Biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality

Biodiversity loss can affect ecosystem functions and services. Individual ecosystem functions generally show a positive asymptotic relationship with increasing biodiversity, suggesting that some species are redundant. However, ecosystems are managed and conserved for multiple functions, which may require greater biodiversity. Here we present an analysis of published data from grassland biodiversity experiments, and show that ecosystem multifunctionality does require greater numbers of species. We analysed each ecosystem function alone to identify species with desirable effects. We then calculated the number of species with positive effects for all possible combinations of functions. Our results show appreciable differences in the sets of species influencing different ecosystem functions, with average proportional overlap of about 0.2 to 0.5. Consequently, as more ecosystem processes were included in our analysis, more species were found to affect overall functioning. Specifically, for all of the analysed experiments, there was a positive saturating relationship between the number of ecosystem processes considered and the number of species influencing overall functioning. We conclude that because different species often influence different functions, studies focusing on individual processes in isolation will underestimate levels of biodiversity required to maintain multifunctional ecosystems.     

Diversity and dispersal interactively affect predictability of ecosystem function

Theory and small-scale experiments predict that biodiversity losses can decrease the magnitude and stability of ecosystem services such as production and nutrient cycling. Most of this research, however, has been isolated from the immigration and emigration (dispersal) processes that create and maintain diversity in nature. As common anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity change--such as habitat fragmentation, species introductions and climate change--are mediated by these understudied processes, it is unclear how environmental degradation will affect ecosystem services. Here we tested the interactive effects of mobile grazer diversity and dispersal on the magnitude and stability of ecosystem properties in experimental seagrass communities that were either isolated or connected by dispersal corridors. We show that, contrary to theoretical predictions, increasing the number of mobile grazer species in these metacommunities increased the spatial and temporal variability of primary and secondary production. Moreover, allowing grazers to move among and select patches reduced diversity effects on production. Finally, effects of diversity on stability differed qualitatively between patch and metacommunity scales. Our results indicate that declining biodiversity and habitat fragmentation synergistically influence the predictability of ecosystem functioning.     

The contribution of species richness and composition to bacterial services

Bacterial communities provide important services. They break down pollutants, municipal waste and ingested food, and they are the primary means by which organic matter is recycled to plants and other autotrophs. However, the processes that determine the rate at which these services are supplied are only starting to be identified. Biodiversity influences the way in which ecosystems function, but the form of the relationship between bacterial biodiversity and functioning remains poorly understood. Here we describe a manipulative experiment that measured how biodiversity affects the functioning of communities containing up to 72 bacterial species constructed from a collection of naturally occurring culturable bacteria. The experimental design allowed us to manipulate large numbers of bacterial species selected at random from those that were culturable. We demonstrate that there is a decelerating relationship between community respiration and increasing bacterial diversity. We also show that both synergistic interactions among bacterial species and the composition of the bacterial community are important in determining the level of ecosystem functioning.     

生态系统服务导向的城市公园评价——以桥园公园为例

桥园公园原是一个垃圾遍地、污水横流、盐碱化严重的城市废弃地,景观设计师通过应用生态恢复与再生的理念和方法,使其成为天津市内首座湿地生态公园．公园建成至今已4年有余,其生态服务功能是否恢复、生态服务能力如何均值得探讨．采用定性和定量分析法对桥园公园生态服务功能进行了评价．评价结果表明,桥园公园在雨洪调蓄、生物多样性保护、土地盐碱改良及环境教育等方面提供了健康、持续的生态系统服务．     

Biodiversity and ecosystem stability in a decade-long grassland experiment

Human-driven ecosystem simplification has highlighted questions about how the number of species in an ecosystem influences its functioning. Although biodiversity is now known to affect ecosystem productivity, its effects on stability are debated. Here we present a long-term experimental field test of the diversity-stability hypothesis. During a decade of data collection in an experiment that directly controlled the number of perennial prairie species, growing-season climate varied considerably, causing year-to-year variation in abundances of plant species and in ecosystem productivity. We found that greater numbers of plant species led to greater temporal stability of ecosystem annual aboveground plant production. In particular, the decadal temporal stability of the ecosystem, whether measured with intervals of two, five or ten years, was significantly greater at higher plant diversity and tended to increase as plots matured. Ecosystem stability was also positively dependent on root mass, which is a measure of perenniating biomass. Temporal stability of the ecosystem increased with diversity, despite a lower temporal stability of individual species, because of both portfolio (statistical averaging) and overyielding effects. However, we found no evidence of a covariance effect. Our results indicate that the reliable, efficient and sustainable supply of some foods (for example, livestock fodder), biofuels and ecosystem services can be enhanced by the use of biodiversity.     

