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Effects of multiple dimensions of bacterial diversity on functioning, stability and multifunctionality

Roger, Fabian LU ; Bertilsson, Stefan ; Langenheder, Silke ; Osman, Omneya Ahmed and Gamfeldt, Lars (2016) In Ecology 97(10). p.2716-2728
Abstract
Bacteria are essential for many ecosystem services but our understanding of factors controlling their functioning is incomplete. While biodiversity has been identified as an important driver of ecosystem processes in macrobiotic communities, we know much less about bacterial communities. Due to the high diversity of bacterial communities, high func-tional redundancy is commonly proposed as explanation for a lack of clear effects of diversity. The generality of this claim has, however, been questioned. We present the results of an outdoor dilution- to- extinction experiment with four lake bacterial communities. The consequences of changes in bacterial diversity in terms of effective number of ... (More)
Bacteria are essential for many ecosystem services but our understanding of factors controlling their functioning is incomplete. While biodiversity has been identified as an important driver of ecosystem processes in macrobiotic communities, we know much less about bacterial communities. Due to the high diversity of bacterial communities, high func-tional redundancy is commonly proposed as explanation for a lack of clear effects of diversity. The generality of this claim has, however, been questioned. We present the results of an outdoor dilution- to- extinction experiment with four lake bacterial communities. The consequences of changes in bacterial diversity in terms of effective number of species, phylogenetic diversity, and functional diversity were studied for (1) bacterial abundance, (2) temporal stability of abundance, (3) nitrogen concentration, and (4) multifunctionality. We observed a richness gradient ranging from 15 to 280 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Individual relationships between diversity and functioning ranged from negative to positive depending on lake, diversi-ty dimension, and aspect of functioning. Only between phylogenetic diversity and abundance did we find a statistically consistent positive relationship across lakes. A literature review of 24 peer- reviewed studies that used dilution- to- extinction to manipulate bacterial diversity corroborated our findings: about 25% found positive relationships. Combined, these results suggest that bacteria- driven community functioning is relatively resistant to reductions in diversity. (Less)
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author
; ; ; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, biodiversity loss, biodiversity metrics, freshwater, functional redundancy, microbial diversity, microcosm, rare biosphere
in
Ecology
volume
97
issue
10
pages
2716 - 2728
publisher
Ecological Society of America
external identifiers
  • scopus:84987711855
ISSN
0012-9658
DOI
10.1002/ecy.1518
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
44830673-6f03-4316-8036-ae3a8232e6bc
date added to LUP
2019-05-10 12:26:56
date last changed
2022-03-10 03:00:25
@article{44830673-6f03-4316-8036-ae3a8232e6bc,
  abstract     = {{Bacteria  are  essential  for  many  ecosystem  services  but  our  understanding  of  factors controlling their functioning is incomplete. While biodiversity has been identified as an important  driver  of  ecosystem  processes  in  macrobiotic  communities,  we  know  much  less  about  bacterial  communities.  Due  to  the  high  diversity  of  bacterial  communities,  high  func-tional redundancy is commonly proposed as explanation for a lack of clear effects of diversity. The generality of this claim has, however, been questioned. We present the results of an  outdoor dilution- to- extinction experiment with four lake bacterial communities. The consequences of changes  in  bacterial  diversity  in  terms  of  effective  number  of  species,  phylogenetic  diversity,  and  functional  diversity  were  studied  for  (1)  bacterial  abundance,  (2)  temporal  stability  of  abundance,  (3)  nitrogen  concentration,  and  (4)  multifunctionality.  We  observed  a  richness  gradient ranging from 15 to 280 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Individual relationships between diversity and functioning ranged from negative to positive depending on lake, diversi-ty dimension, and aspect of functioning. Only between phylogenetic diversity and abundance did we find a statistically consistent positive relationship across lakes. A literature review of 24 peer-   reviewed   studies   that   used   dilution-   to-   extinction   to   manipulate   bacterial   diversity   corroborated  our  findings:  about  25%  found  positive  relationships.  Combined,  these  results  suggest  that  bacteria-  driven  community  functioning  is  relatively  resistant  to  reductions  in  diversity.}},
  author       = {{Roger, Fabian and Bertilsson, Stefan and Langenheder, Silke and Osman, Omneya Ahmed and Gamfeldt, Lars}},
  issn         = {{0012-9658}},
  keywords     = {{biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; biodiversity loss; biodiversity metrics; freshwater; functional redundancy; microbial diversity; microcosm; rare biosphere}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  number       = {{10}},
  pages        = {{2716--2728}},
  publisher    = {{Ecological Society of America}},
  series       = {{Ecology}},
  title        = {{Effects of multiple dimensions of bacterial diversity on functioning, stability and multifunctionality}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecy.1518}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/ecy.1518}},
  volume       = {{97}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}