Abstract
COMMUNITIES of species and their associated biological, chemical and physical processes, collectively known as ecosystems, drive the Earth's biogeochemical processes1,2. Currently most ecosystems are experiencing loss of biodiversity associated with the activities of human expansion3–5, raising the issue of whether the biogeochemical functioning of ecosystems will be impaired by this loss of species6–8. Current ecological knowledge supports a wide range of views on the subject9–13, but empirical tests are few9,14–16. Here we provide evidence from direct experimental manipulation of diversity by over an order of magnitude, using multi-trophic level communities and simultaneous measures of several ecosystem processes, that reduced biodiversity may indeed alter the performance of ecosystems.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Odum, E. P. Fundamentals of Ecology (Saunders, Philadelphia, 1971).
Schlesinger, W. H. Biogeochemistry: An Analysis of Global Change (Academic, San Diego, 1991).
Ehrlich, P. R. & Wilson, E. O. Science 253, 758–762 (1991).
Soulé, M. E. Science 253, 744–750 (1991).
Goombridge, B. (ed.) Global Biodiversity (Chapman & Hall, London, 1992).
Karieva, P. M., Kingsolver, J. G. & Huey, R. B. (eds) Biotic Interactions and Global Change (Sinauer, Sunderland, Massachusetts, 1993).
Peters, R. L. & Lovejoy, T. J. (eds) Global Warming and Biological Diversity (Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, 1992).
Schulze, E. D. & Mooney, H. A. (eds) Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function (Springer, New York, 1993).
Vitousek, P. M. & Hooper, D. U. in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function (eds Schulze, E. D. & Mooney, H. A.) 3–14 (Springer, New York, 1993).
Lawton, J. H. & Brown, V. K. in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function (eds Schulze, E. D. & Mooney, H. A.) 255–270 (Springer, New York, 1993).
Ehrlich, P. R. & Ehrlich, A. H. Extinction: The Causes and Consequences of the Disappearance of Species (Random House, New York, 1981).
May, R. M. Nature 269, 471–477 (1977).
Pimm, S. L. Nature 307, 321–326 (1984).
Ewel, J. J., Mazzarino, M. J. & Berish, C. W. Ecol. Applic. 1, 289–302 (1991).
Tilman, D. & Downing, J. A. Nature 367, 363–365 (1994).
McNaughton, S. J. in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function (eds Schulze, E. D. & Mooney, H. A.) 360–383 (Springer, New York, 1993).
Lawton, J. H. et al. Proc. R. Soc., Lond. B341, 181–194 (1993).
Thompson, L., Thomas, C. D., Radley, J. M. A., Williamson, S. & Lawton, J. H. Oecologia 95, 171–178 (1993).
Hand, D. J. & Taylor, C. C. Multivariate Analysis of Variance and Repeated Measures (Chapman & Hall, London, 1987).
Vandermeer, J. H. The Ecology of Intercropping (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1988).
Swift, M. J. & Anderson, J. M. in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function (eds Schulze, E. D. & Mooney, H. A.) 15–41 (Springer, New York, 1993).
Tremmel, D. C. & Bazzaz, F. A. Ecology 74, 2114–2124 (1993).
Wofsy, S. C. et al. Science 260, 1314–1317 (1993).
Pekka, E. K., Mielikäinen, K. & Kullervo, K. K. Science 256, 70–79 (1992).
Sundquist, E. T. Science 259, 934–941 (1993).
Körner, C. & Arnone, J. A. Science 257, 1672–1675 (1993).
Díaz, S., Grime, J. P., Harris, J. & McPherson, E. Nature 364, 616–617 (1993).
Szeicz, G. J. appl. Ecol. 11, 1117–1156 (1974).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Naeem, S., Thompson, L., Lawler, S. et al. Declining biodiversity can alter the performance of ecosystems. Nature 368, 734–737 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1038/368734a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/368734a0
This article is cited by
-
Relationships between species richness and biomass production are context dependent in grasslands differing in land-use and seed addition
Scientific Reports (2023)
-
Biophysical Heterogeneity, Hydrologic Connectivity, and Productivity of a Montane Floodplain Forest
Ecosystems (2023)
-
Contrasting Effects of Leaf Litter Quality and Diversity on Oviposition of Mosquitoes
Neotropical Entomology (2023)
-
Clarifying the effect of biodiversity on productivity in natural ecosystems with longitudinal data and methods for causal inference
Nature Communications (2023)
-
Effects of functional and phylogenetic diversity on the temporal dynamics of soil N availability
Plant and Soil (2022)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
