Wardle, David
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Abstract
Past research has demonstrated that decreased biodiversity often reduces ecosystem productivity, but variation in the shape of biodiversity-ecosystem function (BEF) relationships begets the need for a deeper mechanistic understanding of what drives these patterns. While mechanisms involving competition are often invoked, the role of facilitation is overlooked, or lumped within several less explicitly defined processes (e.g., complementarity effects). Here, we explore recent advances in understanding how facilitation affects BEF relationships and identify three categories of facilitative mechanisms that can drive variation in those relationships. Species interactions underlying BEF relationships are complex, but the framework we present provides a step toward understanding this complexity and predicting how facilitation contributes to the ecosystem role of biodiversity in a rapidly changing environment.
Published in
Trends in ecology & evolution
2017, volume: 32, number: 5, pages: 383-390
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE LONDON
SLU Authors
Global goals (SDG)
UKÄ Subject classification
Forest Science
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2017.02.011
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/82622