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Ecosystem Functions across Trophic Levels Are Linked to Functional and Phylogenetic Diversity

In experimental systems, it has been shown that biodiversity indices based on traits or phylogeny can outperform species richness as predictors of plant ecosystem function. However, it is unclear whether this pattern extends to the function of food webs in natural ecosystems. Here we tested whether...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Thompson, Patrick L., Davies, T. Jonathan, Gonzalez, Andrew
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4333825/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25693188
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0117595
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author Thompson, Patrick L.
Davies, T. Jonathan
Gonzalez, Andrew
author_facet Thompson, Patrick L.
Davies, T. Jonathan
Gonzalez, Andrew
author_sort Thompson, Patrick L.
collection PubMed
description In experimental systems, it has been shown that biodiversity indices based on traits or phylogeny can outperform species richness as predictors of plant ecosystem function. However, it is unclear whether this pattern extends to the function of food webs in natural ecosystems. Here we tested whether zooplankton functional and phylogenetic diversity explains the functioning of 23 natural pond communities. We used two measures of ecosystem function: (1) zooplankton community biomass and (2) phytoplankton abundance (Chl a). We tested for diversity-ecosystem function relationships within and across trophic levels. We found a strong correlation between zooplankton diversity and ecosystem function, whereas local environmental conditions were less important. Further, the positive diversity-ecosystem function relationships were more pronounced for measures of functional and phylogenetic diversity than for species richness. Zooplankton and phytoplankton biomass were best predicted by different indices, suggesting that the two functions are dependent upon different aspects of diversity. Zooplankton community biomass was best predicted by zooplankton trait-based functional richness, while phytoplankton abundance was best predicted by zooplankton phylogenetic diversity. Our results suggest that the positive relationship between diversity and ecosystem function can extend across trophic levels in natural environments, and that greater insight into variation in ecosystem function can be gained by combining functional and phylogenetic diversity measures.
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spelling pubmed-43338252015-02-24 Ecosystem Functions across Trophic Levels Are Linked to Functional and Phylogenetic Diversity Thompson, Patrick L. Davies, T. Jonathan Gonzalez, Andrew PLoS One Research Article In experimental systems, it has been shown that biodiversity indices based on traits or phylogeny can outperform species richness as predictors of plant ecosystem function. However, it is unclear whether this pattern extends to the function of food webs in natural ecosystems. Here we tested whether zooplankton functional and phylogenetic diversity explains the functioning of 23 natural pond communities. We used two measures of ecosystem function: (1) zooplankton community biomass and (2) phytoplankton abundance (Chl a). We tested for diversity-ecosystem function relationships within and across trophic levels. We found a strong correlation between zooplankton diversity and ecosystem function, whereas local environmental conditions were less important. Further, the positive diversity-ecosystem function relationships were more pronounced for measures of functional and phylogenetic diversity than for species richness. Zooplankton and phytoplankton biomass were best predicted by different indices, suggesting that the two functions are dependent upon different aspects of diversity. Zooplankton community biomass was best predicted by zooplankton trait-based functional richness, while phytoplankton abundance was best predicted by zooplankton phylogenetic diversity. Our results suggest that the positive relationship between diversity and ecosystem function can extend across trophic levels in natural environments, and that greater insight into variation in ecosystem function can be gained by combining functional and phylogenetic diversity measures. Public Library of Science 2015-02-18 /pmc/articles/PMC4333825/ /pubmed/25693188 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0117595 Text en © 2015 Thompson et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Thompson, Patrick L.
Davies, T. Jonathan
Gonzalez, Andrew
Ecosystem Functions across Trophic Levels Are Linked to Functional and Phylogenetic Diversity
title Ecosystem Functions across Trophic Levels Are Linked to Functional and Phylogenetic Diversity
title_full Ecosystem Functions across Trophic Levels Are Linked to Functional and Phylogenetic Diversity
title_fullStr Ecosystem Functions across Trophic Levels Are Linked to Functional and Phylogenetic Diversity
title_full_unstemmed Ecosystem Functions across Trophic Levels Are Linked to Functional and Phylogenetic Diversity
title_short Ecosystem Functions across Trophic Levels Are Linked to Functional and Phylogenetic Diversity
title_sort ecosystem functions across trophic levels are linked to functional and phylogenetic diversity
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4333825/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25693188
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0117595
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