Ecological and Societal Consequences of Biodiversity Loss

Michel Loreau is a theoretical ecologist with broad scientific interests. He is renowned internationally for his work on the relationships between biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and stability and the sustainability of coupled human–nature systems.Andy Hector is an experimental ecologist with an interest in biodiversity, its loss and the consequences for ecosystem functioning and stability. He works primarily with plants, focusing on grassland and forest ecosystems, and is part of the Sabah Biodiversity Experiment in Malaysian Borneo.Forest Isbell is an ecologist who studies grasslands, forests and agroecosystems. He investigates how changes in biodiversity are altering ecosystem functioning, stability and services, considering both the costs of biodiversity loss and the benefits of restoring biodiversity.

• Introduction the Ecological and Societal Consequences of Biodiversity Loss xiiiMichel LOREAU, Andy HECTOR, and Forest ISBELLPart 1 Biodiversity and Ecosystems: An Overview 1Chapter 1 Biodiversity Change: Past, Present, and Future 3Andy PURVIS and Forest ISBELL1.1 Setting the stage: difficulties of documenting, understanding, and communicating biodiversity change 31.2 Biodiversity change in Earth history 61.3 Pre-industrial biodiversity change 81.4 Biodiversity change in the “Anthropocene” 91.5 Future of biodiversity change 121.6 Future of biodiversity change research 141.7 Acknowledgements 171.8 References 17Chapter 2 Biodiversity: Concepts, Dimensions, and Measures 25Anne CHAO and Robert K COLWELL2.1 Introduction 252.2 Progress in measuring taxonomic diversity 282.3 Taxonomic diversity and evenness measures 302.3.1 Taxonomic diversity: effective number of species 302.3.2 Evenness measures 322.4 A unified framework integrating diversities (TD, PD, and FD) 342.4.1 Phylogenetic diversity as a special case of attribute diversity 352.4.2 Functional diversity as a special case of attribute diversity 372.5 Diversity in space and time 392.6 Examples 402.6.1 Coral data 402.6.2 Saproxylic beetle data 412.7 Conclusion 432.8 Acknowledgements 432.9 References 44Chapter 3 Ecosystems: An Overview 47Amelia A WOLF, Sarah K ORTIZ, and Chase J RAKOWSKI3.1 An introduction to ecosystems 473.1.1 Ecosystem extent: abiotic factors in terrestrial systems 483.1.2 Ecosystem extent: biotic factors 513.1.3 Major ecosystem types 533.1.4 Meta-ecosystems 553.1.5 Ecosystem dynamics and change over time and space 563.2 Ecosystem functioning 573.3 Ecosystem stability 653.4 Ecosystem services 663.5 Human alterations to ecosystems 683.6 References 68Part 2 How Biodiversity Affects Ecosystem Functioning 73Chapter 4 Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning: Theoretical Foundations 75Shaopeng WANG4.1 Introduction 754.2 Biodiversity: from causes to consequences 774.3 Why does biodiversity promote ecosystem functioning? 814.4 Trophic diversity and ecosystem functioning 874.5 BEF over time and space 894.6 Conclusion 914.7 Acknowledgements 924.8 References 92Chapter 5 Experimental Evidence for How Biodiversity Affects Ecosystem Functioning 97Mary I O’CONNOR, Joey R BERNHARDT, Keila STARK, Jacob USINOWICZ, and Matthew A WHALEN5.1 The role of experiments 985.1.1 The experiment that launched a thousand experiments 985.1.2 How do we gain knowledge from experiments? 1005.2 BEF experiments as tests of theory 1035.2.1 Diversity as a driver of change in ecosystem function 1035.2.2 Evidence for selection and complementarity 1075.2.3 Experimental evidence for key assumptions of BEF theory 1085.2.4 Testing for diversity effects under broader abiotic and biotic conditions 1095.2.5 Diversity effects in space and time 1115.3 Experiments that extend classic theory 1125.3.1 Does extinction order matter? 1125.3.2 Experiments that bridge BEF and modern coexistence theory (MCT) 1125.3.3 Experimental evidence for effects of biodiversity on ecosystem services 1135.4 Conclusion 1145.5 References 114Chapter 6 Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning in Observational Analyses 119Laura E DEE, Kaitlin KIMMEL, and Meghan HAYDEN6.1 Introduction 1196.2 A historical perspective: returning to observational data 1206.3 Benefits of observational data 1216.4 The challenge of causal inference in observational studies 1256.5 Observational studies: results and evidence to date 1266.5.1 Across dimensions of biodiversity 1276.5.2 Across ecosystem functions 1286.5.3 Across ecosystem types 1286.5.4 Summary of current evidence gaps 1296.6 Reviewing study design to date: how are studies analysing observational data? 1306.6.1 Moving forward: improving study designs for observational data and analyses 1336.7 Future directions 1356.8 Conclusion 1366.9 References 137Part 3 How Biodiversity Affects Ecosystem Stability 145Chapter 7 Biodiversity and Ecosystem Stability: New Theoretical Insights 147Michel LOREAU7.1 Introduction 1477.2 What is stability? 1497.3 Why does local biodiversity promote ecosystem stability? 1547.4 Scaling up diversity−stability relationships 1587.5 Conclusion 1627.6 Acknowledgements 1637.7 References 164Chapter 8 What Do Biodiversity Experiments Tell Us About Biodiversity and Ecological Stability Relationships? 