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Declining resilience of ecosystem functions under biodiversity loss

Author

Listed:
  • Tom H. Oliver

    (NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford
    School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading)

  • Nick J. B. Isaac

    (NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford)

  • Tom A. August

    (NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford)

  • Ben A. Woodcock

    (NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford)

  • David B. Roy

    (NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford)

  • James M. Bullock

    (NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Maclean Building, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford)

Abstract

The composition of species communities is changing rapidly through drivers such as habitat loss and climate change, with potentially serious consequences for the resilience of ecosystem functions on which humans depend. To assess such changes in resilience, we analyse trends in the frequency of species in Great Britain that provide key ecosystem functions—specifically decomposition, carbon sequestration, pollination, pest control and cultural values. For 4,424 species over four decades, there have been significant net declines among animal species that provide pollination, pest control and cultural values. Groups providing decomposition and carbon sequestration remain relatively stable, as fewer species are in decline and these are offset by large numbers of new arrivals into Great Britain. While there is general concern about degradation of a wide range of ecosystem functions, our results suggest actions should focus on particular functions for which there is evidence of substantial erosion of their resilience.

Suggested Citation

  • Tom H. Oliver & Nick J. B. Isaac & Tom A. August & Ben A. Woodcock & David B. Roy & James M. Bullock, 2015. "Declining resilience of ecosystem functions under biodiversity loss," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-8, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms10122
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10122
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    Cited by:

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    3. Bolette Bele & Ann Norderhaug & Hanne Sickel, 2018. "Localized Agri-Food Systems and Biodiversity," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-17, February.
    4. Gimona, Alessandro & McKeen, Margaret & Baggio, Andrea & Simonetti, Enrico & Poggio, Laura & Pakeman, Robin J., 2023. "Complementary effects of biodiversity and ecosystem services on spatial targeting for agri-environment payments," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    5. Marcela Prokopová & Luca Salvati & Gianluca Egidi & Ondřej Cudlín & Renata Včeláková & Radek Plch & Pavel Cudlín, 2019. "Envisioning Present and Future Land-Use Change under Varying Ecological Regimes and Their Influence on Landscape Stability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-24, August.
    6. Duncan A. O’Brien & Smita Deb & Gideon Gal & Stephen J. Thackeray & Partha S. Dutta & Shin-ichiro S. Matsuzaki & Linda May & Christopher F. Clements, 2023. "Early warning signals have limited applicability to empirical lake data," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    7. Lucie Kuczynski & Mathieu Chevalier & Pascal Laffaille & Marion Legrand & Gaël Grenouillet, 2017. "Indirect effect of temperature on fish population abundances through phenological changes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(4), pages 1-13, April.
    8. Movedi, Ermes & Paleari, Livia & Argenti, Giovanni & Vesely, Fosco M. & Staglianò, Nicolina & Parrini, Silvia & Confalonieri, Roberto, 2024. "The application of a plant community model to evaluate adaptation strategies for alleviating climate change impacts on grassland productivity, biodiversity and forage quality," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 488(C).
    9. Cepic, Michael & Bechtold, Ulrike & Wilfing, Harald, 2022. "Modelling human influences on biodiversity at a global scale–A human ecology perspective," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 465(C).
    10. Feng, Qiang & Zhao, Xiujie & Fan, Dongming & Cai, Baoping & Liu, Yiqi & Ren, Yi, 2019. "Resilience design method based on meta-structure: A case study of offshore wind farm," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 232-244.
    11. Lea Barbett & Edward J. N. Stupple & Michael Sweet & Malcolm B. Schofield & Miles Richardson, 2020. "Measuring Actions for Nature—Development and Validation of a Pro-Nature Conservation Behaviour Scale," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-20, June.
    12. Francesco Scorza & Angela Pilogallo & Lucia Saganeiti & Beniamino Murgante, 2020. "Natura 2000 Areas and Sites of National Interest (SNI): Measuring (un)Integration between Naturalness Preservation and Environmental Remediation Policies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-16, April.
    13. Oliver Taherzadeh & Peter Howley, 2018. "No net loss of what, for whom?: stakeholder perspectives to Biodiversity Offsetting in England," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1807-1830, August.
    14. Videla-Mensegue, H. & Caviglia, O.P. & Sadras, V.O., 2022. "Functional crop types are more important than diversity for the productivity, profit and risk of crop sequences in the inner Argentinean Pampas," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    15. Chen, Aimin & Wang, Pei & Zhou, Tianshou & Tian, Tianhai, 2022. "Balance of positive and negative regulation for trade-off between efficiency and resilience of high-dimensional networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 603(C).
    16. John H. Giordanengo, 2023. "The Foundational Components of Self-Regulating (Sustainable) Economies and Ecosystems: Implications for Green Infrastructure and Economic Restoration," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-27, November.
    17. Kaoru Kakinuma & Aki Yanagawa & Takehiro Sasaki & Mukund Palat Rao & Shinjiro Kanae, 2019. "Socio-ecological Interactions in a Changing Climate: A Review of the Mongolian Pastoral System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-17, October.
    18. Christoph von Hagke & Chloe Hill & Angela Hof & Thomas Rinder & Andreas Lang & Jan Christian Habel, 2022. "Learning from the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis to Overcome the Global Environmental Crisis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-8, August.
    19. Ruault, Jean-François & Dupré la Tour, Alice & Evette, André & Allain, Sandrine & Callois, Jean-Marc, 2022. "A biodiversity-employment framework to protect biodiversity," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    20. R. C. Rodríguez-Caro & E. Graciá & S. P. Blomberg & H. Cayuela & M. Grace & C. P. Carmona & H. A. Pérez-Mendoza & A. Giménez & R. Salguero-Gómez, 2023. "Anthropogenic impacts on threatened species erode functional diversity in chelonians and crocodilians," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.

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