Lore Au 2001
Lore Au 2001
Lore Au 2001
REVIEW: ECOLOGY
T
he relationship between biodiversity the current debate in which scientists dis- terns often observed in nature, where the
and ecosystem functioning has emerged agree about the relative importance of func- most productive ecosystems are typically
as a central issue in ecological and tional substitutions and declining species characterized by low species diversity (26,
environmental sciences during the last de- richness as determinants of changes in eco- 27). The controversy over the interpretation
cade. Increasing domination of ecosystems system functioning. Comparative studies of these results started with the realization
by humans is steadily transforming them into have begun to reveal the extent to which that they can be generated by different mech-
depauperate systems (1, 2). Because ecosys- functional substitutions alter ecosystem anisms. The mechanisms discussed so far
tems collectively determine the biogeochemi- properties such as productivity, decompo- may be grouped into two main classes. First
cal processes that regulate the Earth system, sition rates, nutrient cycling, and resistance are local deterministic processes, such as
the potential ecological consequences of and resilience to perturbations (17, 18). On niche differentiation and facilitation, which
biodiversity loss have aroused considerable the other hand, a new wave of experimental increase the performance of communities
interest (3–9). studies has manipulated species richness by above that expected from the performance of
Recent experimental and theoretical using synthesized model ecosystems in individual species grown alone. We will sub-
work in this area has also led to animated both terrestrial and aquatic environments sume them here under the term “complemen-
debates and controversies (10–14 ). Human (19–25). Both approaches suggest that a tarity” for convenience’s sake. Second are
impacts on the environment from local to large pool of species is required to sustain local and regional stochastic processes in-
global scales cause not only a general de- the assembly and functioning of ecosys- volved in community assembly, which are
cline in diversity, but also predictable func- tems in landscapes subject to increasingly mimicked in experiments by random sam-
tional shifts as sets of species with partic- intensive land use. It is not yet clear, how- pling from a species pool. Random sampling
ular traits are replaced by other sets with ever, whether this dependence on diversity coupled with local dominance of highly pro-
different traits (15, 16 ). This has resulted in arises from the need for recruitment of a ductive species can also lead to increased
few key species from within the regional average primary production with increasing
1
Laboratoire d’Ecologie, UMR 7625, Ecole Normale species pool or is due to the need for a rich diversity, because plots that include many
Supérieure, 46 rue d’Ulm, F–75230 Paris Cedex 05,
France. 2Department of Zoology, University of Wash-
assortment of complementary species with- species have a higher probability of contain-
ington, 24 Kincaid Hall, Box 351800, Seattle, WA in particular ecosystems. ing highly productive species (10, 11, 28).
98195–1800, USA. 3Department of Ecology and Crop In this article, we seek to set a common Two issues are involved in this controversy:
Production Science, Swedish University of Agricultural framework to understand these issues, to Are stochastic community assembly process-
Sciences, Box 7043, SE–750 07 Uppsala, Sweden. move beyond past differences of opinion, and es relevant? And what is the relative impor-
4
Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University
of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK. 5NERC Centre for to define new perspectives, after a recent tance of the two classes of mechanisms?
Population Biology, Imperial College at Silwood Park, conference held in Paris. We do not attempt There are diverging views on the rele-
Ascot, Berks, SL5 7PY, UK. 6Department of Biology, to comprehensively review these issues, ele- vance of the sampling component of biodi-
Western Washington University, 516 High Street, ments of which can be found elsewhere (3– versity effects. As sampling processes were
Bellingham, WA 98225–9160, USA. 7Environmental
Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 9). Rather, we focus on major regions where not an explicit part of the initial hypotheses,
Oak Ridge, TN 37831– 6400, USA. 8Environment De- recent advances have been made. they have been viewed by some as “hidden
partment, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK. treatments” (10), whereas others have viewed
9
Institut für Umweltwissenschaften, Universität Zü- Experimentally Altered Diversity them as the simplest possible mechanism
rich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH– 8057 Zürich, Swit-
zerland. 10Department of Ecology, Evolution and Be-
Although the first study that experimentally linking diversity and ecosystem functioning
havior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, manipulated diversity did so across several (28). This debate should be resolved through
USA. trophic levels (19), later studies focused increasing knowledge about the patterns and
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E- mainly on effects of plant taxonomic diversi- processes of biodiversity loss in nature,
mail: Loreau@ens.fr ty and plant functional-group diversity on which are still poorly known overall. If dom-
Fig. 1. Responses of total (A) or aboveground (B and C) plant biomass (in ported elsewhere (23). Filled squares and line 1, Germany; filled circles
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