Quantifying interspecific and intraspecific diversity effects on ecosystem functioning. 2024

Lynn Govaert, and Andrew P Hendry, and Farshad Fattahi, and Markus Möst
Department of Evolutionary and Integrative Ecology, Leibniz Institute für Gewässerökologie und Binnenfischerei (IGB), Berlin, Germany.

Rapid environmental changes result in massive biodiversity loss, with detrimental consequences for the functioning of ecosystems. Recent studies suggest that intraspecific diversity can contribute to ecosystem functioning to an extent comparable to contributions of interspecific diversity. Knowledge on the relative importance of these two sources of biodiversity is essential for predicting ecosystem consequences of biodiversity loss and will aid in the prioritization of conservation targets and implementation of management measures. However, our quantitative insights into how interspecific and intraspecific biodiversity loss affects ecosystem functioning and how the effects of these two sources of biodiversity loss on ecosystem functioning can be compared are still very limited. To facilitate such quantitative insights, we extend the interspecific Price partitioning method originally introduced by J. Fox in 2006, previously used to quantify species loss and gain effects on ecosystem functioning, to also account for the effects of intraspecific diversity loss and gain on ecosystem function. Using this extended version can yield the quantitative information required for answering research questions addressing correlations between interspecific and intraspecific diversity effects on ecosystem functioning, identifying interspecific and intraspecific groups with large effects, and assessing whether intraspecific diversity can compensate for losses in interspecific diversity. Applying this method to carefully designed experiments will provide additional insights into how biodiversity loss at different ecological levels contributes to and changes ecosystem functioning.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D017753 Ecosystem A functional system which includes the organisms of a natural community together with their environment. (McGraw Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed) Ecosystems,Biome,Ecologic System,Ecologic Systems,Ecological System,Habitat,Niche, Ecological,System, Ecological,Systems, Ecological,Biomes,Ecological Niche,Ecological Systems,Habitats,System, Ecologic,Systems, Ecologic
D044822 Biodiversity The variety of all native living organisms and their various forms and interrelationships. Biological Diversity,Diversity, Biological

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