1. Predicting the consequences of species loss using size-structured biodiversity approaches
- Author
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Brose, Ulrich, Blanchard, Julia L., Eklöf, Anna, Galiana Ibañez, Núria, Hartvig, Martin, Hirt, Myriam R., Kalinkat, Gregor, Nordstrom, Marie C., O'Gorman, Eoin J., Rall, Björn C., Schneider, Florian D., THEBAULT, Elisa, Jacob, Ute, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Friedrich-Schiller-Universität = Friedrich Schiller University Jena [Jena, Germany], Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies and Centre for Marine Socioecology, University of Tasmania [Hobart, Australia] (UTAS), Linköping University (LIU), Ecological Networks and Global Change Group, Experimental Ecology Station, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Station d'écologie théorique et expérimentale (SETE), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Center Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Globe Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (UCPH)-University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (UCPH)-Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (UCPH)-University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (UCPH), National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet = Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Johann-Friedrich Blumenbach Institut für Zoologie und Anthropologie, Georg-August-University = Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Biology and Inland Fisheries, Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, Swiss Federal Insitute of Aquatic Science and Technology [Dübendorf] (EAWAG), Environmental and Marine Biology, Åbo Academy University, Imperial College London, Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (UMR ISEM), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] : UR226-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut d'écologie et des sciences de l'environnement de Paris (iEES), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Biology, Institute for Hydrobiology and Fisheries Science, Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN), University of Hamburg, Research Network Programme of the European Science Foundation on body size and ecosystem dynamics (SIZEMIC), German Centre for integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig - German Research Foundation [FZT 118], Leibniz Competition [SAW-2013-IGB-2], Villum Foundation, Danish National Research Foundation, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Faculty of Biology and Pharmacy, Institute of Ecology, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, University of Tasmania (UTAS), Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU)-University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU)-Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU)-University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (KU), Technical University of Denmark [Lyngby] (DTU), Systemic Conservation Biology Group, J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] : UR226-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Montpellier (UM), École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Ouest]), Institut d'écologie et des sciences de l'environnement de Paris (IEES), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12), Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7), Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris 6), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), and Georg-August-University [Göttingen]
- Subjects
Food Chain ,extinctions ,food webs ,ecosystem functioning ,[SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio] ,size spectrum ,stability ,Extinction, Biological ,complexity ,Ecosystem ,global change ,allometric scaling ,biodiversity - Abstract
Understanding the consequences of species loss in complex ecological communities is one of the great challenges in current biodiversity research. For a long time, this topic has been addressed by traditional biodiversity experiments. Most of these approaches treat species as trait-free, taxonomic units characterizing communities only by species number without accounting for species traits. However, extinctions do not occur at random as there is a clear correlation between extinction risk and species traits. In this review, we assume that large species will be most threatened by extinction and use novel allometric and size-spectrum concepts that include body mass as a primary species trait at the levels of populations and individuals, respectively, to re-assess three classic debates on the relationships between biodiversity and (i) food-web structural complexity, (ii) community dynamic stability, and (iii) ecosystem functioning. Contrasting current expectations, size-structured approaches suggest that the loss of large species, that typically exploit most resource species, may lead to future food webs that are less interwoven and more structured by chains of interactions and compartments. The disruption of natural body-mass distributions maintaining food-web stability may trigger avalanches of secondary extinctions and strong trophic cascades with expected knock-on effects on the functionality of the ecosystems. Therefore, we argue that it is crucial to take into account body size as a species trait when analysing the consequences of biodiversity loss for natural ecosystems. Applying size-structured approaches provides an integrative ecological concept that enables a better understanding of each species' unique role across communities and the causes and consequences of biodiversity loss.
- Published
- 2017
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