IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0236550.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The species composition—ecosystem function relationship: A global meta-analysis using data from intact and recovering ecosystems

Author

Listed:
  • Peter J Carrick
  • Katherine J Forsythe

Abstract

The idea that biodiversity is necessary in order for ecosystems to function properly has long been used as a basic argument for the conservation of species, and has led to an abundance of research exploring the relationships between species richness and ecosystem function. Here we present a meta-analysis of global ecosystems using the Bray-Curtis index to explore more complex changes in the species composition of natural ecosystems, and their relationship with ecosystem functions. By using data recorded, firstly in reference sites and secondly in recovering sites, captured in restoration ecology studies, we pose the following questions: Firstly, how much variation is there in species composition and in ecosystem function in an intact ecosystem? Secondly, once an ecosystem has become degraded, is there a general relationship between its recovery in species composition and its recovery in ecosystem function? Thirdly, is this relationship the same for all types of ecosystem functions? Data from 21 studies yielded 478 comparisons of mean values for ecosystems. On Average, sites within the same intact natural ecosystems shared only a 48% similarity in species composition but were 69% similar in ecosystem functioning. In recovering ecosystems the relationship between species composition and ecosystem function was weak and saturating (directly accounting for only 2% of the variation). Only two of the six types of ecosystem function examined, biomass and biotic structure, showed a significant relationship with species composition, and the three types that measured soil functions showed no significant relationship. To date, most biodiversity—ecosystem function (BEF) research has been conducted in simplified ecosystems using the simple species richness metric. This study encourages a broader examination of the drivers of ecosystem functions under realistic scenarios of biodiversity change, and highlights the need to properly account for the extensive natural variation.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter J Carrick & Katherine J Forsythe, 2020. "The species composition—ecosystem function relationship: A global meta-analysis using data from intact and recovering ecosystems," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-23, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0236550
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236550
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0236550
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0236550&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0236550?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Moreno-Mateos & Mary E Power & Francisco A Comín & Roxana Yockteng, 2012. "Structural and Functional Loss in Restored Wetland Ecosystems," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(1), pages 1-8, January.
    2. Bradley J. Cardinale & J. Emmett Duffy & Andrew Gonzalez & David U. Hooper & Charles Perrings & Patrick Venail & Anita Narwani & Georgina M. Mace & David Tilman & David A. Wardle & Ann P. Kinzig & Gre, 2012. "Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity," Nature, Nature, vol. 486(7401), pages 59-67, June.
    3. David Moher & Alessandro Liberati & Jennifer Tetzlaff & Douglas G Altman & The PRISMA Group, 2009. "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(7), pages 1-6, July.
    4. Bradley J. Cardinale & Diane S. Srivastava & J. Emmett Duffy & Justin P. Wright & Amy L. Downing & Mahesh Sankaran & Claire Jouseau, 2006. "Effects of biodiversity on the functioning of trophic groups and ecosystems," Nature, Nature, vol. 443(7114), pages 989-992, October.
    5. Lars Gamfeldt & Tord Snäll & Robert Bagchi & Micael Jonsson & Lena Gustafsson & Petter Kjellander & María C. Ruiz-Jaen & Mats Fröberg & Johan Stendahl & Christopher D. Philipson & Grzegorz Mikusiński , 2013. "Higher levels of multiple ecosystem services are found in forests with more tree species," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 4(1), pages 1-8, June.
    6. Jonathan S. Lefcheck & Jarrett E. K. Byrnes & Forest Isbell & Lars Gamfeldt & John N. Griffin & Nico Eisenhauer & Marc J. S. Hensel & Andy Hector & Bradley J. Cardinale & J. Emmett Duffy, 2015. "Biodiversity enhances ecosystem multifunctionality across trophic levels and habitats," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-7, November.
    7. David Moreno Mateos & Mary E Power & Francisco A Comín & Roxana Yockteng, 2012. "Structural and Functional Loss in Restored Wetland Ecosystems," Working Papers id:4755, eSocialSciences.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Murendeni Kwinda & Stefan John Siebert & Helga Van Coller & Tlou Samuel Masehela, 2024. "Identifying Plant Functional Traits of Weeds in Fields Planted with Glyphosate-Tolerant Maize for Preferable Weed Management Practices," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-20, January.
