Integrating community assembly and biodiversity to better understand ecosystem function: the Community Assembly and the Functioning of Ecosystems (CAFE) approach

Katherine H Bannar-Martin¹, Colin T Kremer², S K Morgan Ernest³, Mathew A Leibold⁴, Harald Auge^{5

6}, Jonathan Chase^{6

7}, Steven A J Declerck⁸, Nico Eisenhauer^{6

9}, Stanley Harpole^{6

10

11}, Helmut Hillebrand^{12

13}, Forest Isbell¹⁴, Thomas Koffel¹⁵, Stefano Larsen^{16

17}, Anita Narwani¹⁸, Jana S Petermann¹⁹, Christiane Roscher^{6

20}, Juliano Sarmento Cabral²¹, Sarah R Supp²²

Affiliations

¹ Quantitative Assessment Methods Section, Pacific Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Nanaimo, BC, Canada.
² Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
³ Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
⁴ Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
⁵ Department of Community Ecology, UFZ, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany.
⁶ German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
⁷ Department of Computer Sciences, Martin Luther University, Halle, Germany.
⁸ Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands.
⁹ Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
¹⁰ Department of Physiological Diversity, Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany.
¹¹ Institute of Biology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
¹² Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, Carl-von-Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.
¹³ Helmholtz-Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity, University of Oldenburg [HIFMB], Oldenburg, Germany.
¹⁴ Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN, USA.
¹⁵ UMR Eco&Sols, Campus Supagro, Montpellier, France.
¹⁶ Synthesis Center of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Leipzig, Germany.
¹⁷ University of Trento, Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, Trento, Italy.
¹⁸ Eawag, Aquatic Ecology Department, Dübendorf, Switzerland.
¹⁹ Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.
²⁰ Department of Physiological Diversity, UFZ, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany.
²¹ Synthesis Center of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity, Ecosystem Modeling, Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology (CCTB), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
²² School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA.

PMID: 29280282
DOI: 10.1111/ele.12895

Integrating community assembly and biodiversity to better understand ecosystem function: the Community Assembly and the Functioning of Ecosystems (CAFE) approach

Katherine H Bannar-Martin et al. Ecol Lett. 2018 Feb.

. 2018 Feb;21(2):167-180.

doi: 10.1111/ele.12895. Epub 2017 Dec 27.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Quantitative Assessment Methods Section, Pacific Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Nanaimo, BC, Canada.
² Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
³ Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
⁴ Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
⁵ Department of Community Ecology, UFZ, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany.
⁶ German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
⁷ Department of Computer Sciences, Martin Luther University, Halle, Germany.
⁸ Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands.
⁹ Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
¹⁰ Department of Physiological Diversity, Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany.
¹¹ Institute of Biology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
¹² Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, Carl-von-Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany.
¹³ Helmholtz-Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity, University of Oldenburg [HIFMB], Oldenburg, Germany.
¹⁴ Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN, USA.
¹⁵ UMR Eco&Sols, Campus Supagro, Montpellier, France.
¹⁶ Synthesis Center of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Leipzig, Germany.
¹⁷ University of Trento, Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, Trento, Italy.
¹⁸ Eawag, Aquatic Ecology Department, Dübendorf, Switzerland.
¹⁹ Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.
²⁰ Department of Physiological Diversity, UFZ, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany.
²¹ Synthesis Center of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity, Ecosystem Modeling, Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology (CCTB), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
²² School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA.

PMID: 29280282
DOI: 10.1111/ele.12895

Abstract

The research of a generation of ecologists was catalysed by the recognition that the number and identity of species in communities influences the functioning of ecosystems. The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF) is most often examined by controlling species richness and randomising community composition. In natural systems, biodiversity changes are often part of a bigger community assembly dynamic. Therefore, focusing on community assembly and the functioning of ecosystems (CAFE), by integrating both species richness and composition through species gains, losses and changes in abundance, will better reveal how community changes affect ecosystem function. We synthesise the BEF and CAFE perspectives using an ecological application of the Price equation, which partitions the contributions of richness and composition to function. Using empirical examples, we show how the CAFE approach reveals important contributions of composition to function. These examples show how changes in species richness and composition driven by environmental perturbations can work in concert or antagonistically to influence ecosystem function. Considering how communities change in an integrative fashion, rather than focusing on one axis of community structure at a time, will improve our ability to anticipate and predict changes in ecosystem function.

Keywords: Biodiversity; Price equation; community assembly; composition; dispersal; ecosystem function; metacommunity.

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Integrating community assembly and biodiversity to better understand ecosystem function: the Community Assembly and the Functioning of Ecosystems (CAFE) approach

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Integrating community assembly and biodiversity to better understand ecosystem function: the Community Assembly and the Functioning of Ecosystems (CAFE) approach

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