Thresholds of biodiversity and ecosystem function in a forest ecosystem undergoing dieback

Analysis of ecological thresholds in a temperate forest undergoing dieback

Positive feedbacks in drivers of degradation can cause threshold responses in natural ecosystems. Though threshold responses have received much attention in studies of aquatic ecosystems, they have been neglected in terrestrial systems, such as forests, where the long time-scales required for monitoring have impeded research. In this study we explored the role of positive feedbacks in a tempera...

Biodiversity , Species Composition and Ecosystem Function

Biodiversity: A Function of Plant-Animal Interactions in the Eastern Ghats Forest Ecosystem

---Biodiversity is a function of web of interactions taking place between plants and animals. The interactions between them are very complex, intricate and function in association with the abiotic environment. Since biodiversity is the key for the structural and functional integrity of ecosystems and it is the foundation for the very survival and sustainability of life on this planet, it is imp...

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Stability

Introduction: Biodiversity, Stability, and Ecosystem Functioning Climate change and other human-driven (anthropogenic) environmental changes will continue to cause biodiversity loss in the coming decades (Sala et al. 2000), in addition to the high rates of species extinctions already occurring worldwide (Stork 2010). Biodiversity is a term that can be used to describe biological diversity at a ...

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning

Species diversity is a major determinant of ecosystem productivity, stability, invasibility, and nutrient dynamics. Hundreds of studies spanning terrestrial, aquatic, and marine ecosystems show that high-diversity mixtures are approximately twice as productive as monocultures of the same species and that this difference increases through time. These impacts of higher diversity have multiple cau...