Effects of macrophyte species richness on wetland ecosystem functioning and services

Wetlands provide many important ecosystem services to human society, which may depend on how plant diversity influences biomass production and nutrient retention. Vascular aquatic plant diversity may not necessarily enhance wetland ecosystem functioning, however, because competition among these plant species can be strong, often resulting in the local dominance of a single species. Here we have manipulated the species richness of rooted, submerged aquatic plant (macrophyte) communities in experimental wetland mesocosms. We found higher algal and total plant (algal plus macrophyte) biomass, as well as lower loss of total phosphorus, in mesocosms with a greater richness of macrophyte species. Greater plant biomass resulted from a sampling effect; that is, the increased chance in species mixtures that algal production would be facilitated by the presence of a less competitive species-in this case, crisped pondweed. Lower losses of total phosphorus resulted from the greater chance in species mixtures of a high algal biomass and the presence of sago pondweed, which physically filter particulate phosphorus from the water. These indirect and direct effects of macrophyte species richness on algal production, total plant biomass and phosphorus loss suggest that management practices that maintain macrophyte diversity may enhance the functioning and associated services of wetland ecosystems.     

隔河岩水电站废弃地植被的初始生态恢复

以隔河岩水电废弃地生态治理点植被的野外调查资料为基础，报道了该废弃地上植物群落的组成、结构及物种多样性特点，评价了隔河岩水电废弃地植被的初始生态恢复状况，并对当地种和外来种作为种植苗木对生态恢复进程的作用进行了探讨．结果显示，除两种种植的苗木外，共有75种当地的植物扩散定居在被治理的废弃上，初步形成了具一定组成与结构的植物群落，明显地改变了废弃地的植被与生态环境状况．表明苗木种植能促进灌木种类的扩散和定居及植被的恢复，是一种及时有效的生态恢复技术，但不同的苗木种类对废弃地植被初始生态恢复的效果不一样．通过比较塔柏和湿地松两种人工林的生物多样性与群落结构，认为塔柏的初始生态恢复效果比湿地松好．     

土地利用变化对罗甸县生态系统服务价值的影响研究

土地利用变化对区域生态系统维持其服务功能起决定性作用,对由土地利用变化引起的生态系统服务价值变化进行研究,可以为区域生态环境的保护和经济的发展提供科学依据,以使环境保护和经济的发展能够达到和谐的统一。现利用罗甸县1996～2006的土地利用变更数据,采用谢高地等(2007)计算生态系统服务价值的方法对贵州省罗甸县1996～2006年的生态系统服务价值进行了估算,并对因为土地利用变化引起的生态系统服务总价值和结构的变化进行了分析,得出罗甸县生态系统服务价值呈下降趋势,与经济的发展呈负相关关系,因此建议罗甸县在发展经济的同时,也要采取积极的生态保护措施,使环境改善和经济发展同时进行。     

生态、环境需水与用水概念辨析

目的界定生态需水、环境需水、生态与环境需水、生态用水等概念的内涵及其相互间的不同。方法在概述了国内外生态、环境需水与用水相关概念界定的基础上,进行对比研究,理论探讨,定性分析。结果深入剖析了生态需水、环境需水、生态与环境需水、生态用水等概念的内涵,辨析了生态需水与环境需水、生态需水与生态用水在概念上的不同。结论认为生态需水是为了维持生态系统生物群落和栖息环境的动态稳定,在天然生态系统保护和生态系统修复、改善中所需要的水资源总量,而环境需水实质上就是为满足生态系统的各种生态功能健康所必需的水量,只有在明确了目标功能的前提下,环境需水量才能够被赋予具体的含义。     

Partitioning selection and complementarity in biodiversity experiments.

The impact of biodiversity loss on the functioning of ecosystems and their ability to provide ecological services has become a central issue in ecology. Several experiments have provided evidence that reduced species diversity may impair ecosystem processes such as plant biomass production. The interpretation of these experiments, however, has been controversial because two types of mechanism may operate in combination. In the 'selection effect', dominance by species with particular traits affects ecosystem processes. In the 'complementarity effect', resource partitioning or positive interactions lead to increased total resource use. Here we present a new approach to separate the two effects on the basis of an additive partitioning analogous to the Price equation in evolutionary genetics. Applying this method to data from the pan-European BIODEPTH experiment reveals that the selection effect is zero on average and varies from negative to positive in different localities, depending on whether species with lower- or higher-than-average biomass dominate communities. In contrast, the complementarity effect is positive overall, supporting the hypothesis that plant diversity influences primary production in European grasslands through niche differentiation or facilitation.     

