Department of Experimental Limnology, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Alte Fischerhütte 2, 16775, Stechlin, Germany.
Department of Ecology, Berlin Institute of Technology (TU Berlin), Ernst-Reuter-Platz 1, 10587, Berlin, Germany.
J Anim Ecol. 2012 Nov;81(6):1143-1145. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.12011.
Does stress, defined as a reduction in growth by external constraints, modify biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning? That is, are diversity effects stronger under stressful, as opposed to favourable conditions? The study by Fugère et al. (2012) in this issue borrows the stress-gradient hypothesis from plant ecology to explore this issue in an aquatic detritus-detritivore system. Although they find weak support for their hypothesis, the study opens the door for future experimental and theoretical investigations into the role of stress in modifying the relationship between the diversity of animal communities and ecosystem processes.
压力（定义为外部限制导致的生长减少）是否会改变生物多样性对生态系统功能的影响？也就是说，在压力较大的情况下（与有利条件相反），多样性效应是否更强？Fugère 等人在本期发表的研究从植物生态学中借用了压力梯度假说，来探讨水生碎屑-碎屑食者系统中的这一问题。尽管他们对自己的假说提供了微弱的支持，但这项研究为未来的实验和理论研究打开了一扇门，以探讨压力在改变动物群落多样性与生态系统过程之间关系中的作用。
