Article
Ecology
Oliver Carroll, Evan Batzer, Siddharth Bharath, Elizabeth T. Borer, Sofia Campana, Ellen Esch, Yann Hautier, Timothy Ohlert, Eric W. Seabloom, Peter B. Adler, Jonathan D. Bakker, Lori Biederman, Miguel N. Bugalho, Maria Caldeira, Qingqing Chen, Kendi F. Davies, Philip A. Fay, Johannes M. H. Knops, Kimberly Komatsu, Jason P. Martina, Kevin S. McCann, Joslin L. Moore, John W. Morgan, Taofeek O. Muraina, Brooke Osborne, Anita C. Risch, Carly Stevens, Peter A. Wilfahrt, Laura Yahdjian, Andrew S. MacDougall
Summary: Nutrient additions can increase aboveground biomass production but also decrease its stability, with nitrogen and phosphorus disproportionately increasing interannual variability.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jakob Runge
Summary: Detecting and quantifying causal relations in ecosystem functioning is challenging and involves reasoning about underlying assumptions. A global study on grasslands highlights the importance of considering confounding, nonlinearity, and determinism in modern causal inference approaches in ecology.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Jonathan A. Walter, Lauren G. Shoemaker, Nina K. Lany, Max C. N. Castorani, Samuel B. Fey, Joan C. Dudney, Laureano Gherardi, Cristina Portales-Reyes, Andrew L. Rypel, Kathryn L. Cottingham, Katharine N. Suding, Daniel C. Reuman, Lauren M. Hallett
Summary: Synchrony in species richness across patches in metacommunities is related to ecosystem stability, and can be driven by environmental stochasticity and dispersal, as well as influenced by community structure. Ecosystem stability is more strongly linked to richness synchrony than species richness itself.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Alejandro Berlinches de Gea, Yann Hautier, Stefan Geisen
Summary: Biodiversity, both aboveground and belowground, is negatively affected by global changes such as drought or warming. This article highlights the need to understand the relationship between soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning under the influence of interactive global change drivers. The results from scarce studies studying interactive effects range from antagonistic to additive to synergistic, indicating the importance of quantitatively accounting for the impacts of interactive global change drivers on soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning relationships.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Ecology
Pubin Hong, Bernhard Schmid, Frederik De Laender, Nico Eisenhauer, Xingwen Zhang, Haozhen Chen, Dylan Craven, Hans J. De Boeck, Yann Hautier, Owen L. Petchey, Peter B. Reich, Bastian Steudel, Maren Striebel, Madhav P. Thakur, Shaopeng Wang
Summary: The research shows that biodiversity has a positive impact on ecosystem functioning, especially in high-stress environments affected by global environmental change factors. This positive impact is mainly driven by interspecific complementarity and increases over time.
Review
Ecology
Gianalberto Losapio, Luisa Genes, Christopher J. Knight, Tyler N. McFadden, Lucas Pavan
Summary: Biodiversity is vital for ecosystem functioning, and ecosystem engineers are species that have a significant impact on ecological processes. However, their role is often overlooked and difficult to measure. Understanding ecosystem engineers is crucial for mitigating biodiversity loss and maintaining healthy ecosystems.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Mayank Kohli, Jeremiah A. Henning, Elizabeth T. Borer, Linda Kinkel, Eric W. Seabloom
Summary: Plant diversity and plant-consumer/pathogen interactions influence ecosystem carbon fluxes. Experimental removal of foliar fungi increased GPP and NEE, especially in low plant diversity scenarios. The effect disappeared when soil fungi and arthropods were also removed.
