extra reading

Question 1

Tilman et al 1997

Answer 1

grassland, sampling effect, higher species richness means higher biomass

Question 2

pillai and gouhier 2018

Answer 2

why biodiversity can be overestimated as a measure of EF For instance, Pillai and Gouhier (2018) argue that traditional methods of assessing biodiversity’s impact on ecosystem function often rely on neutral models that overlook the nonlinear and complex nature of species interactions. They suggest that such approaches can lead to an overestimation of biodiversity effects and fail to account for the dynamic interplay between species that significantly influences ecosystem processes

Question 3

weiskopf 2018

Answer 3

Main findings:

Climate change affects biodiversity at multiple levels:

Individual species: changes in behavior, morphology, phenology, and geographic ranges.

Ecosystems: shifts in productivity, altered species interactions, invasions, and extreme events reducing resilience.

Ecosystem services: declines in provisioning (e.g., food, water), regulating (e.g., carbon storage), supporting, and cultural services.

Management implications:

Natural resource management must be adaptive and proactive — focused on resilience, reducing non-climate stressors, and using flexible, ecosystem-based approaches.

Indigenous knowledge and local adaptation are critical for successful strategies.

Key point:
➡️ Climate change drives both direct and cascading effects on ecosystems and society, requiring flexible, forward-looking conservation and policy.

Question 4

ferlain et al 2018

Answer 4

AMF and EMF in tree species
When trees associate with functionally different mycorrhizae, the resource space is partitioned more efficiently, leading to higher ecosystem functioning.

✅ This is niche complementarity: species (or their symbionts) specialize in different resources or strategies, avoiding direct competition and improving the total use of ecosystem resources.
Complementarity effects were small initially, but expected to increase over time as mycorrhizal networks develop.

Question 5

hilmers et al 2018

Answer 5

mature less biodiverse temporal forest has higher ecosystem function than lesss mature with more species, better nutrient cycling and structural complexity

Question 6

benkwitt et al 2020

Answer 6

fish biomass increases with richness, also includes effect of invasive species and climate change