The links between ecosystem multifunctionality and above- and belowground biodiversity are mediated by climate

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Plant biodiversity is often correlated with ecosystem functioning in terrestrial ecosystems. However, we know little about the relative and combined effects of above- and belowground biodiversity on multiple ecosystem functions (for example, ecosystem multifunctionality, EMF) or how climate might mediate those relationships. Here we tease apart the effects of biotic and abiotic factors, both above- and belowground, on EMF on the Tibetan Plateau, China. We found that a suite of biotic and abiotic variables account for up to 86% of the variation in EMF, with the combined effects of above- and belowground biodiversity accounting for 45% of the variation in EMF. Our results have two important implications: first, including belowground biodiversity in models can improve the ability to explain and predict EMF. Second, regional-scale variation in climate, and perhaps climate change, can determine, or at least modify, the effects of biodiversity on EMF in natural ecosystems.

Abstract

Plant biodiversity often has a positive influence on ecosystem functioning. Here Jing et al. show that belowground diversity can also significantly impact ecosystem multifunctionality, but its relative effect varies by regional-scale climate variation.

Related collections

Most cited references 26

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Global patterns of 16S rRNA diversity at a depth of millions of sequences per sample.

J. Gregory Caporaso, Christian L. Lauber, William A. Walters … (2011)

The ongoing revolution in high-throughput sequencing continues to democratize the ability of small groups of investigators to map the microbial component of the biosphere. In particular, the coevolution of new sequencing platforms and new software tools allows data acquisition and analysis on an unprecedented scale. Here we report the next stage in this coevolutionary arms race, using the Illumina GAIIx platform to sequence a diverse array of 25 environmental samples and three known "mock communities" at a depth averaging 3.1 million reads per sample. We demonstrate excellent consistency in taxonomic recovery and recapture diversity patterns that were previously reported on the basis of metaanalysis of many studies from the literature (notably, the saline/nonsaline split in environmental samples and the split between host-associated and free-living communities). We also demonstrate that 2,000 Illumina single-end reads are sufficient to recapture the same relationships among samples that we observe with the full dataset. The results thus open up the possibility of conducting large-scale studies analyzing thousands of samples simultaneously to survey microbial communities at an unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution.

0 comments Cited 3246 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

The diversity and biogeography of soil bacterial communities.

Noah Fierer, Robert B Jackson (2006)

For centuries, biologists have studied patterns of plant and animal diversity at continental scales. Until recently, similar studies were impossible for microorganisms, arguably the most diverse and abundant group of organisms on Earth. Here, we present a continental-scale description of soil bacterial communities and the environmental factors influencing their biodiversity. We collected 98 soil samples from across North and South America and used a ribosomal DNA-fingerprinting method to compare bacterial community composition and diversity quantitatively across sites. Bacterial diversity was unrelated to site temperature, latitude, and other variables that typically predict plant and animal diversity, and community composition was largely independent of geographic distance. The diversity and richness of soil bacterial communities differed by ecosystem type, and these differences could largely be explained by soil pH (r(2) = 0.70 and r(2) = 0.58, respectively; P < 0.0001 in both cases). Bacterial diversity was highest in neutral soils and lower in acidic soils, with soils from the Peruvian Amazon the most acidic and least diverse in our study. Our results suggest that microbial biogeography is controlled primarily by edaphic variables and differs fundamentally from the biogeography of "macro" organisms.

0 comments Cited 1410 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Quantifying the evidence for biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning and services.

Patricia Balvanera, Andrea B Pfisterer, Nina Buchmann … (2006)

Concern is growing about the consequences of biodiversity loss for ecosystem functioning, for the provision of ecosystem services, and for human well being. Experimental evidence for a relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem process rates is compelling, but the issue remains contentious. Here, we present the first rigorous quantitative assessment of this relationship through meta-analysis of experimental work spanning 50 years to June 2004. We analysed 446 measures of biodiversity effects (252 in grasslands), 319 of which involved primary producer manipulations or measurements. Our analyses show that: biodiversity effects are weaker if biodiversity manipulations are less well controlled; effects of biodiversity change on processes are weaker at the ecosystem compared with the community level and are negative at the population level; productivity-related effects decline with increasing number of trophic links between those elements manipulated and those measured; biodiversity effects on stability measures ('insurance' effects) are not stronger than biodiversity effects on performance measures. For those ecosystem services which could be assessed here, there is clear evidence that biodiversity has positive effects on most. Whilst such patterns should be further confirmed, a precautionary approach to biodiversity management would seem prudent in the meantime.

0 comments Cited 736 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Nat Commun

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Nat Commun

Title: Nature Communications

Publisher: Nature Pub. Group

ISSN (Electronic): 2041-1723

Publication date (Electronic): 02 September 2015

Publication date Collection: 2015

Volume: 6

Electronic Location Identifier: 8159

Affiliations

[1 ]Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University , Beijing 100871, China

[2 ]Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen , Copenhagen DK-2100, Denmark

[3 ]State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Nanjing 210008, China

[4 ]Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen , DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark

[5 ]Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Xining 810008, China

[6 ]Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100093, China

[7 ]Institute of Forest Ecology, Chinese Academy of Forestry , Beijing 100091, China

Author notes

[a ] jshe@ 123456pku.edu.cn

Author information

Litong Chen http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9797-296X

Article

Publisher Item ID: ncomms9159

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9159

PMC ID: 4569729

PubMed ID: 26328906

SO-VID: 02a0f336-79cc-4662-a555-fc12ee53e89c

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The links between ecosystem multifunctionality and above- and belowground biodiversity are mediated by climate

Read this article at

Abstract

Abstract

Related collections

Climate Change: Open Access

Most cited references 26

Global patterns of 16S rRNA diversity at a depth of millions of sequences per sample.

The diversity and biogeography of soil bacterial communities.

Quantifying the evidence for biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning and services.

Author and article information

Journal

Affiliations

Author notes

Author information

Article

History

Categories

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 313

Cited by 194

Most referenced authors 1,518