Article
Ecology
Dan Wu, Chi Xu, Shaopeng Wang, Lai Zhang, Susanne Kortsch
Summary: The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functions has been widely studied, but the variation in ecosystem functions across systems with similar species diversity has been rarely addressed. In this study, a food web model and empirical data were used to examine the relationships between species richness and variation in ecosystem functions. The results suggest that the variation in ecosystem functions is influenced by trophic interactions and the diversity of basal species, which has implications for biodiversity loss and ecosystem predictability.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Florian Schnabel, Xiaojuan Liu, Matthias Kunz, Kathryn E. Barry, Franca J. Bongers, Helge Bruelheide, Andreas Fichtner, Werner Haerdtle, Shan Li, Claas-Thido Pfaff, Bernhard Schmid, Julia A. Schwarz, Zhiyao Tang, Bo Yang, Juergen Bauhus, Goddert von Oheimb, Keping Ma, Christian Wirth
Summary: Increasing tree species richness improves forest community stability by enhancing asynchrony among species, buffering the community against stress-related productivity declines. This stability is positively associated with differences in stomatal control and resistance-acquisition strategies among species, highlighting the importance of diverse, mixed-species forests for climate change adaptation.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jameal F. Samhouri, Andrew Olaf Shelton, Gregory D. Williams, Blake E. Feist, Shannon M. Hennessey, Krista Bartz, Ryan P. Kelly, James L. O'Donnell, Mindi Sheer, Adrian C. Stier, Phillip S. Levin
Summary: The impact of urbanization on coastal ecosystems is complex and varies across different water habitats. Urbanization leads to a decrease in freshwater biodiversity, but may result in an unexpected increase in coastal marine biodiversity. There is no significant association between urbanization and ecosystem functions in freshwater and coastal marine habitats. Integrated management of terrestrial, freshwater, and coastal marine systems is necessary for effective ecosystem-based management.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Review
Ecology
Jian Hou, Nicolas Fanin, Zizhao Ni
Summary: Biodiversity loss has a significant impact on ecosystem functions, and it is necessary to quantify the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functions (BEF). This review proposes a new BEF model based on species interaction networks and finds that it provides better results than other common fitting methods. The model reveals scale dependence and nonlinear changes in the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functions, highlighting the importance of considering interactions among species. The model can be used as an alternative approach to estimate BEF and guide conservation efforts worldwide.
METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Elvire Bestion, Bart Haegeman, Soraya Alvarez Codesal, Alexandre Garreau, Michele Huet, Samuel Barton, Jose M. Montoya
Summary: This research reveals that temperature fluctuations alter the importance of biodiversity for ecosystem functioning, with wider fluctuations exacerbating the negative impact of species loss on ecosystem functioning. Species-rich communities are able to maintain ecosystem functioning under climate change, while species-poor communities typically cannot.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Mika Korkiakoski, Paavo Ojanen, Juha-Pekka Tuovinen, Kari Minkkinen, Olli Nevalainen, Timo Penttila, Mika Aurela, Tuomas Laurila, Annalea Lohila
Summary: The wide-spread harvesting of forests on drained peatlands in Finland has raised concerns about its impact on carbon dioxide emissions and climate change. A study conducted in a mature peatland forest in southern Finland compared the impact of clear-cutting and partial cutting on CO2 exchange. The results showed that partial cutting resulted in significantly lower CO2 emissions in the short term, while clear-cutting continued to be a significant source of CO2 emissions throughout the measurement period. It was also found that the forest floor lost carbon both before and after the cuttings.
AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Regina Nobre, Stephanie Bouletreau, Fanny Colas, Frederic Azemar, Loic Tudesque, Nathalie Parthuisot, Pierre Favriou, Julien Cucherousset
Summary: The development of floating photovoltaics (FPV) to mitigate climate change has raised concerns about its potential ecological impacts on lake biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Current knowledge suggests that increased FPV cover may result in reduced light arrival, wind speed, and water temperature, but the cascading effects on biological and ecological processes remain unknown. FPV can alter individual regulatory processes, affecting primary production and energy transfer within lake food webs. Additionally, FPV can modify the thermal functioning and oxygenation of the water column, providing artificial habitats for organisms. These modifications can influence individual behavior, the composition of plant and animal communities, trophic interactions, and greenhouse gas balances. The impacts of FPV are context-dependent, varying across environmental conditions and industrial characteristics. Empirical quantifications based on robust designs are urgently needed to monitor these potential impacts.
RENEWABLE & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Biology
Patrick L. Thompson, Sonia Kefi, Yuval R. Zelnik, Laura E. Dee, Shaopeng Wang, Claire de Mazancourt, Michel Loreau, Andrew Gonzalez
Summary: The study used a Lotka-Volterra competition model to simulate the scale dependence of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, finding that more biodiversity is required to maintain functioning at larger spatial and temporal scales, with the autocorrelation of environmental heterogeneity influencing the rate at which the number of species needed increases.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
David C. Hietala, Cristina K. Koss, Anita Narwani, Aubrey R. Lashaway, Casey M. Godwin, Bradley J. Cardinale, Phillip E. Savage
ALGAL RESEARCH-BIOMASS BIOFUELS AND BIOPRODUCTS
(2017)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Blake Matthews, Rebecca J. Best, Philine G. D. Feulner, Anita Narwani, Romana Limberger
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Sara L. Jackrel, Anita Narwani, Bastian Bentlage, Robert B. Levine, David C. Hietala, Phillip E. Savage, Todd H. Oakley, Vincent J. Denef, Bradley J. Cardinale
APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2018)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Manu Tamminen, Alexander Betz, Aaron Louis Pereira, Marco Thali, Blake Matthews, Marc J-F Suter, Anita Narwani
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2018)
Article
Ecology
Leah Lewington-Pearce, Anita Narwani, Mridul K. Thomas, Colin T. Kremer, Helena Vogler, Pavel Kratina
Review
Ecology
Luke J. Harmon, Cecilia S. Andreazzi, Florence Debarre, Jonathan Drury, Emma E. Goldberg, Ayana B. Martins, Carlos J. Melian, Anita Narwani, Scott L. Nuismer, Matthew W. Pennell, Seth M. Rudman, Ole Seehausen, Daniele Silvestro, Marjorie Weber, Blake Matthews
JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Biology
Anita Narwani, Marta Reyes, Aaron Louis Pereira, Hannele Penson, Stuart R. Dennis, Samuel Derrer, Piet Spaak, Blake Matthews
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2019)
Correction
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Manu Tamminen, Alexander Betz, Aaron Louis Pereira, Marco Thali, Blake Matthews, Marc J. -F. Suter, Anita Narwani
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2019)
Article
Ecology
Leah Lewington-Pearce, Ben Parker, Anita Narwani, Jens M. Nielsen, Pavel Kratina
Article
Biology
Joey R. Bernhardt, Pavel Kratina, Aaron Louis Pereira, Manu Tamminen, Mridul K. Thomas, Anita Narwani
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2020)
Article
Ecology
Moritz D. Lurig, Anita Narwani, Hannele Penson, Bernhard Wehrli, Piet Spaak, Blake Matthews
Summary: This study manipulated the presence of two foundation species in outdoor experimental pond ecosystems and found that interactions between foundation species strongly influenced ecosystem responses to nutrient perturbation, causing surprising deviations from the expected responses of aquatic ecosystems.
Article
Ecology
Irene Gallego, Anita Narwani
Summary: Competition for limited resources plays a crucial role in shaping ecological communities. The minimum resource requirements (R*s) of species can predict competitive outcomes and undergo adaptive evolution in simple communities. In this study, natural phytoplankton communities were subjected to different types of resource limitation in outdoor mesocosms. The results showed that R*s were good predictors of species changes in relative abundance and the dominant species, Desmodesmus armatus, displayed evolutionary changes in R*s under resource limitation, indicating the potential for adaptive trait change to modify competitive outcomes in natural communities.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Sofia J. van Moorsel, Elisa Thebault, Viktoriia Radchuk, Anita Narwani, Jose M. Montoya, Vasilis Dakos, Mark Holmes, Frederik De Laender, Frank Pennekamp
Summary: The article discusses the impact of global change drivers on ecological systems and proposes a method for understanding how multiple drivers affect ecological systems using reaction norms. The authors suggest that studying reaction norms of drivers can improve predictions of interactions at the community level.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Katherine H. Bannar-Martin, Colin T. Kremer, S. K. Morgan Ernest, Mathew A. Leibold, Harald Auge, Jonathan Chase, Steven A. J. Declerck, Nico Eisenhauer, Stanley Harpole, Helmut Hillebrand, Forest Isbell, Thomas Koffel, Stefano Larsen, Anita Narwani, Jana S. Petermann, Christiane Roscher, Juliano Sarmento Cabral, Sarah R. Supp
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Casey M. Godwin, David C. Hietala, Aubrey R. Lashaway, Anita Narwani, Phillip E. Savage, Bradley J. Cardinale
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2017)