167Lin JIANG and Qianna XU8.1 Introduction 1678.2 Insight from models 1698.3 A brief account of earlier diversity–stability experiments 1708.4 The relationships between biodiversity and temporal stability 1708.4.1 Grassland biodiversity experiments 1708.4.2 Forest biodiversity experiments 1728.4.3 Aquatic biodiversity experiments 1738.4.4 Microbial biodiversity experiments 1768.4.5 How general are the effects of species diversity on temporal stability? 1778.4.6 Other dimensions of biodiversity 1798.5 The relationships between biodiversity and resistance/resilience 1808.6 The relevance of biodiversity experiments to real-world ecosystems 1818.7 Conclusion 1828.8 Acknowledgements 1838.9 References 183Chapter 9 Biodiversity and Temporal Stability of Naturally Assembled Ecosystems Across Spatial Scales in a Changing World 189Yann HAUTIER and Fons VAN DER PLAS9.1 Introduction 1899.2 Biodiversity–stability relationships along natural gradients 1939.3 Global change drivers and biodiversity–stability relationships 1969.4 Contribution of dominant and rare species to stability 2009.5 Future directions 2029.6 References 204Part 4 How Biodiversity Affects Human Societies 211Chapter 10 Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Managed Ecosystems 213Bernhard SCHMID and Christian SCHÖB10.1 A brief history of the role of biodiversity in managed ecosystems 21310.2 Biodiversity as the basis for a new green revolution 21410.3 Biodiversity in agriculture 21710.3.1 Crop genetic diversity 21710.3.2 Species diversity in grasslands and intercropping 21810.3.3 Farm-scale diversity 22010.4 Biodiversity in forestry 22110.4.1 Evidence for positive biodiversity effects on forest ecosystem services 22110.4.2 Ecosystem services provided by agroforestry 22310.5 Outlook 22410.5.1 Potential of biodiversity to support the next green revolution 22410.5.2 Obstacles 22410.5.3 Solutions 22510.6 Acknowledgements 22510.7 References 225Chapter 11 Biodiversity and Human Health: On the Necessity of Combining Ecology and Public Health 233Jean-François GUÉGAN, Benjamin ROCHE, and Serge MORAND11.1 Introduction 23311.2 Microbial biodiversity is a key component of ecosystems 23511.3 The linkages between biodiversity and human infectious diseases 23811.4 The evolution of human society is punctuated by epidemiological phases 24111.5 The new ecology and evolution of zoonotic and sapronotic establishment in the Anthropocene 24311.6 The process of globalization of human infectious diseases 24611.7 A livestock-dominated planet 24811.8 Conclusion 24911.9 Acknowledgements 25311.10 References 253Chapter 12 Economic Valuation of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services 261Seth BINDER12.1 Introduction 26112.2 What valuation is and is not 26112.3 Non-market economic valuation methods 26312.3.1 Production function methods 26312.3.2 Revealed preference methods 26912.3.3 Stated preference methods 27212.3.4 Benefit transfer methods 27312.4 Conclusion 27412.5 References 276Part 5 Zooming Out: Biodiversity in a Changing Planet 281Chapter 13 Feedbacks Between Biodiversity and Climate Change 283Akira S MORI, Takehiro SASAKI, Maiko KAGAMI, Takeshi MIKI, and Moriaki YASUHARA13.1 Introduction 28313.2 Vulnerability and responses of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning to the changing climate in different biomes 28813.3 Societal and political challenges to these twin crises and their interlinkages 29413.4 The potential of biodiversity to cope with the changing climate 29713.5 Conclusion 29913.6 Acknowledgements 29913.7 References 299Chapter 14 Feedbacks Between Biodiversity and Society 305Kirsten HENDERSON14.1 Introduction 30514.2 Society’s impact on biodiversity 30714.2.1 Agriculture 30714.2.2 Income 30814.3 How societies view biodiversity 31114.3.1 Biodiversity and culture 31114.3.2 Biodiversity and well-being 31314.3.3 Value of biodiversity 31314.4 Biodiversity policy and society 31414.4.1 Awareness and perception 31414.4.2 Management strategies 31614.4.3 Conflicts in biodiversity management 31714.4.4 Successful initiatives 31814.5 Conclusion 31914.6 Acknowledgements 32114.7 References 321Chapter 15 Protecting and Restoring Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services 325Forest ISBELL15.1 Introduction 32515.2 Protecting biodiversity and ecosystems 32615.2.1 What are protected areas and what are they intended to protect? 32615.2.2 What global targets have been established for protected areas? 32815.2.3 Where are protected areas and how effective are they? 32915.2.4 Does protecting biodiversity also protect ecosystem services? 33115.2.5 What are the limitations of protected areas? 33215.3 Restoring biodiversity and ecosystems by reversing degradation 33315.3.1 What is restoration and why is it needed? 33315.3.2 What global targets have been established for restoration? 33615.3.3 How extensive and effective is restoration? 33715.3.4 Increasing the diversity of restorations can increase their efficacy 33815.3.5 What are the limitations of restoration? 33915.4 Looking ahead 34015.5 Conclusion 34315.6 Acknowledgements 34315.7 References 343List of Authors 347Index 351