Geomorphology shapes relationships between animal communities and ecosystem function in large rivers
Links
- More information: Publisher Index Page (via DOI)
- Open Access Version: External Repository
- Download citation as: RIS | Dublin Core
Abstract
Understanding how the Earth's surface (i.e. ‘nature's stage') influences connections between biodiversity and ecosystem function (BEF) is a central objective in ecology. Despite recent calls to examine these connections at multiple trophic levels and at more complex and realistic scales, little is known about how landscape structure shapes BEF relationships among animal communities in nature. We coupled high-resolution habitat mapping with extensive field sampling to quantify connections among the geophysical habitat templet, invertebrate assemblages and secondary production in two large North American riverscapes. Patterns of sediment size governed invertebrate assemblage structure, with particularly strong effects on composition, richness and taxonomic and functional diversity. These relationships propagated to drive positive relationships between biodiversity and secondary production that were modified by scale, context-dependencies and anthropogenic modification. Finally, leveraging spatially-explicit descriptions of geophysical and biological properties, we uncovered distinct and nested spatial scales of biodiversity and secondary production, and suggest that multiple geophysical processes simultaneously influence these patterns at different scales. Together, our findings advance our understanding of relationships between the physical templet and patterns of BEF, and help to predict how perturbations to the Earth's surface may propagate to influence biodiversity and energy flux through food webs.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Geomorphology shapes relationships between animal communities and ecosystem function in large rivers |
| Series title | Oikos |
| DOI | 10.1111/oik.09431 |
| Volume | 2023 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Year Published | 2023 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Wiley |
| Contributing office(s) | Coop Res Unit Seattle |
| Description | e09431 |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |