Are ecosystem services stabilized by differences among species? A test using crop pollination

Biological diversity could enhance ecosystem service provision by increasing the mean level of services provided, and/or by providing more consistent (stable) services over space and time. Ecological theory predicts that when an ecosystem service is provided by many species, it will be stabilized against disturbance by a variety of 'stabilizing mechanisms.' However, few studies have investigated whether stabilizing mechanisms occur in real landscapes affected by human disturbance. We used two datasets on crop pollination by wild native bees to screen for and differentiate among three stabilizing mechanisms: density compensation (negative co-variance among species' abundances); response diversity (differential response to environmental variables among species); and cross-scale resilience (response to the same environmental variable at different scales by different species). In both datasets, we found response diversity and cross-scale resilience, but not density compensation. We conclude that stabilizing mechanisms may contribute to the stability of pollination services in our study areas, emphasizing the insurance value of seemingly 'redundant' species. Furthermore, the absence of density compensation that we found at the landscape scale contrasts with findings of previous small-scale experimental and modelling work, suggesting that we should not assume that density compensation will stabilize ecosystem services in real landscapes.     

Original Articles: Plant Attribute Diversity, Resilience, and Ecosystem Function: The Nature and Significance of Dominant and Minor Species

This study tested an hypothesis concerning patterns in species abundance in ecological communities. Why do the majority of species occur in low abundance, with just a few making up the bulk of the biomass? We propose that many of the minor species are analogues of the dominants in terms of the ecosystem functions they perform, but differ in terms of their capabilities to respond to environmental stresses and disturbance. They thereby confer resilience on the community with respect to ecosystem function. Under changing conditions, ecosystem function is maintained when dominants decline or are lost because functionally equivalent minor species are able to substitute for them. We have tested this hypothesis with respect to ecosystem functions relating to global change. In particular, we identified five plant functional attributes—height, biomass, specific leaf area, longevity, and leaf litter quality—that determine carbon and water fluxes. We assigned values for these functional attributes to each of the graminoid species in a lightly grazed site and in a heavily grazed site in an Australian rangeland. Our resilience proposition was cast in the form of three specific hypotheses in relation to expected similarities and dissimilarities between dominant and minor species, within and between sites. Functional similarity—or ecological distance—was determined as the euclidean distance between species in functional attribute space. The analyses provide evidence in support of the resilience hypothesis. Specifically, within the lightly grazed community, dominant species were functionally more dissimilar to one another, and functionally similar species more widely separated in abundance rank, than would be expected on the basis of average ecological distances in the community. Between communities, depending on the test used, two of three, or three of four minor species in the lightly grazed community that were predicted to increase in the heavily grazed community did in fact do so. Although there has been emphasis on the importance of functional diversity in supporting the flow of ecosystem goods and services, the evidence from this study indicates that functional similarity (between dominant and minor species, and among minor species) may be equally important in ensuring persistence (resilience) of ecosystem function under changing environmental conditions.     

Taxonomical vs. functional responses of bee communities to fire in two contrasting climatic regions

1. Valuable insights into mechanisms of community responses to environmental change can be gained by analysing in tandem the variation in functional and taxonomic composition along environmental gradients. 2. We assess the changes in species and functional trait composition (i.e. dominant traits and functional diversity) of diverse bee communities in contrasting fire-driven systems in two climatic regions: Mediterranean (scrub habitats in Israel) and temperate (chestnut forests in southern Switzerland). 3. In both climatic regions, there were shifts in species diversity and composition related to post-fire age. In the temperate region, functional composition responded markedly to fire; however, in the Mediterranean, the taxonomic response to fire was not matched by functional replacement. 4. These results suggest that greater functional stability to fire in the Mediterranean is achieved by replacement of functionally similar species (i.e. functional redundancy) which dominate under different environmental conditions in the heterogeneous landscapes of the region. In contrast, the greater functional response in the temperate region was attributed to a more rapid post-fire vegetation recovery and shorter time-window when favourable habitat was available relative to the Mediterranean. 5. Bee traits can be used to predict the functional responses of bee communities to environmental changes in habitats of conservation importance in different regions with distinct disturbance regimes. However, predictions cannot be generalized from one climatic region to another where distinct habitat configurations occur.     

Functional Richness and Relative Resilience of Bird Communities in Regions with Different Land Use Intensities

Abstract Empirical estimates of the function and resilience of communities under different management regimes can provide valuable information for sustainable natural resource management, but such estimates are scarce to date. We quantified the functional richness and relative resilience of bird communities inhabiting five regions in southeastern Australia that represented different management regimes. First, we show that functional richness and relative resilience were reduced at species-poor sites in all regions. Second, we show that bird communities in agricultural regions had fewer body mass groups and fewer functional groups than expected by chance. This suggests that both the function and the resilience of bird communities in agricultural regions were reduced. The likely mechanisms for the observed loss of function and relative resilience are: (1) the simplification of landscape texture resulting in selective extinction of certain body mass groups; and (2) the selective extinction of certain functional groups that are particularly sensitive to intensive land use. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Effects of different components of diversity on productivity in artificial plant communities

In an experiment on artificial plant communities, the effects of three components of plant diversity—plant species diversity, plant functional group diversity and plant functional diversity—on community productivity and soil water content were compared. We found that simple regression analysis showed a positive diversity effect on ecosystem processes (productivity and soil water content). However, when three components of diversity were included in the multiple regression analyses, the results showed that functional group diversity and functional diversity had more important effects on productivity and resource use efficiency. These results suggested that, compared with species number, functional differences among species and the range of functional traits carried by plants are the basis of biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning. These diversity effects of increasing functional group diversity or functional diversity were likely because species differing greatly in size, life form, phenology and capacity to capture and use resources efficiently in diverse communities realize complementary resource use in temporal, spatial, and biological ways.     

杭州不同城市化梯度下鸟类功能多样性差异

随着全球城市化的发展,城区面积不断扩大,城市周围自然栖息地受到挤压,面积减小并且变得破碎化.城市化进程会对生态系统功能产生重大影响,很可能导致鸟类被迫适应城市生境并出现功能性状的同质化.我们对杭州三种不同城市化梯度的样地进行鸟类调查,其中包括15个市区样地、15个近郊样地和15个远郊样地.计算不同城市化程度下不同区域的鸟类物种丰富度和功能多样性,并对比市区、近郊和远郊样地鸟类功能性状的差异,探究哪些功能性状会影响鸟类适应城市化生境.研究发现,远郊样地的鸟类物种丰富度水平最高,但是近郊样地拥有更高的鸟类功能丰富度.虽然市区的物种丰富度和功能多样性低于近郊和远郊样地,但市区的物种组成占总体比例也较高,较高程度的城市绿化支撑了一定程度的鸟类物种多样性水平.市区、近郊和远郊区域鸟类在巢址选择、集群情况和食性方面差异较大.相对于近郊和远郊区域鸟类,市区鸟类更倾向于选择在树冠筑巢,而不是地面或灌丛,并且倾向于形成更大的集群.在食性方面,市区鸟类取食花果占比相对较高,取食无脊椎动物相对占比较低.我们没有发现市区、近郊和远郊区域样地鸟类在体征上存在显著差异.     

植物群落的演替与稳定性

演替是生物界最常见的自然现象之一。早在 2 0世纪2 0年代 ,Ｃｌｅｍｅｎｔｓ就开始了系统的演替研究 ,他提出的演替经典模式对生态学的影响一直延续至今。数十年来 ,尽管生态学家相继提出了各种各样的演替理论或假说[1,15,16,2 4 ,2 5] ,但由于地域的限制和生态学家有限的经验 ,迄今为止还没有一个统一的演替理论或模式 ,甚至连演替一词的涵义各说不一[16] 。近年来 ,邬建国等[16] 学者对百年来各种演替理论和假说作了较全面的总结和评述 ,他把尺度 等级系统理论视为现代生态学范式 ,并认为是演替研究现在和将来的发展方向。遗憾的是 ,有关…