accurate and effective than species richness in predicting community biomass in a food web context.

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Multitrophic functional diversity predicts ecosystem functioning in experimental assemblages of estuarine consumers

10.7287/peerj.preprints.540v2 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Jonathan S Lefcheck ◽

J. Emmett Duffy

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Food Web ◽

Functional Diversity ◽

Ecosystem Functioning ◽

Structural Equation ◽

A Priori ◽

Functional Trait ◽

Trophic Levels ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Experimental Investigations

The use of functional traits to explain how biodiversity affects ecosystem functioning has attracted intense interest, yet few studies have a priori manipulated functional diversity, especially in multitrophic communities. Here, we manipulated multivariate functional diversity of estuarine grazers and predators within two levels of species richness to test how species richness and functional diversity predicted ecosystem functioning in a multitrophic food web. Community functional diversity was a better predictor than species richness for the majority of ecosystem properties, based on general linear mixed effects models. Combining inferences from 8 traits into a single multivariate index increased prediction accuracy of these properties relative to any individual trait. Structural equation modeling revealed that functional diversity of both grazers and predators was important in driving final biomass within and between trophic levels, with stronger effects observed for predators. We also show that different species drove different ecosystem responses, with evidence for both sampling effects and complementarity. Our study extends experimental investigations of functional trait diversity to a multilevel food web, and demonstrates that functional diversity can be more accurate and effective than species richness in predicting community biomass in a food web context.

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A universal scaling method for biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships

10.1101/662783 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

K.E. Barry ◽

G.A. Pinter ◽

J.W. Strini ◽

K. Yang ◽

I.G. Lauko ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Biomass Production ◽

Ecosystem Functioning ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Tropical Dry Forest ◽

Dry Forest ◽

Additional Species ◽

Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽

Natural Systems ◽

Species Area

SummaryGlobal biodiversity is declining at rates faster than at any other point in human history. Experimental manipulations of biodiversity at small spatial scales have demonstrated that communities with fewer species consistently produce less biomass than higher diversity communities. However, understanding how the global extinction crisis is likely to impact global ecosystem functioning will require applying these local and largely experimental findings to natural systems at substantially larger spatial and temporal scales. Here we propose that we can use two simple macroecological patterns – the species area curve and the biomass-area curve – to upscale the species richness-biomass relationship. We demonstrate that at local spatial scales, each additional species will contribute more to biomass production with increasing area sampled because the species-area curve saturates and the biomass-area curve increases monotonically. We use species-area and biomass-area curves from a Minnesota grassland and a Panamanian tropical dry forest to examine the species richness – biomass relationship at three and ten sampling extents, respectively. In both datasets, the observed relationship between biodiversity and biomass production at every sampling extent was predicted from simple species-area and biomass-area relationships. These findings suggest that macroecological patterns like the species-area curve underpin the scaling of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning research and can be used to predict these relationships at the global scales where they are relevant for species loss.

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