title: Disaggregating the evidence linking biodiversity and ecosystem services.
abstract: Ecosystem services (ES) are an increasingly popular policy framework for connecting biodiversity with human well-being. These efforts typically assume that biodiversity and ES covary, but the relationship between them remains remarkably unclear. Here we analyse >500 recent papers and show that reported relationships differ among ES, methods of measuring biodiversity and ES, and three different approaches to linking them (spatial correlations, management comparisons and functional experiments). For spatial correlations, biodiversity relates more strongly to measures of ES supply than to resulting human benefits. For management comparisons, biodiversity of 'service providers' predicts ES more often than biodiversity of functionally unrelated taxa, but the opposite is true for spatial correlations. Functional experiments occur at smaller spatial scales than management and spatial studies, which show contrasting responses to scale. Our results illuminate the varying dynamics relating biodiversity to ES, and show the importance of matching management efforts to the most relevant scientific evidence.
authors.affiliation: Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont, 617 Main Street, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA.|Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, 81 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA.
authors.forename: Taylor H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Ricketts
authors.affiliation: Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont, 617 Main Street, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA.|Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, 81 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA.
authors.forename: Keri B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.affiliation: Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont, 617 Main Street, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA.|Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, 81 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA.
authors.forename: Insu
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.affiliation: Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont, 617 Main Street, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA.|Pathology &Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Vermont, 89 Beaumont Avenue, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA.
authors.forename: Alicia M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.affiliation: Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont, 617 Main Street, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA.|Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, 81 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA.
authors.forename: Charles C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Nicholson
authors.affiliation: Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont, 617 Main Street, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA.|Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, 81 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Posner
authors.affiliation: Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont, 617 Main Street, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA.|Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, 81 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA.
authors.forename: Leif L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.affiliation: Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont, 617 Main Street, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA.|Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, 81 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA.
authors.forename: Laura J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Sonter
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D000069599:Crop Production / Q000379:methods; D017753:Ecosystem; D006801:Humans; D010571:Pest Control / Q000379:methods; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods