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Locally rare species influence grassland ecosystem multifunctionality.

ABSTRACT: Species diversity promotes the delivery of multiple ecosystem functions (multifunctionality). However, the relative functional importance of rare and common species in driving the biodiversity-multifunctionality relationship remains unknown. We studied the relationship between the diversity of rare and common species (according to their local abundances and across nine different trophic groups), and multifunctionality indices derived from 14 ecosystem functions on 150 grasslands across a land-use intensity (LUI) gradient. The diversity of above- and below-ground rare species had opposite effects, with rare above-ground species being associated with high levels of multifunctionality, probably because their effects on different functions did not trade off against each other. Conversely, common species were only related to average, not high, levels of multifunctionality, and their functional effects declined with LUI. Apart from the community-level effects of diversity, we found significant positive associations between the abundance of individual species and multifunctionality in 6% of the species tested. Species-specific functional effects were best predicted by their response to LUI: species that declined in abundance with land use intensification were those associated with higher levels of multifunctionality. Our results highlight the importance of rare species for ecosystem multifunctionality and help guiding future conservation priorities.

SUBMITTER: Soliveres S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4843691 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Locally rare species influence grassland ecosystem multifunctionality.

Soliveres Santiago S Manning Peter P Prati Daniel D Gossner Martin M MM Alt Fabian F Arndt Hartmut H Baumgartner Vanessa V Binkenstein Julia J Birkhofer Klaus K Blaser Stefan S Blüthgen Nico N Boch Steffen S Böhm Stefan S Börschig Carmen C Buscot Francois F Diekötter Tim T Heinze Johannes J Hölzel Norbert N Jung Kirsten K Klaus Valentin H VH Klein Alexandra-Maria AM Kleinebecker Till T Klemmer Sandra S Krauss Jochen J Lange Markus M Morris E Kathryn EK Müller Jörg J Oelmann Yvonne Y Overmann Jörg J Pašalić Esther E Renner Swen C SC Rillig Matthias C MC Schaefer H Martin HM Schloter Michael M Schmitt Barbara B Schöning Ingo I Schrumpf Marion M Sikorski Johannes J Socher Stephanie A SA Solly Emily F EF Sonnemann Ilja I Sorkau Elisabeth E Steckel Juliane J Steffan-Dewenter Ingolf I Stempfhuber Barbara B Tschapka Marco M Türke Manfred M Venter Paul P Weiner Christiane N CN Weisser Wolfgang W WW Werner Michael M Westphal Catrin C Wilcke Wolfgang W Wolters Volkmar V Wubet Tesfaye T Wurst Susanne S Fischer Markus M Allan Eric E

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences 20160501 1694

Species diversity promotes the delivery of multiple ecosystem functions (multifunctionality). However, the relative functional importance of rare and common species in driving the biodiversity-multifunctionality relationship remains unknown. We studied the relationship between the diversity of rare and common species (according to their local abundances and across nine different trophic groups), and multifunctionality indices derived from 14 ecosystem functions on 150 grasslands across a land-us ...[more]

PMID: 27114572

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Project description:The relative functional importance of rare and abundant species in driving relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functions (BEF) remains unknown. Here, we investigated the functional roles of rare and abundant species diversity (multitrophic soil organism groups) on multifunctionality derived from 16 ecosystem functions in 228 agricultural fields relating to soil and crop health. The results revealed that the diversity of rare species, rather than of abundant species, was positively related to multifunctionality. Abundant taxa tended to maintain a larger number of functions than rare taxa, while rare subcommunity contributed more phylotypes supporting to the single ecosystem functions. Community assembly processes were closely related to the ecosystem functional performance of soil biodiversity, only observed in rare subcommunity. Higher relative contributions of stochastic assembly processes promoted the positive effects of diversity of rare taxa on multifunctionality, while reducing their diversity and multifunctionality overall. Our results highlight the importance of rare species for ecosystem multifunctionality and elucidate the linkage between ecological assembly processes and BEF relationships. IMPORTANCE The relative functional importance of rare and abundant species in driving relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functions remains unknown. Here, we highlighted the importance of rare species for ecosystem multifunctionality. In addition, community assembly processes were closely related to the ecosystem functional performance of soil biodiversity in rare subcommunity. Stochastic assembly processes promoted the positive effects of diversity of rare taxa on multifunctionality, while reducing their diversity and multifunctionality overall. This study expands current understanding of the mechanisms underpinning the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functions and suggests that stochastic community assembly enhances BEF relationships.

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Locally rare species influence grassland ecosystem multifunctionality.

Publications

Locally rare species influence grassland ecosystem multifunctionality.

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