Species richness is more important for ecosystem functioning than species turnover along an elevational gradient
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Species richness is more important for ecosystem functioning than species turnover along an elevational gradient. / Albrecht, Jörg; Peters, Marcell K.; Becker, Joscha N.; Behler, Christina; Classen, Alice; Ensslin, Andreas; Ferger, Stefan W.; Gebert, Friederike; Gerschlauer, Friederike; Helbig-Bonitz, Maria; Kindeketa, William J.; Kühnel, Anna; Mayr, Antonia V.; Njovu, Henry K.; Pabst, Holger; Pommer, Ulf; Röder, Juliane; Rutten, Gemma; Schellenberger Costa, David; Sierra-Cornejo, Natalia; Vogeler, Anna; Vollstädt, Maximilian G. R.; Dulle, Hamadi I.; Eardley, Connal D.; Howell, Kim M.; Keller, Alexander; Peters, Ralph S.; Kakengi, Victor; Hemp, Claudia; Zhang, Jie; Manning, Peter; Mueller, Thomas; Bogner, Christina; Böhning-Gaese, Katrin; Brandl, Roland; Hertel, Dietrich; Huwe, Bernd; Kiese, Ralf; Kleyer, Michael; Leuschner, Christoph; Kuzyakov, Yakov; Nauss, Thomas; Tschapka, Marco; Fischer, Markus; Hemp, Andreas; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Schleuning, Matthias.
In: Nature Ecology and Evolution, Vol. 5, No. 12, 2021, p. 1582-1593.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Species richness is more important for ecosystem functioning than species turnover along an elevational gradient
AU - Albrecht, Jörg
AU - Peters, Marcell K.
AU - Becker, Joscha N.
AU - Behler, Christina
AU - Classen, Alice
AU - Ensslin, Andreas
AU - Ferger, Stefan W.
AU - Gebert, Friederike
AU - Gerschlauer, Friederike
AU - Helbig-Bonitz, Maria
AU - Kindeketa, William J.
AU - Kühnel, Anna
AU - Mayr, Antonia V.
AU - Njovu, Henry K.
AU - Pabst, Holger
AU - Pommer, Ulf
AU - Röder, Juliane
AU - Rutten, Gemma
AU - Schellenberger Costa, David
AU - Sierra-Cornejo, Natalia
AU - Vogeler, Anna
AU - Vollstädt, Maximilian G. R.
AU - Dulle, Hamadi I.
AU - Eardley, Connal D.
AU - Howell, Kim M.
AU - Keller, Alexander
AU - Peters, Ralph S.
AU - Kakengi, Victor
AU - Hemp, Claudia
AU - Zhang, Jie
AU - Manning, Peter
AU - Mueller, Thomas
AU - Bogner, Christina
AU - Böhning-Gaese, Katrin
AU - Brandl, Roland
AU - Hertel, Dietrich
AU - Huwe, Bernd
AU - Kiese, Ralf
AU - Kleyer, Michael
AU - Leuschner, Christoph
AU - Kuzyakov, Yakov
AU - Nauss, Thomas
AU - Tschapka, Marco
AU - Fischer, Markus
AU - Hemp, Andreas
AU - Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf
AU - Schleuning, Matthias
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Many experiments have shown that biodiversity enhances ecosystem functioning. However, we have little understanding of how environmental heterogeneity shapes the effect of diversity on ecosystem functioning and to what extent this diversity effect is mediated by variation in species richness or species turnover. This knowledge is crucial to scaling up the results of experiments from local to regional scales. Here we quantify the diversity effect and its components—that is, the contributions of variation in species richness and species turnover—for 22 ecosystem functions of microorganisms, plants and animals across 13 major ecosystem types on Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Environmental heterogeneity across ecosystem types on average increased the diversity effect from explaining 49% to 72% of the variation in ecosystem functions. In contrast to our expectation, the diversity effect was more strongly mediated by variation in species richness than by species turnover. Our findings reveal that environmental heterogeneity strengthens the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and that species richness is a stronger driver of ecosystem functioning than species turnover. Based on a broad range of taxa and ecosystem functions in a non-experimental system, these results are in line with predictions from biodiversity experiments and emphasize that conserving biodiversity is essential for maintaining ecosystem functioning.
AB - Many experiments have shown that biodiversity enhances ecosystem functioning. However, we have little understanding of how environmental heterogeneity shapes the effect of diversity on ecosystem functioning and to what extent this diversity effect is mediated by variation in species richness or species turnover. This knowledge is crucial to scaling up the results of experiments from local to regional scales. Here we quantify the diversity effect and its components—that is, the contributions of variation in species richness and species turnover—for 22 ecosystem functions of microorganisms, plants and animals across 13 major ecosystem types on Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Environmental heterogeneity across ecosystem types on average increased the diversity effect from explaining 49% to 72% of the variation in ecosystem functions. In contrast to our expectation, the diversity effect was more strongly mediated by variation in species richness than by species turnover. Our findings reveal that environmental heterogeneity strengthens the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and that species richness is a stronger driver of ecosystem functioning than species turnover. Based on a broad range of taxa and ecosystem functions in a non-experimental system, these results are in line with predictions from biodiversity experiments and emphasize that conserving biodiversity is essential for maintaining ecosystem functioning.
U2 - 10.1038/s41559-021-01550-9
DO - 10.1038/s41559-021-01550-9
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 34545216
AN - SCOPUS:85115248230
VL - 5
SP - 1582
EP - 1593
JO - Nature Ecology & Evolution
JF - Nature Ecology & Evolution
SN - 2397-334X
IS - 12
ER -
ID: 280887200