Plant diversity enhances ecosystem multifunctionality via multitrophic diversity
(2024) In Nature Ecology and Evolution 8. p.2037-2047- Abstract
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... (More)
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.
(Less)
- author
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024-11
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Nature Ecology and Evolution
- volume
- 8
- pages
- 11 pages
- publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:39209981
- scopus:85202624389
- ISSN
- 2397-334X
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41559-024-02517-2
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 7d102fca-90c7-43ca-ba77-16309dd583e9
- date added to LUP
- 2025-01-08 10:55:25
- date last changed
- 2025-07-10 15:29:07
@article{7d102fca-90c7-43ca-ba77-16309dd583e9,
abstract = {{<p>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.</p>}},
author = {{Li, Yi and Schuldt, Andreas and Ebeling, Anne and Eisenhauer, Nico and Huang, Yuanyuan and Albert, Georg and Albracht, Cynthia and Amyntas, Angelos and Bonkowski, Michael and Bruelheide, Helge and Bröcher, Maximilian and Chesters, Douglas and Chen, Jun and Chen, Yannan and Chen, Jing Ting and Ciobanu, Marcel and Deng, Xianglu and Fornoff, Felix and Gleixner, Gerd and Guo, Liangdong and Guo, Peng Fei and Heintz-Buschart, Anna and Klein, Alexandra Maria and Lange, Markus and Li, Shan and Li, Qi and Li, Yingbin and Luo, Arong and Meyer, Sebastian T. and von Oheimb, Goddert and Rutten, Gemma and Scholten, Thomas and Solbach, Marcel D. and Staab, Michael and Wang, Ming Qiang and Zhang, Naili and Zhu, Chao Dong and Schmid, Bernhard and Ma, Keping and Liu, Xiaojuan}},
issn = {{2397-334X}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{2037--2047}},
publisher = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
series = {{Nature Ecology and Evolution}},
title = {{Plant diversity enhances ecosystem multifunctionality via multitrophic diversity}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02517-2}},
doi = {{10.1038/s41559-024-02517-2}},
volume = {{8}},
year = {{2024}},
}