Universität zu Köln

Bradford, Mark A., Wood, Stephen A., Bardgett, Richard D., Black, Helaina I. J., Bonkowski, Michael ORCID: 0000-0003-2656-1183, Eggers, Till, Grayston, Susan J., Kandeler, Ellen ORCID: 0000-0002-2854-0012, Manning, Peter ORCID: 0000-0002-7940-2023, Setala, Heikki and Jones, T. Hefin (2014). Discontinuity in the responses of ecosystem processes and multifunctionality to altered soil community composition. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 111 (40). S. 14478 - 14484. WASHINGTON: NATL ACAD SCIENCES. ISSN 0027-8424

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Abstract

Ecosystem management policies increasingly emphasize provision of multiple, as opposed to single, ecosystem services. Management for such multifunctionality has stimulated research into the role that biodiversity plays in providing desired rates of multiple ecosystem processes. Positive effects of biodiversity on indices of multifunctionality are consistently found, primarily because species that are redundant for one ecosystem process under a given set of environmental conditions play a distinct role under different conditions or in the provision of another ecosystem process. Here we show that the positive effects of diversity (specifically community composition) on multifunctionality indices can also arise from a statistical fallacy analogous to Simpson's paradox (where aggregating data obscures causal relationships). We manipulated soil faunal community composition in combination with nitrogen fertilization of model grassland ecosystems and repeatedly measured five ecosystem processes related to plant productivity, carbon storage, and nutrient turnover. We calculated three common multifunctionality indices based on these processes and found that the functional complexity of the soil communities had a consistent positive effect on the indices. However, only two of the five ecosystem processes also responded positively to increasing complexity, whereas the other three responded neutrally or negatively. Furthermore, none of the individual processes responded to both the complexity and the nitrogen manipulations in a manner consistent with the indices. Our data show that multifunctionality indices can obscure relationships that exist between communities and key ecosystem processes, leading us to question their use in advancing theoretical understanding-and in management decisions-about how biodiversity is related to the provision of multiple ecosystem services.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Bradford, Mark A. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Wood, Stephen A. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Bardgett, Richard D. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Black, Helaina I. J. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Bonkowski, Michael UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0003-2656-1183 UNSPECIFIED Eggers, Till UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Grayston, Susan J. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Kandeler, Ellen UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-2854-0012 UNSPECIFIED Manning, Peter UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-7940-2023 UNSPECIFIED Setala, Heikki UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Jones, T. Hefin UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-425905
DOI:	10.1073/pnas.1413707111
Journal or Publication Title:	Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A.
Volume:	111
Number:	40
Page Range:	S. 14478 - 14484
Date:	2014
Publisher:	NATL ACAD SCIENCES
Place of Publication:	WASHINGTON
ISSN:	0027-8424
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language LITTER DECOMPOSITION; MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS; MODEL GRASSLAND; PLANT DIVERSITY; BIODIVERSITY; CARBON; FAUNA; SERVICES; IMPACTS; CLIMATE Multiple languages Multidisciplinary Sciences Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/42590