Wardle, David
- Department of Forest Vegetation Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
Ecosystems worldwide are losing some species and gaining others, resulting in an interchange of species that is having profound impacts on how these ecosystems function. However, research on the effects of species gains and losses has developed largely independently of one another. Recent conceptual advances regarding effects of species gain have arisen from studies that have unraveled the mechanistic basis of how invading species with novel traits alter biotic interactions and ecosystem processes. In contrast, studies on traits associated with species loss are fewer, and much remains unknown about how traits that predispose species to extinction affect ecological processes. Species gains and losses are both consequences and drivers of global change; thus, explicit integration of research on how both processes simultaneously affect ecosystem functioning is key to determining the response of the Earth system to current and future human activities.
Keywords
biological invasion; extinction
Published in
Science
2011, volume: 332, number: 6035, pages: 1273-1277
Publisher: AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
SLU Authors
Global goals (SDG)
UKÄ Subject classification
Ecology
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1197479
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/57549