生态系统多功能性的指标选择与驱动因子: 研究现状与展望

全球变化和人类活动正以空前的速度在世界范围内改变着生物多样性, 这导致了全球生物多样性的锐减以及生产力的下降、病虫害的增加和抗入侵能力的减弱等生态问题。近30年来, 生态学家开始对于生物多样性的持续丧失是否以及如何影响生态系统功能的问题越来越感兴趣, 生物多样性与生态系统功能(biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, BEF)关系的研究应运而生, 并成为生态学研究的热点之一。但长期以来, 研究者更多地关注单一生态系统功能, 而忽略了生态系统能够同时提供多种生态系统功能的能力, 即生态系统多功能性(ecosystem multifunctionality, EMF)。本文综述了EMF研究中功能指标的选择、生物多样性的不同维度、微生物多样性对EMF的影响以及其他非生物因子对EMF的驱动等进展。因只考虑单一功能可能会低估生物多样性对整体生态系统功能的影响, 故生物多样性与生态系统多功能性(BEMF)关系的研究成为BEF关系研究的重点。近年来, BEMF关系的研究发展较快, 在不同生态系统(包括水生、草地、森林、旱地、农业等)、不同研究尺度(从区域到全球尺度)、BEMF关系的驱动机制(从单一驱动机制到多种驱动机制共同作用)、研究方法(包括新概念以及新的量化方法的提出和应用)等方面均取得了新的进展。但仍有不足之处, 如对于EMF研究中功能指标的选取没有统一的标准、对地下微生物多样性的关注度不够、涉及多营养级水平下的BEMF关系研究较少、驱动EMF的机制仍存在争论等。未来应加强对于功能指标选取的标准研究, 综合分析地上、地下生物多样性以及非生物因子对EMF的整体影响, 加强生态系统多服务性(ecosystem multiserviceability, EMS)方法的研究和应用。     

青藏高原高寒草地生物多样性与生态系统功能的关系

生物多样性和生态系统功能(BEF)之间的关系是目前陆地生态系统生态学研究的热点, 对于生态系统的高效利用与管理意义重大, 而且对于退化生态系统功能的恢复及生物多样性的保护有重要的指导作用。高寒草地是青藏高原生态系统的主体, 近年来, 在气候变化与人为干扰等因素的驱动下, 高寒草地生态系统功能严重衰退。为此, 本文在综述物种多样性和生态系统功能及其相互关系研究进展的基础上, 首先从地下生态学过程研究、全球变化对生态系统多功能性的影响等方面解析了目前关于草地生物多样性和生态系统功能研究中存在的问题。继而, 从不同草地类型、草地退化程度、放牧、模拟气候变化、刈割、施肥、封育和补播等干扰利用方式对高寒草地物种多样性与生态系统功能的影响进行了全面的评述。并指出了高寒草地BEF研究中存在的不足, 今后应基于物种功能多样性开展高寒草地BEF研究, 全面且综合地考虑非生物因子(养分资源、外界干扰、环境波动等)对生物多样性与生态系统功能之间关系的影响, 关注尺度效应和要素耦合在全球气候变化对高寒草地BEF研究中的作用。最后, 以高寒草地BEF研究进展和结论为支撑依据, 综合提出了高寒草地资源利用和生物多样性保护的措施与建议: 加强放牧管理, 保护生物多样性; 治理退化草地, 维持生物多样性功能; 加强创新保护理念, 增强生态系统功能。     

多营养级生物多样性与陆地生态系统多功能性:研究现状与展望

生物多样性是人类赖以生存的基础,但由于受到人类活动以及全球变化的影响正加速丧失,这对全球生态系统造成巨大威胁.近年来,生物多样性与生态系统功能关系(biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, BEF)已经成为生物多样性保护和气候变化领域关注的热点问题之一,并由早期的单一营养级多样性与单个生态系统功能关系,发展到近年来的多营养级生物多样性与生态系统多功能性关系.本文介绍了多营养级生物多样性以及生态系统多功能性的基础概念,回顾了多营养级生物多样性与陆地生态系统多功能性研究的发展历程,并系统归纳了该领域近十年的重要研究进展.在此基础上,提出未来需要重点关注的3个方面:(ⅰ)基于控制实验的驱动机制研究;(ⅱ)地下多营养级生物多样性与生态系统多功能性的关系;(ⅲ)多营养级生物多样性与生态系统多功能性关系随时间尺度的变化.最后,本文呼吁不同研究方向的学者未来应加强合作并强调了开展整合性工作的必要性.     

