8. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Processes
129
in plant diversity affect ecosystem processes within and across ecosystems. Moreover, it is a picture that appears to be entirely consistent with an equally rapidly
developing body of theory.
3 Micro-organisms, Animals and Effects in
Complex Food Webs
Although several studies discussed above have involved organisms other than plants,
and/or more than one trophic level (Carlander 1955; Naeem et al. 1994, 1995;
McGrady-Steed et al. 1997; Naeem and Li 1997; van der Heijden et al. 1998), a
major challenge is now to develop better theoretical and empirical understanding
of relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem processes for organisms embedded in complex webs of interacting species within communities (e.g. Bengtsson
1998). Obvious problems to tackle are the importance of microbial diversity, and by
extension the role of the diversity of soil biota (microbes, micro-fauna and macrofauna) in soil ecosystem processes. We know virtually nothing about the importance of herbivore diversity, and so on.
Pioneering experiments on soil biota (e.g. Mikola and Setlilli 1998) suggest that
the problems are theoretically and empirically much more complicated when complex food-web interactions modulate the effects of diversity treatments, and authors
currently disagree about levels of redundancy in species-rich soil food webs (e.g.
Wardle et al. 1998; Swift et al. 1998). A detailed review of this work is beyond the
scope of the present paper. But it is quite clear that it is here, in these more complex food webs, that the next main challenges lie, linking biodiversity to ecosystem
processes.
Acknowledgements
I thank the organisers of the 14th International Symposium of the International
Prize for Biology for giving me the opportunity to present this paper, which is
dedicated to the recipient of the Prize, Professor O. Solbrig. The quotation from
Professor Solbrig at the start of my paper, inspired me to do the first Ecotron experiment with Shahid Naeem and colleagues, and launched me on the study of
biodiversity and ecosystem processes. Andy Hector made valuable comments on a
first draft of the present manuscript.
References
Bengtsson J (1998) Which species? What kind of diversity? Which ecosystem function?
Some problems in studies of relations between biodiversity and ecosystem function.
Appl Soil EcoI315:1-9
129
in plant diversity affect ecosystem processes within and across ecosystems. Moreover, it is a picture that appears to be entirely consistent with an equally rapidly
developing body of theory.
3 Micro-organisms, Animals and Effects in
Complex Food Webs
Although several studies discussed above have involved organisms other than plants,
and/or more than one trophic level (Carlander 1955; Naeem et al. 1994, 1995;
McGrady-Steed et al. 1997; Naeem and Li 1997; van der Heijden et al. 1998), a
major challenge is now to develop better theoretical and empirical understanding
of relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem processes for organisms embedded in complex webs of interacting species within communities (e.g. Bengtsson
1998). Obvious problems to tackle are the importance of microbial diversity, and by
extension the role of the diversity of soil biota (microbes, micro-fauna and macrofauna) in soil ecosystem processes. We know virtually nothing about the importance of herbivore diversity, and so on.
Pioneering experiments on soil biota (e.g. Mikola and Setlilli 1998) suggest that
the problems are theoretically and empirically much more complicated when complex food-web interactions modulate the effects of diversity treatments, and authors
currently disagree about levels of redundancy in species-rich soil food webs (e.g.
Wardle et al. 1998; Swift et al. 1998). A detailed review of this work is beyond the
scope of the present paper. But it is quite clear that it is here, in these more complex food webs, that the next main challenges lie, linking biodiversity to ecosystem
processes.
Acknowledgements
I thank the organisers of the 14th International Symposium of the International
Prize for Biology for giving me the opportunity to present this paper, which is
dedicated to the recipient of the Prize, Professor O. Solbrig. The quotation from
Professor Solbrig at the start of my paper, inspired me to do the first Ecotron experiment with Shahid Naeem and colleagues, and launched me on the study of
biodiversity and ecosystem processes. Andy Hector made valuable comments on a
first draft of the present manuscript.
References
Bengtsson J (1998) Which species? What kind of diversity? Which ecosystem function?
Some problems in studies of relations between biodiversity and ecosystem function.
Appl Soil EcoI315:1-9