人工林生态系统生物多样性与生产力的关系

生物多样性与生产力之间的关系是生态学界近来争论的热点之一。笔者简要介绍了现有关于生物多样性影响生态系统功能有关抽样效应、生态位互补、保险效应、冗余机制、基因-环境互作、边际效应及中性理论等作用机制,以及现有的关于生产力和多样性之间关系的主要观点。在此基础上,阐述了人工林生物多样性的研究现状和人工林生物多样性与生态功能的关系,重点讨论了造林树种选择、造林地清理、造林密度、间伐、林农复合经营、轮伐期长短等经营措施对人工林生物多样性的影响。人工林生物多样性的高低,很大程度上取决于林分结构的构建和调控,任何左右林分结构的经营措施都有可能对人工林生物多样性产生影响。因此,从生物多样性维护及生态功能发挥的角度看,决定应该营造什么样的人工林以及该采取怎样的经营措施是人工林可持续经营和长期立地生产力维持的关键。     

Diversity-dependent production can decrease the stability of ecosystem functioning

There is concern that species loss may adversely affect ecosystem functioning and stability. But although there is evidence that biodiversity loss can lead to reductions in biomass production, there is no direct evidence that biodiversity loss affects ecosystem resistance (ability to withstand perturbation) or resilience (recovery from perturbation). Yet theory, laboratory experiments and indirect experimental evidence strongly suggest that diversity and stability are related. Here we report results from a field experiment with factorially crossed perturbation and diversity manipulations. We simulated drought perturbation on constructed grassland ecosystems containing 1, 2, 4, 8 or 32 plant species. Under unperturbed conditions, the species-poor systems achieved lower biomass production than the species-rich systems. However, the species-poor systems were more resistant to perturbation than the species-rich systems. The species-poor systems also showed a larger initial resilience following perturbation, although the original relationship between diversity and productivity was fully restored after 1year. Our results confirm that biodiversity increases biomass production, but they also point to the fact that such diversity--production associations may lead to an inverse relationship between biodiversity and the stability of ecosystem functioning.     

The impact of biofuel plantation on biodiversity: a review

Because plants convert solar energy into chemical energy stored in organisms, biomass production as an energy source can help to reduce the world＇s reliance on fossil energy and mitigate global warming. Biofuel production is a fast-growing industry that represents a new type of large-scale human disturbance on ecosystems. Thus, the benefits of biofuel production bring environmental risks that include its potential impact on biodiversity, which is still an open question. In this review, we start first with a brief overview of the evolution of biofuel concept; second, we review the state of biofuel production across the continents, with a major emphasis on the main species used and their major feedstock. For which, we found significant differences for land use and environmental cultural management of biofuel plantation between tropical and temperate regions. Third, we summarize the impacts of biofuel plantation on biodiversity at multiple scales, based on the case studied with respect to the corresponding issues. At the genetic level, introgression and contamination by aggressive genotypes are a primary risk. At the species level, habitat pollution, degradation, and disturbance caused by intensive management of biofuel plantation significantly raise the risk of habitat fragmentation, native extinction, and bio-invasion. At the ecosystem level, the large-scale homogeneous landscape of biofuel plantation results in simplified community and food web that severely damage ecosystem services, including ecosystem diversity. Finally, we compare the current and potential benefits and risks of biofuel plantations for the practical application of a biofuel industry of China. We emphasize the land use constraint from food security and biodiversity conservation, and the need for scientific research and systematic monitoring as a critical support for the sustainable development of biofuel production in China.     

土壤微生物多样性与植物多样性

土壤中生活着丰富的微生物类群,是一个重要的地下生物宝库.土壤微生物是土壤中的主要分解者,对环境起着天然的“过滤”和“净化”作用,在自然生态系统的功能发挥和维持能力方面极其重要.植物、土壤和微生物相互作用,构成了一个植物-土壤-微生物的有机整体.土壤微生物多样性代表着微生物群落的稳定性,指生命体在遗传、种类和生态系统层次上的变化.从遗传、分类、生态功能以及系统发育等多方面阐述了当前土壤微生物多样性的研究工作.同时探讨了植物多样性与土壤微生物多样性之间的内在联系,植被的破坏可直接导致土壤微生物多样性的丧失,而土壤微生物对植物物种多样性的维持又具有重要作用.因此,加强土壤微生物多样性研究对植物多样性保护具有重要意义.     

