Dataset Information

Global meta-analysis reveals no net change in local-scale plant biodiversity over time.

ABSTRACT: Global biodiversity is in decline. This is of concern for aesthetic and ethical reasons, but possibly also for practical reasons, as suggested by experimental studies, mostly with plants, showing that biodiversity reductions in small study plots can lead to compromised ecosystem function. However, inferring that ecosystem functions will decline due to biodiversity loss in the real world rests on the untested assumption that such loss is actually occurring at these small scales in nature. Using a global database of 168 published studies and >16,000 nonexperimental, local-scale vegetation plots, we show that mean temporal change in species diversity over periods of 5-261 y is not different from zero, with increases at least as likely as declines over time. Sites influenced primarily by plant species' invasions showed a tendency for declines in species richness, whereas sites undergoing postdisturbance succession showed increases in richness over time. Other distinctions among studies had little influence on temporal richness trends. Although maximizing diversity is likely important for maintaining ecosystem function in intensely managed systems such as restored grasslands or tree plantations, the clear lack of any general tendency for plant biodiversity to decline at small scales in nature directly contradicts the key assumption linking experimental results to ecosystem function as a motivation for biodiversity conservation in nature. How often real world changes in the diversity and composition of plant communities at the local scale cause ecosystem function to deteriorate, or actually to improve, remains unknown and is in critical need of further study.

SUBMITTER: Vellend M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3845118 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Global meta-analysis reveals no net change in local-scale plant biodiversity over time.

Vellend Mark M Baeten Lander L Myers-Smith Isla H IH Elmendorf Sarah C SC Beauséjour Robin R Brown Carissa D CD De Frenne Pieter P Verheyen Kris K Wipf Sonja S

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20131028 48

Global biodiversity is in decline. This is of concern for aesthetic and ethical reasons, but possibly also for practical reasons, as suggested by experimental studies, mostly with plants, showing that biodiversity reductions in small study plots can lead to compromised ecosystem function. However, inferring that ecosystem functions will decline due to biodiversity loss in the real world rests on the untested assumption that such loss is actually occurring at these small scales in nature. Using a ...[more]

PMID: 24167259

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Project description:Evaluating impacts to biodiversity requires ecologically informed comparisons over sufficient time spans. The vulnerability of coastal ecosystems to anthropogenic and climate change-related impacts makes them potentially valuable indicators of biodiversity change. To evaluate multidecadal change in biodiversity, we compared results from intertidal surveys of 13 sandy beaches conducted in the 1970s and 2009-11 along 500 km of coast (California, USA). Using a novel extrapolation approach to adjust species richness for sampling effort allowed us to address data gaps and has promise for application to other data-limited biodiversity comparisons. Long-term changes in species richness varied in direction and magnitude among beaches and with human impacts but showed no regional patterns. Observed long-term changes in richness differed markedly among functional groups of intertidal invertebrates. At the majority (77%) of beaches, changes in richness were most evident for wrack-associated invertebrates suggesting they have disproportionate vulnerability to impacts. Reduced diversity of this group was consistent with long-term habitat loss from erosion and sea level rise at one beach. Wrack-associated species richness declined over time at impacted beaches (beach fill and grooming), despite observed increases in overall intertidal richness. In contrast richness of these taxa increased at more than half (53%) of the beaches including two beaches recovering from decades of off-road vehicle impacts. Over more than three decades, our results suggest that local scale processes exerted a stronger influence on intertidal biodiversity on beaches than regional processes and highlight the role of human impacts for local spatial scales. Our results illustrate how comparisons of overall biodiversity may mask ecologically important changes and stress the value of evaluating biodiversity change in the context of functional groups. The long-term loss of wrack-associated species, a key component of sandy beach ecosystems, documented here represents a significant threat to the biodiversity and function of coastal ecosystems.

Dataset Information

Global meta-analysis reveals no net change in local-scale plant biodiversity over time.

Publications

Global meta-analysis reveals no net change in local-scale plant biodiversity over time.

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