Published October 4, 2019 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Biotic interactions, community assembly, and eco-evolutionary dynamics as drivers of long-term biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships

Creators

  • 1. Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany|German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
  • 2. Zoological Institute, University of Cologne, Zülpicher Strasse 47b, D-50674, Cologne, Germany
  • 3. Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
  • 4. UFZ Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany
  • 5. Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Community Ecology, Halle, Germany|German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
  • 6. University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
  • 7. Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
  • 8. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
  • 9. German Centre for integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
  • 10. Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
  • 11. Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig, Germany
  • 12. Georg-August-University Göttingen, J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Göttingen, Germany
  • 13. Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany
  • 14. Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany
  • 15. Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
  • 16. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
  • 17. University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Description

The functioning and service provisioning of ecosystems in the face of anthropogenic environmental and biodiversity change is a cornerstone of ecological research. The last three decades of biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) research have provided compelling evidence for the significant positive role of biodiversity in the functioning of many ecosystems. Despite broad consensus of this relationship, the underlying ecological and evolutionary mechanisms have not been well understood. This complicates the transition from a description of patterns to a predictive science. The proposed Research Unit aims at filling this gap of knowledge by applying novel experimental and analytical approaches in one of the longest-running biodiversity experiments in the world: the Jena Experiment. The central aim of the Research Unit is to uncover the mechanisms that determine BEF relationships in the short- and in the long-term. Increasing BEF relationships with time in long-term experiments do not only call for a paradigm shift in the appreciation of the relevance of biodiversity change, they likely are key to understanding the mechanisms of BEF relationships in general. The subprojects of the proposed Research Unit fall into two tightly linked main categories with two research areas each that aim at exploring variation in community assembly processes and resulting differences in biotic interactions as determinants of the long-term BEF relationship. Subprojects under "Microbial community assembly" and "Assembly and functions of animal communities" mostly focus on plant diversity effects on the assembly of communities and their feedback effects on biotic interactions and ecosystem functions. Subprojects under "Mediators of plant-biotic interactions" and "Intraspecific diversity and micro-evolutionary changes" mostly focus on plant diversity effects on plant trait expression and micro-evolutionary adaptation, and subsequent feedback effects on biotic interactions and ecosystem functions. This unification of evolutionary and ecosystem processes requires collaboration across the proposed subprojects in targeted plant and soil history experiments using cutting-edge technology and will produce significant synergies and novel mechanistic insights into BEF relationships. The Research Unit of the Jena Experiment is uniquely positioned in this context by taking an interdisciplinary and integrative approach to capture whole-ecosystem responses to changes in biodiversity and to advance a vibrant research field.

Files

RIO_article_47042.pdf

Files (1.1 MB)

Name Size Download all
md5:879c5ea444d1f900e8fee1f4409d4d98
849.3 kB Preview Download
md5:f0af6606064f1295939e4037cf6101b1
291.9 kB Preview Download

Additional details

Has part
10.3897/rio.5.e47042.figure3 (DOI)
10.3897/rio.5.e47042.figure4 (DOI)
10.3897/rio.5.e47042.figure1 (DOI)
10.3897/rio.5.e47042.figure2 (DOI)
10.3897/rio.5.e47042.suppl1 (DOI)
10.3897/rio.5.e47042.suppl2 (DOI)
10.3897/rio.5.e47042.suppl3 (DOI)
10.3897/rio.5.e47042.suppl4 (DOI)
10.3897/rio.5.e47042.suppl5 (DOI)