Stability and diversity of ecosystems.
Understanding the relationship between diversity and stability requires a knowledge of how species interact with each other and how each is affected by the environment. The relationship is also complex, because the concept of stability is multifaceted; different types of stability describing different properties of ecosystems lead to multiple diversity-stability relationships. A growing number of empirical studies demonstrate positive diversity-stability relationships. These studies, however, have emphasized only a few types of stability, and they rarely uncover the mechanisms responsible for stability. Because anthropogenic changes often affect stability and diversity simultaneously, diversity-stability relationships cannot be understood outside the context of the environmental drivers affecting both. This shifts attention away from diversity-stability relationships toward the multiple factors, including diversity, that dictate the stability of ecosystems.
Ives
Anthony R
AR
Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA. arives@wisc.edu.
Carpenter
Stephen R
SR
D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D008954:Models, Biological; D011157:Population Dynamics