Research ProjectLinking Biodiversity to Ecosystem Functioning

Linking Biodiversity to Ecosystem Functioning: Synthesis

  • yellow fish in coral

    School of grunts in Carrie Bow Cay, Belize. (Ross Whippo/SERC)

Project Goal

We are working to synthesize the large and sprawling literature to understand how changing biodiversity influences ecosystem processes and services to humanity

Description

This project is a long-term collaboration among many colleagues worldwide that has been supported at various times by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, the National Science Foundation, the Australian Research Council, the Smithsonian Institution, and the home institutions of the many cooperating partners.  

Selected Publications

Lefcheck, J. S., J. E. K. Byrnes, F. Isbell, L. Gamfeldt, J. N. Griffin, N. Eisenhauer, M. J. S. Hensel, A. Hector, B. J. Cardinale, and J. E. Duffy. 2015. Biodiversity enhances ecosystem multifunctionality across trophic levels and habitats. Nature Communications 6:6936. (PDF)

Gamfeldt, L., J. S. Lefcheck, J. E. K. Byrnes, B. J. Cardinale, J. E. Duffy, and J. N. Griffin. 2014. Marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: what's known and what's next? Oikos 124:252–265. (PDF)

Byrnes, J. E. K., L. Gamfeldt, F. Isbell, J. S. Lefcheck, J. N. Griffin, A. Hector, B. J. Cardinale, D. U. Hooper, L. E. Dee, and J. E. Duffy. 2014. Investigating the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality: challenges and solutions. Methods in Ecology and Evolution 5:111–124. (PDF)

Stuart-Smith, R. D., A. E. Bates, J. S. Lefcheck, J. E. Duffy, S. C. Baker, R. J. Thomson, J. F. Stuart-Smith, N. A. Hill, S. J. Kininmonth, L. Airoldi, M. A. Becerro, S. J. Campbell, T. P. Dawson, S. A. Navarrete, G. A. Soler, E. M. A. Strain, T. J. Willis, and G. J. Edgar. 2013. Integrating abundance and functional traits reveals new global hotspots of fish diversity. Nature 501:539–542. (PDF)

Duffy, J. E., L. A. Amaral-Zettler, D. G. Fautin, G. Paulay, T. A. Rynearson, H. M. Sosik, and J. J. Stachowicz. 2013. Envisioning a Marine Biodiversity Observation Network. BioScience 63:350–361. (PDF)

Naeem, S., J. E. Duffy, and E. Zavaleta. 2012. The Functions of Biological Diversity in an Age of Extinction. Science 336:1401–1406. (PDF)

Hooper, D. U., E. C. Adair, B. J. Cardinale, J. E. K. Byrnes, B. A. Hungate, K. L. Matulich, A. Gonzalez, J. E. Duffy, L. Gamfeldt, and M. I. O'Connor. 2012. A global synthesis reveals biodiversity loss as a major driver of ecosystem change. Nature 486:105–108. (PDF)

Cardinale, B. J., J. E. Duffy, A. Gonzalez, D. U. Hooper, C. Perrings, P. Venail, A. Narwani, G. M. Mace, D. Tilman, D. A. Wardle, A. P. Kinzig, G. C. Daily, M. Loreau, J. B. Grace, A. Larigauderie, D. S. Srivastava, and S. Naeem. 2012. Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity. Nature 486:59–67. (PDF)

Cardinale, B. J., K. L. Matulich, D. U. Hooper, J. E. Byrnes, E. Duffy, L. Gamfeldt, P. Balvanera, M. I. O'connor, and A. Gonzalez. 2011. The functional role of producer diversity in ecosystems. American Journal of Botany 98:572–592. (PDF)

Duffy, J. E. 2009. Why biodiversity is important to the functioning of real-world ecosystems. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 7:437–444. (PDF)

Duffy, J. E., B. J. Cardinale, K. E. France, P. B. McIntyre, E. Thébault, and M. Loreau. 2007. The functional role of biodiversity in ecosystems: incorporating trophic complexity. Ecology Letters 10:522–538. (PDF)

Stachowicz, J. J., J. F. Bruno, and J. E. Duffy. 2007. Understanding the effects of marine biodiversity on communities and ecosystems. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 38:739–766. (PDF)

Worm, B., E. B. Barbier, N. Beaumont, J. E. Duffy, C. Folke, B. S. Halpern, J. B. C. Jackson, H. K. Lotze, F. Micheli, S. R. Palumbi, E. Sala, K. A. Selkoe, J. J. Stachowicz, and R. Watson. 2006. Impacts of biodiversity loss on ocean ecosystem services. Science  314:787–790.

Cardinale, B. J., D. S. Srivastava, J. E. Duffy, J. P. Wright, A. L. Downing, M. Sankaran, and C. Jouseau. 2006. Effects of biodiversity on the functioning of trophic groups and ecosystems. Nature 443:989–992. (PDF)