亚热带森林中环境和物种多样性对灌木存活的影响

灌木是森林生态系统的重要组成部分,在维持物种多样性、促进养分循环、保护幼苗更新以及促进营养级相互作用等方面具有重要作用,其存活情况对森林群落组成和生态系统功能具有重要意义。但亚热带森林中灌木的存活情况及其影响因素仍有待探究。本研究依托于中国亚热带森林生物多样性与生态系统功能实验研究平台(BEF-China),利用105个不同乔木与灌木多样性相嵌套样方中2012年和2019年的灌木个体存活数据,以及样方水平的土壤养分数据、地形数据、物种多样性数据和物种水平的功能性状数据,通过构建一系列广义线型混合模型(GLMM)探讨了非生物因素、生物因素以及灌木功能性状对灌木存活的影响。结果表明:不同灌木物种的存活率具有显著差异。坡度较小的山谷、山鞍部位以及土壤碳氮比较高的环境更有利于灌木存活;乔木和灌木多样性对灌木存活影响有限,但乔木多样性的增加可通过形成更郁闭的林冠提高灌木存活;灌木功能性状显著影响灌木存活,且倾向于保守型生活策略(即较小的比叶面积、叶片氮含量、气孔大小,较高的叶干物质含量、木质密度)的灌木物种具有更易于存活。通过模型比较发现,包含所有因素的全模型对灌木存活的解释度最高,不同影响因素...     

生物多样性与生态系统服务关系研究进展

生物多样性与生态系统服务关系是当前生态学研究的热点之一,2005年千年生态系统评估之后如何将两者关系应用到生态系统管理和政策制定中逐渐受到重视。然而,从理论上的两者关系认知到应用上的管理实践仍面临着严峻挑战,梳理已有研究成果有利于更好地指导管理实践。本文基于近年生物多样性与生态系统服务关系的主要研究成果,从生物多样性对生态系统单种服务、多种服务、生态系统服务权衡的影响以及环境变化如何影响这些关系等方面,总结了两者关系的主要研究进展,概述了两者关系在自然保护区管理、森林生态系统管理、退化生态系统恢复和农业生态系统改善等领域中的应用,分析了两者关系研究中依然存在的不足之处,强调未来需加强的研究方向主要包括: 生物多样性不同组分相互作用和多营养级生物多样性相互关系对生态系统服务的影响、环境耦合变化对两者关系的复合效应以及生物多样性改善生态系统服务的实践途径。     

亚热带不同树种组成森林中土壤甲螨群落结构特征: 以江西新岗山为例

在全球环境变化的大背景下, 生物多样性丧失日益加剧。土壤动物作为生物多样性重要组成之一, 受到广泛的关注。位于我国江西省新岗山的亚热带森林生物多样性与生态系统功能实验样地(BEF-China)是全世界25个森林生物多样性控制实验样地之一。本研究自2019年9月至2022年4月在BEF-China两个不同树种组成的样地(A样地和B样地)内采样, 共获得甲螨23,704头, 隶属于34科50属61种。本文分析和对比了两个样地内甲螨群落结构的差异, 及其多度、物种丰富度、Shannon多样性指数的季节性差异; 通过Pearson检验探讨了甲螨多度与环境因子的关系。结果表明: 在A、B两个不同树种组成的森林生态系统内, 土壤甲螨群落结构及其季节动态具有显著差异。具体表现在: A样地奥甲螨科、罗甲螨科、若甲螨科和尖棱甲螨科的相对多度高于B样地; B样地菌甲螨科、盖头甲螨科和礼服甲螨科的相对多度高于A样地。A样地中夏季和秋季甲螨多度、物种丰富度和Shannon多样性指数显著低于春季和冬季; 而B样地中秋季甲螨多度和物种丰富度与春季差异不显著。Pearson检验结果显示, 凋落物木质素含量与单翼甲螨科和菌甲螨科多度呈负相关关系, 而与奥甲螨科多度呈正相关关系。菌甲螨科多度与土壤和凋落物同一理化因子的相关性基本相同(碳氮比除外), 但与凋落物碳氮比呈正相关关系而与土壤碳氮比呈负相关关系。     

