Species richness and biomass explain spatial turnover in ecosystem functioning across tropical and temperate ecosystems.
Predicting ecosystem functioning at large spatial scales rests on our ability to scale up from local plots to landscapes, but this is highly contingent on our understanding of how functioning varies through space. Such an understanding has been hampered by a strong experimental focus of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning research restricted to small spatial scales. To address this limitation, we investigate the drivers of spatial variation in multitrophic energy flux-a measure of ecosystem functioning in complex communities-at the landscape scale. We use a structural equation modelling framework based on distance matrices to test how spatial and environmental distances drive variation in community energy flux via four mechanisms: species composition, species richness, niche complementarity and biomass. We found that in both a tropical and a temperate study region, geographical and environmental distance indirectly influence species richness and biomass, with clear evidence that these are the dominant mechanisms explaining variability in community energy flux over spatial and environmental gradients. Our results reveal that species composition and trait variability may become redundant in predicting ecosystem functioning at the landscape scale. Instead, we demonstrate that species richness and total biomass may best predict rates of ecosystem functioning at larger spatial scales.
Systemic Conservation Biology, J. F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Berliner Strasse 28, 37073 Göttingen, Germany andrew.barnes.adb@gmail.com.
Andrew D
0000-0002-6499-381X
AD
Barnes
Systemic Conservation Biology, J. F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Berliner Strasse 28, 37073 Göttingen, Germany Biodiversity, Macroecology and Conservation Biogeography Group, Faculty of Forest Sciences, University of Göttingen, Büsgenweg 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany pweigel@uni-goettingen.de.
Patrick
0000-0002-2485-3708
P
Weigelt
Systemic Conservation Biology, J. F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Berliner Strasse 28, 37073 Göttingen, Germany.
Malte
0000-0002-8728-1145
M
Jochum
Systemic Conservation Biology, J. F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Berliner Strasse 28, 37073 Göttingen, Germany.
David
D
Ott
ICBM-Terramare, University of Oldenburg, Schleusenstrasse 1, 26382 Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
Dorothee
D
Hodapp
Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry, Bogor Agricultural University, Darmaga Campus, Bogor 16680, Indonesia.
Noor Farikhah
NF
Haneda
Systemic Conservation Biology, J. F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Berliner Strasse 28, 37073 Göttingen, Germany German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany Institute of Ecology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Strasse 159, 07743 Jena, Germany.
Ulrich
U
Brose
D000383:Agriculture; D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D018533:Biomass; D016468:Forestry; D065928:Forests; D005858:Germany; D007214:Indonesia; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D012987:Soil
D012987:Soil
energy flux; functional diversity; litter invertebrates; multitrophic; niche complementarity; β-diversity