Topic
Ecosystem
About: Ecosystem is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 25460 publications have been published within this topic receiving 1291375 citations. The topic is also known as: ecological system & Ecosystem.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that biomass production increases with species richness in a wide range of wild taxa and ecosystems, and after controlling for environmental covariates, increases in biomass with biodiversity are stronger in nature than has previously been documented in experiments and comparable to or stronger than the effects of other well-known drivers of productivity, including climate and nutrient availability.
Abstract: More than 500 controlled experiments have collectively suggested that biodiversity loss reduces ecosystem productivity and stability. Yet the importance of biodiversity in sustaining the world's ecosystems remains controversial, largely because of the lack of validation in nature, where strong abiotic forcing and complex interactions are assumed to swamp biodiversity effects. Here we test this assumption by analysing 133 estimates reported in 67 field studies that statistically separated the effects of biodiversity on biomass production from those of abiotic forcing. Contrary to the prevailing opinion of the previous two decades that biodiversity would have rare or weak effects in nature, we show that biomass production increases with species richness in a wide range of wild taxa and ecosystems. In fact, after controlling for environmental covariates, increases in biomass with biodiversity are stronger in nature than has previously been documented in experiments and comparable to or stronger than the effects of other well-known drivers of productivity, including climate and nutrient availability. These results are consistent with the collective experimental evidence that species richness increases community biomass production, and suggest that the role of biodiversity in maintaining productive ecosystems should figure prominently in global change science and policy.
410 citations
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University of Montana1, University of Colorado Boulder2, University of Florida3, University of Brasília4, University of Buea5, University of Western Australia6, Louisiana State University7, University of California, Davis8, Colorado State University9, Brown University10, United States Geological Survey11, Max Planck Society12, University of California, Berkeley13, University of Cambridge14
TL;DR: A meta-analysis of carbon-nutrient-climate relationships in 113 sites across the tropical forest biome showed that mean annual temperature was the strongest predictor of aboveground NPP (ANPP) across all tropical forests, but this relationship was driven by distinct temperature differences between upland and lowland forests.
Abstract: Tropical rain forests play a dominant role in global biosphere-atmosphere CO2 exchange. Although climate and nutrient availability regulate net primary production (NPP) and decomposition in all terrestrial ecosystems, the nature and extent of such controls in tropical forests remain poorly resolved. We conducted a meta-analysis of carbon-nutrient-climate relationships in 113 sites across the tropical forest biome. Our analyses showed that mean annual temperature was the strongest predictor of aboveground NPP (ANPP) across all tropical forests, but this relationship was driven by distinct temperature differences between upland and lowland forests. Within lowland forests (< 1000 m), a regression tree analysis revealed that foliar and soil-based measurements of phosphorus (P) were the only variables that explained a significant proportion of the variation in ANPP, although the relationships were weak. However, foliar P, foliar nitrogen (N), litter decomposition rate (k), soil N and soil respiration were all directly related with total surface (0‐10 cm) soil P concentrations. Our analysis provides some evidence that P availability regulates NPP and other ecosystem processes in lowland tropical forests, but more importantly, underscores the need for a series of large-scale nutrient manipulations ‐ especially in lowland forests ‐ to elucidate the most important nutrient interactions and controls.
410 citations
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TL;DR: This study compares two autogenic engineers, which vary in the degree in which they affect their abiotic environment via their physical structure, and indicates that there can be trade-offs related to the traits that underlies autogenic ecosystem engineering capacity.
Abstract: Biologically mediated modifications of the abiotic environment, also called ecosystem engineering, can significantly affect a broad range of ecosystems. Nevertheless, remarkably little work has focused on the costs and benefits that ecosystem engineers obtain from traits that underlie their ecosystem engineering capacity. We addressed this topic by comparing two autogenic engineers, which vary in the degree in which they affect their abiotic environment via their physical structure. That is, we compared two plant species from the intertidal coastal zone (Spartina anglica and Zostera noltii), whose shoots are exposed to similar currents and waves, but differ in the extent that they modify their environment via reduction of hydrodynamic energy. Our results indicate that there can be trade-offs related to the traits that underlies autogenic ecosystem engineering capacity. Dissipation of hydrodynamic forces from waves was roughly a factor of three higher in vegetation with stiff leaves compared to those with flexible leaves. Drag was highest and most sensitive to hydrodynamic forces in stiff vegetation that does not bend with the flow. Thus, shoot stiffness determines both the capacity to reduce hydrodynamic energy (i.e., proxy for ecosystem engineering capacity) and the drag that needs to be resisted (i.e., proxy for associated costs). Our study underlines the importance of insight in the trade-offs involved in ecosystem engineering as a first step toward understanding the adaptive nature of ecosystem engineering.
410 citations
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410 citations
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04 Mar 2012TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the approaches necessary for the measurement, monitoring and reporting of structure, biomass and carbon stocks in mangrove forests, and present a biologically relevant and statistically valid approach to the efficient and accurate assessment of ecosystem structure.
Abstract: This report describes the approaches necessary for the measurement, monitoring and reporting of structure, biomass and carbon stocks in mangrove forests. Mangroves are coastal ecosystems providing numerous ecosystem services affecting both marine and terrestrial resources. In addition, they contain substantial carbon stocks and, due to high rates of deforestation, are significant sources of carbon emissions. Because of their value as carbon stocks and sinks and their numerous other benefits, mangroves could be excellent candidates for carbon mitigation programmes including Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, and Enhancing Forest Carbon Stocks in Developing Countries (REDD+). This publication outlines biologically relevant and statistically valid approaches to the efficient and accurate assessment of ecosystem structure, biomass and carbon stocks of mangrove forests.
409 citations