生物多样性与生态系统功能:进展与争论

生物多样性与生态系统功能的关系已成为当前人类社会面临的一个重大科学问题,生物多样性的空前丧失,促使人们开展了大量研究工作来描述物种多样性-生态系统功能关系,并试图揭示多样性与系统功能关系的内在机制,本文将多样性对生态系统功能作用机制的有关假说分为统计学与生物学两大类：前者是从统计学角度来解释观察到的多样性-系统功能模式,包括抽样效应,统计均衡效应等;而后者是基于多样性的生物学效应给出的,包括生态位互补,种间正相互作用,保险效应等,本文较为详细地介绍了该领域内有代表性的实验工作,包括“生态箱”实验,Cedar Creek草地多样性实验,微宇宙实验,欧洲草地实验,以及在这些实验结果解释上的激烈争论。     

生物多样性-生产力关系研究进展——基于文献计量分析

生态系统的结构和功能是生态学研究的核心内容。早期基于野外调查的生态学研究强调生产力表征的环境梯度对生态系统结构的影响,而基于控制试验的生态学研究则强调生态系统结构变化对生态系统功能的影响。围绕这两类研究所支持理论间的争论是当前生态学的前沿、热点和难点,其中最具代表性的科学问题是生物多样性与以生产力为代表的生态系统功能间是否存在一般性关系。为深入了解生物多样性-生产力关系研究脉络,分析其对生态学研究范式与理论发展的影响以及对未来研究方向的启示,以Web of Science核心合集数据库中的相关文献为数据源,结合文献计量分析和文献综述,系统总结了多样性-生产力关系研究进展。结果表明：(1)生物多样性-生产力关系研究推动了生态学研究范式由以样带调查为主的观察性研究向以控制试验为主的实验性研究的转变,促进了全球联网控制试验研究的发展。(2)研究聚焦的生态系统类型由最初的北美普列利草原逐渐向其它草地、灌丛、森林等多样的生态系统过渡,研究结论及其生态学理论的普适性逐渐增强。(3)该研究推动了对生物多样性不同维度(如功能多样性和系统发育多样性)在生态系统中作用的认识,促进了学界对除生产功能外的生态...     

生物多样性与生态系统多功能性: 进展与展望

全球变化和人类活动引起的生物多样性丧失将会对生态系统功能产生诸多不利影响, 如生产力下降、养分循环失衡等。因此, 始于20世纪90年代的生物多样性与生态系统功能(biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, BEF)研究一直是生态学界关注的热点。然而, 随着研究的深入, 人们逐步认识到生态系统并非仅仅提供单个生态系统功能, 而是能同时提供多个功能, 这一特性被称之为“生态系统多功能性” (ecosystem multifunctionality, EMF)。尽管有此认识, 但直到2007年, 研究者才开始定量描述生物多样性与生态系统多功能性(biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality, BEMF)的关系。目前, BEMF研究已成为生态学研究的一个重要议题, 但仍存在很多问题和争议, 如缺少公认的多功能性测度标准、生态系统不同功能之间的权衡问题等。本文概述了BEMF研究的发展历程、常用的量化方法、EMF的维持机制和不同研究视角下BEMF的关系。针对现有研究中的不足, 本文还总结了需要进一步深入研究的地方, 特别强调了优化EMF测度方法和研究不同维度生物多样性与EMF间关系的重要性, 以期对未来的BEMF研究有所帮助。     

生物多样性与生态系统多功能性的关系研究进展

生物多样性与生态系统功能关系是生态学研究的热点之一,以往研究多关注生物多样性与单一生态系统功能之间的关系,然而生态系统能够同时提供多种功能和服务即生态系统多功能性(ecosystem multifunctionality, EMF),仅考虑单一生态系统功能会低估生物多样性的重要性。近年来,EMF研究的重要性受到更多重视,生物多样性与生态系统多功能性(biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality, BEMF)关系成为生态学研究新的热点。梳理近15年的研究发现,不同维度、不同尺度的单一或多营养级生物多样性均会对EMF产生显著的影响,并且在全球变化的背景下,自然干扰与人为干扰均会影响生物多样性与生态系统多功能性从而改变BEMF关系,EMF测度方法的差异也可能导致BEMF关系的不一致。生物多样性维度(尺度)选择的局限、不同EMF测度方法的认知差异、BEMF时空数据库的缺乏以及BEMF关系研究方法的单一等问题阻碍了BEMF关系的深入探究。未来研究应对现有测度方法进行深入比较并发展通用的新方法,深入探究多维度、多尺度生物多样性对EMF影响的综合作用。此...     

Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in naturally assembled communities

Approximately 25 years ago, ecologists became increasingly interested in the question of whether ongoing biodiversity loss matters for the functioning of ecosystems. As such, a new ecological subfield on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning (BEF) was born. This subfield was initially dominated by theoretical studies and by experiments in which biodiversity was manipulated, and responses of ecosystem functions such as biomass production, decomposition rates, carbon sequestration, trophic interactions and pollination were assessed. More recently, an increasing number of studies have investigated BEF relationships in non‐manipulated ecosystems, but reviews synthesizing our knowledge on the importance of real‐world biodiversity are still largely missing. I performed a systematic review in order to assess how biodiversity drives ecosystem functioning in both terrestrial and aquatic, naturally assembled communities, and on how important biodiversity is compared to other factors, including other aspects of community composition and abiotic conditions. The outcomes of 258 published studies, which reported 726 BEF relationships, revealed that in many cases, biodiversity promotes average biomass production and its temporal stability, and pollination success. For decomposition rates and ecosystem multifunctionality, positive effects of biodiversity outnumbered negative effects, but neutral relationships were even more common. Similarly, negative effects of prey biodiversity on pathogen and herbivore damage outnumbered positive effects, but were less common than neutral relationships. Finally, there was no evidence that biodiversity is related to soil carbon storage. Most BEF studies focused on the effects of taxonomic diversity, however, metrics of functional diversity were generally stronger predictors of ecosystem functioning. Furthermore, in most studies, abiotic factors and functional composition (e.g. the presence of a certain functional group) were stronger drivers of ecosystem functioning than biodiversity per se. While experiments suggest that positive biodiversity effects become stronger at larger spatial scales, in naturally assembled communities this idea is too poorly studied to draw general conclusions. In summary, a high biodiversity in naturally assembled communities positively drives various ecosystem functions. At the same time, the strength and direction of these effects vary highly among studies, and factors other than biodiversity can be even more important in driving ecosystem functioning. Thus, to promote those ecosystem functions that underpin human well‐being, conservation should not only promote biodiversity per se, but also the abiotic conditions favouring species with suitable trait combinations.     

Toward a methodical framework for comprehensively assessing forest multifunctionality

Biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) research has extended its scope from communities that are short‐lived or reshape their structure annually to structurally complex forest ecosystems. The establishment of tree diversity experiments poses specific methodological challenges for assessing the multiple functions provided by forest ecosystems. In particular, methodological inconsistencies and nonstandardized protocols impede the analysis of multifunctionality within, and comparability across the increasing number of tree diversity experiments. By providing an overview on key methods currently applied in one of the largest forest biodiversity experiments, we show how methods differing in scale and simplicity can be combined to retrieve consistent data allowing novel insights into forest ecosystem functioning. Furthermore, we discuss and develop recommendations for the integration and transferability of diverse methodical approaches to present and future forest biodiversity experiments. We identified four principles that should guide basic decisions concerning method selection for tree diversity experiments and forest BEF research: (1) method selection should be directed toward maximizing data density to increase the number of measured variables in each plot. (2) Methods should cover all relevant scales of the experiment to consider scale dependencies of biodiversity effects. (3) The same variable should be evaluated with the same method across space and time for adequate larger‐scale and longer‐time data analysis and to reduce errors due to changing measurement protocols. (4) Standardized, practical and rapid methods for assessing biodiversity and ecosystem functions should be promoted to increase comparability among forest BEF experiments. We demonstrate that currently available methods provide us with a sophisticated toolbox to improve a synergistic understanding of forest multifunctionality. However, these methods require further adjustment to the specific requirements of structurally complex and long‐lived forest ecosystems. By applying methods connecting relevant scales, trophic levels, and above‐ and belowground ecosystem compartments, knowledge gain from large tree diversity experiments can be optimized.     