Lake eutrophication and its ecosystem response

China is a country with many lakes, about one-third of which are freshwater mainly distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Currently most of the lakes are mesotrophic or eutrophic. Lake eutrophication has become one of the major ecological and environmental problems faced by lakes in China and can lead to a series of abnormal ecosystem responses, including extinction of submerged plants, frequent occurrence of cyanobacterial blooms, increased microbial biomass and productivity, decreased biodiversity, accelerated cycles, and a change in the efficient use of nutrients. With development of eutrophication, the whole lake ecosystem suffers decreased biodiversity, simplification of biotic community structure, instability of the ecosystem, and ultimately the clear-water, macrophyte-dominated ecosystem gradually shifts to a turbid-water, algae-dominated ecosystem. This ecosystem succession mechanism is speculated to be caused by different nutrient utilization efficiencies of macrophytes and phytoplankton. The ultimate ecosystem succession trend of seriously eutrophic lakes is that a phytoplankton-dominated autotrophic lake shifts to a heterotrophic lake dominated by micro-organisms, protozoans.     

气候变化对森林的影响与多尺度适应性管理研究进展

森林作为陆地生态系统的主体和全球气候系统的重要组成部分,对调节全球碳平衡和减缓气候变化具有不可替代的作用。目前的研究表明,气候变化已经对全球各类森林产生了不同程度的影响,而且全球气候变暖的加剧将对森林产生毁灭性的影响。森林管理是一项缓解气候变化影响的关键因子,为应对全球气候变化,森林经营管理必须做出相应的调整以适应和减轻气候变化的消极影响。本文系统总结了全球气候变化对森林及树木分布、生理生态和物候、森林生产力、碳循环、生物多样性、森林水文、森林灾害等产生的现实和潜在的影响,并针对气候变化下的可能影响,从基因、物种、森林生态系统、流域和生物圈多个尺度阐述了适应性管理的对策,以提高各生命系统适应气候变化的能力,实现森林的可持续经营和生物圈的可持续发展。     

气候变化对生态系统服务影响的研究进展

气候变化是影响生态系统服务的重要驱动因素。气候变化影响下生态系统服务稳定持续的供给水平深刻影响着区域可持续发展能力。笔者通过分析国内外气候变化对生态系统服务影响的已有研究成果,全面系统总结了气候变化对生态系统服务影响的研究现状和存在问题,并展望了未来研究趋势。气候变化对生态系统服务影响研究的主要内容包括:气候变化对生态系统服务供给水平、生态系统服务相互关系、生态系统服务管理的影响以及极端气候事件对生态系统服务影响。分析认为,气候变化对生态系统服务影响的研究应在不同尺度气候变化对生态系统服务供给变化特征的影响,不同尺度气候变化影响下生态系统服务权衡与协同关系类型识别及其空间格局特点分析,气候变化影响下全球尺度生态系统服务可持续管理的评价指标体系和评价模型构建,区域生态系统服务保护规划,小尺度极端天气气候事件和未来极端气候事件对生态系统服务的影响等方面进行深入研究。气候变化对生态系统服务影响的研究可以深化生态系统服务变化驱动机理研究,为区域生态系统服务管理、生态环境保护政策制定提供科学依据。     

外来植物种的入侵危害及预防对策

外来植物种通过一定的传播途径从其原产地传入本地,并能在本地自然状态下定居、繁殖和扩展,对本地生态系统产生一定的影响和危害.外来种入侵已成为当今世界最为棘手的生态环境难题,它不仅危害入侵地区生态系统的结构和功能,同时也是生物多样性下降的主要原因之一.对已入侵的外来植物种可采用机械法、化学法、生物防治法加以控制,同时要采取相应的策略,预防新的外来植物种入侵和扩展.     

Consequences of changing biodiversity

Human alteration of the global environment has triggered the sixth major extinction event in the history of life and caused widespread changes in the global distribution of organisms. These changes in biodiversity alter ecosystem processes and change the resilience of ecosystems to environmental change. This has profound consequences for services that humans derive from ecosystems. The large ecological and societal consequences of changing biodiversity should be minimized to preserve options for future solutions to global environmental problems.     

Experimental niche evolution alters the strength of the diversity–productivity relationship

The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF) has become a cornerstone of community and ecosystem ecology and an essential criterion for making decisions in conservation biology and policy planning. It has recently been proposed that evolutionary history should influence the BEF relationship because it determines species traits and, thus, species’ ability to exploit resources. Here we test this hypothesis by combining experimental evolution with a BEF experiment. We isolated 20 bacterial strains from a marine environment and evolved each to be generalists or specialists. We then tested the effect of evolutionary history on the strength of the BEF relationship with assemblages of 1 to 20 species constructed from the specialists, generalists and ancestors. Assemblages of generalists were more productive on average because of their superior ability to exploit the environmental heterogeneity. The slope of the BEF relationship was, however, stronger for the specialist assemblages because of enhanced niche complementarity. These results show how the BEF relationship depends critically on the legacy of past evolutionary events.