Biodiversity mediates productivity through different mechanisms at adjacent trophic levels.
Ecology
; 88(11): 2821-9, 2007 Nov.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-18051651
ABSTRACT
Biodiversity may enhance productivity either because diverse communities more often contain productive species (selection effects) or because they show greater complementarity in resource use. Our understanding of how these effects influence community production comes almost entirely from studies of plants. To test whether previous results apply to higher trophic levels, we first used simulations to derive expected contributions of selection and complementarity to production in competitive assemblages defined by either neutral interactions, dominance, or a trade-off between growth and competitive ability. The three types of simulated assemblages exhibited distinct interaction signatures when diversity effects were partitioned into selection and complementarity components. We then compared these signatures to those of experimental marine communities. Diversity influenced production in fundamentally different ways in assemblages of macroalgae, characterized by growth-competition trade-offs, vs. in herbivores, characterized by dominance. Forecasting the effects of changing biodiversity in multitrophic ecosystems will require recognizing that the mechanism by which diversity influences functioning can vary among trophic levels in the same food web.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Ecossistema
/
Cadeia Alimentar
/
Biodiversidade
/
Modelos Biológicos
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Ecology
Ano de publicação:
2007
Tipo de documento:
Article