Plant diversity enhances ecosystem multifunctionality via multitrophic diversity
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
Authors
Ecosystem functioning depends on biodiversity at multiple trophic levels, yet relationships between multitrophic diversity and ecosystem multifunctionality have been poorly explored, with studies often focusing on individual trophic levels and functions and on specific ecosystem types. Here, we show that plant diversity can affect ecosystem functioning both directly and by affecting other trophic levels. Using data on 13 trophic groups and 13 ecosystem functions from two large biodiversity experiments—one representing temperate grasslands and the other subtropical forests—we found that plant diversity increases multifunctionality through elevated multitrophic diversity. Across both experiments, the association between multitrophic diversity and multifunctionality was stronger than the relationship between the diversity of individual trophic groups and multifunctionality. Our results also suggest that the role of multitrophic diversity is greater in forests than in grasslands. These findings imply that, to promote sustained ecosystem multifunctionality, conservation planning must consider the diversity of both plants and higher trophic levels.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Nature Ecology and Evolution |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| Pages (from-to) | 2037-2047 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| ISSN | 2397-334X |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 11.2024 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2024. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g., a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
- Biology
- Ecosystems Research
Research areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Ecology