Understanding biodiversity-ecosystem function and biodiversity-stability relationships across spatial and organizational scales

The role of biodiversity in shaping ecosystem functioning (EF) and stability (ES) is a fundamental question in ecology.

The mechanisms underlying biodiversity-EF (BEF) and biodiversity-ES (BES) relations have been extensively studied, but they have been approached separately, and we thus lack an understanding of how EF and ES relate, a particularly urgent task in the face of global environmental change.

Further, most research has been conducted within single trophic communities and relatively small spatial scales, and whether the types of relations observed are scalable and applicable to multi-trophic communities is unknown.

To address these shortcomings, in GorBEEa I propose to merge BEF and BES research (i) within multi-trophic communities, in this case plant-pollinator interaction networks, (ii) across spatial and organizational scales (from local to regional scales, and from populations, to communities), (iii) taking a dynamic perspective that considers multiple temporal scales (within day, within season, between years), and (iv) following a multi-functional approach, analysing several functions on the resource side, but also considering the many times neglected impact on the consumer side.

Further, (v) to understand aspects of stability beyond temporal invariability, I will introduce a perturbation to the system, to understand whether biodiversity in multi-trophic communities provides higher resistance and resilience values.

GorBEEa represents an ambitious research programme at the intersect of population, community, ecosystem, and conservation ecology, that will deliver an understanding of how declining biodiversity levels influence natural ecosystem dynamics.

But it will also offer an applied angle, through collaborations with stakeholders to develop scientifically-informed management practices.