    2. Castro, Arianne Flexa de & Assis, Igor Rodrigues de & Caldeira, Cecílio Frois & Ramos, Silvio Junio & Coelho, Renan Rodrigues & Oliveira, Guilherme Corrêa de & Medeiros-Sarmento, Priscila Sanjuan & Ga, 2023. "Minimum thresholds of key ecological attributes facilitate the tracking of mineland restoration," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Martínez-Jauregui, María & White, Piran C.L. & Touza, Julia & Soliño, Mario, 2019. "Untangling perceptions around indicators for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 1-1.
    2. Zhufeng Hou & Guanghui Lv & Lamei Jiang, 2021. "Functional Diversity Can Predict Ecosystem Functions Better Than Dominant Species: The Case of Desert Plants in the Ebinur Lake Basin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-13, March.
    3. Paul A. Sandifer & Ariana E. Sutton‐Grier, 2014. "Connecting stressors, ocean ecosystem services, and human health," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 38(3), pages 157-167, August.
    4. Brigite Botequim & Miguel N. Bugalho & Ana Raquel Rodrigues & Susete Marques & Marco Marto & José G. Borges, 2021. "Combining Tree Species Composition and Understory Coverage Indicators with Optimization Techniques to Address Concerns with Landscape-Level Biodiversity," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-26, January.
    5. Edward B. Barbier, 2016. "The Protective Value of Estuarine and Coastal Ecosystem Services in a Wealth Accounting Framework," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 64(1), pages 37-58, May.
    6. Scemama, Pierre & Levrel, Harold, 2019. "Influence of the Organization of Actors in the Ecological Outcomes of Investment in Restoration of Biodiversity," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 71-79.
    7. Jin Huang & Hao Yang & Wei He & Yu Li, 2022. "Ecological Service Value Tradeoffs: An Ecological Water Replenishment Model for the Jilin Momoge National Nature Reserve, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-14, March.
    8. Yaxian Zhang & Jiangwen Fan & Suizi Wang, 2020. "Assessment of Ecological Carrying Capacity and Ecological Security in China’s Typical Eco-Engineering Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-17, May.
    9. Juan Carlos Carrasco Baquero & Verónica Lucía Caballero Serrano & Fernando Romero Cañizares & Daisy Carolina Carrasco López & David Alejandro León Gualán & Rufino Vieira Lanero & Fernando Cobo-Gradín, 2023. "Water Quality Determination Using Soil and Vegetation Communities in the Wetlands of the Andes of Ecuador," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-18, August.
    10. Paula Meli & Karen D Holl & José María Rey Benayas & Holly P Jones & Peter C Jones & Daniel Montoya & David Moreno Mateos, 2017. "A global review of past land use, climate, and active vs. passive restoration effects on forest recovery," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(2), pages 1-17, February.
    11. Kangwei Jiang & Qingqing Zhang & Yafei Wang & Hong Li & Yongqiang Yang & Tursunnay Reyimu, 2023. "The Combination of Plant Diversity and Soil Microbial Diversity Directly and Actively Drives the Multifunctionality of Grassland Ecosystems in the Middle Part of the Northern Slopes of the Tian Shan u," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-19, March.
    12. Chen, Si & Shahi, Chander & Chen, Han Y.H. & Kumar, Praveen & Ma, Zilong & McLaren, Brian, 2018. "Trade-offs and Synergies Between Economic Gains and Plant Diversity Across a Range of Management Alternatives in Boreal Forests," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 162-172.
    13. Aryal, Kishor & Ojha, Bhuwan Raj & Maraseni, Tek, 2021. "Perceived importance and economic valuation of ecosystem services in Ghodaghodi wetland of Nepal," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    14. Valencia Torres, Angélica & Tiwari, Chetan & Atkinson, Samuel F., 2021. "Progress in ecosystem services research: A guide for scholars and practitioners," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    15. Paula Meli & José María Rey Benayas & Patricia Balvanera & Miguel Martínez Ramos, 2014. "Restoration Enhances Wetland Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Supply, but Results Are Context-Dependent: A Meta-Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(4), pages 1-9, April.
    16. Delanie M. Spangler & Anna Christina Tyler & Carmody K. McCalley, 2021. "Effects of Grazer Exclusion on Carbon Cycling in Created Freshwater Wetlands," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-18, July.
    17. Swades Pal & Satyajit Paul, 2021. "Stability consistency and trend mapping of seasonally inundated wetlands in Moribund deltaic part of India," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(9), pages 12925-12953, September.
    18. Chengxiang Zhang & Li Wen & Yuyu Wang & Cunqi Liu & Yan Zhou & Guangchun Lei, 2020. "Can Constructed Wetlands be Wildlife Refuges? A Review of Their Potential Biodiversity Conservation Value," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-18, February.
    19. Jiaqi Han & Dongyan Wang & Shuwen Zhang, 2022. "Momoge Internationally Important Wetland: Ecosystem Integrity Remote Assessment and Spatial Pattern Optimization Study," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-21, August.
    20. Reiss, Kelly Chinners & Hernandez, Erica & Brown, Mark T., 2014. "Application of the landscape development intensity (LDI) index in wetland mitigation banking," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 271(C), pages 83-89.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0236550. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.