The prominence of and biases in biodiversity and ecosystem functioning research

The sub-discipline of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF) has emerged as a central topic in contemporary ecological research. However, to date no study has evaluated the prominence and publication biases in BEF research. Herein we report the results of a careful quantitative assessment of BEF research published in five core general ecology journals from 1990 to 2007 to determine the position of BEF research within ecology, identify patterns of research effort within BEF research, and discuss their probable proximal and historical causes. The relative importance of BEF publications increased exponentially during the period analyzed and was significantly greater than the average growth of ecological literature, affirming the prominence of BEF as a current paradigm in ecology. However, BEF research exhibited a strong bias toward experimental studies on terrestrial plant communities, with significantly lower effort devoted to the functional aspects of biodiversity in aquatic systems, multiple trophic level systems, and animal or microbial communities. Such trends may be explained by a combination of methodological adequacy and historic epistemological differences in ecological thinking. We suggest that BEF researchers should direct more effort toward the study of aquatic systems and animal communities, emphasize long-term and trophically complex experiments, such as those with multi-trophic microbial communities, employ larger-scale field observational studies and increase the use of integrative and theoretical studies. Many technical and analytical methodologies that are already employed in ecological research, such as stable isotopes, paleobiology, remote sensing, and model selection criteria, can facilitate these aims. Overcoming the above-mentioned shortcomings of current BEF research will greatly improve our ability to predict how biodiversity loss will affect ecosystem processes and services in natural ecosystems.     

Resilience and stability of a pelagic marine ecosystem

The accelerating loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services worldwide has accentuated a long-standing debate on the role of diversity in stabilizing ecological communities and has given rise to a field of research on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF). Although broad consensus has been reached regarding the positive BEF relationship, a number of important challenges remain unanswered. These primarily concern the underlying mechanisms by which diversity increases resilience and community stability, particularly the relative importance of statistical averaging and functional complementarity. Our understanding of these mechanisms relies heavily on theoretical and experimental studies, yet the degree to which theory adequately explains the dynamics and stability of natural ecosystems is largely unknown, especially in marine ecosystems. Using modelling and a unique 60-year dataset covering multiple trophic levels, we show that the pronounced multi-decadal variability of the Southern California Current System (SCCS) does not represent fundamental changes in ecosystem functioning, but a linear response to key environmental drivers channelled through bottom-up and physical control. Furthermore, we show strong temporal asynchrony between key species or functional groups within multiple trophic levels caused by opposite responses to these drivers. We argue that functional complementarity is the primary mechanism reducing community variability and promoting resilience and stability in the SCCS.     

Tree species richness promotes productivity in temperate forests through strong complementarity between species

Understanding the link between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF) is pivotal in the context of global biodiversity loss. Yet, long-term effects have been explored only weakly, especially for forests, and no clear evidence has been found regarding the underlying mechanisms. We explore the long-term relationship between diversity and productivity using a forest succession model. Extensive simulations show that tree species richness promotes productivity in European temperate forests across a large climatic gradient, mostly through strong complementarity between species. We show that this biodiversity effect emerges because increasing species richness promotes higher diversity in shade tolerance and growth ability, which results in forests responding faster to small-scale mortality events. Our study generalises results from short-term experiments in grasslands to forest ecosystems and demonstrates that competition for light alone induces a positive effect of biodiversity on productivity, thus providing a new angle for explaining BEF relationships.     

Integrating community assembly and biodiversity to better understand ecosystem function: the Community Assembly and the Functioning of Ecosystems (CAFE) approach

The research of a generation of ecologists was catalysed by the recognition that the number and identity of species in communities influences the functioning of ecosystems. The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF) is most often examined by controlling species richness and randomising community composition. In natural systems, biodiversity changes are often part of a bigger community assembly dynamic. Therefore, focusing on community assembly and the functioning of ecosystems (CAFE), by integrating both species richness and composition through species gains, losses and changes in abundance, will better reveal how community changes affect ecosystem function. We synthesise the BEF and CAFE perspectives using an ecological application of the Price equation, which partitions the contributions of richness and composition to function. Using empirical examples, we show how the CAFE approach reveals important contributions of composition to function. These examples show how changes in species richness and composition driven by environmental perturbations can work in concert or antagonistically to influence ecosystem function. Considering how communities change in an integrative fashion, rather than focusing on one axis of community structure at a time, will improve our ability to anticipate and predict changes in ecosystem function.