Marine Biology Research Group, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281/S8, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium; Department of Estuarine and Delta Systems, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and Utrecht University, PO Box 140, 4400 AC Yerseke, the Netherlands.
Marine Biology Research Group, Ghent University, Krijgslaan 281/S8, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Mar Environ Res. 2020 Dec;162:105096. doi: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.105096. Epub 2020 Aug 2.
Functional trait approaches advance the understanding of biodiversity-ecosystem function (BDEF) relationships and its control by the environmental context. Application of these insights into management remains constrained due to lack of evidence from real-world ecosystems that capture the natural spatial and temporal gradients at which biodiversity and environmental conditions operate. In this study we measured macrofauna community traits, ecosystem processes and abiotic properties at 9 locations during 4 months, spanning a wide gradient in sedimentary habitats and salinity in the Scheldt estuary, and quantified the (a)biotic contribution to sediment community oxygen consumption, as a measure of ecosystem function. We found that functional attributes of the macrofauna community and its effect on bio-irrigation can predict ecosystem function, but especially during the colder period of the year. This result highlights that generalizations about BDEF relationships, and biodiversity loss on ecosystem functions, are limited whenever this temporal component is not acknowledged.
功能特征方法可以增进对生物多样性-生态系统功能（BDEF）关系及其受环境背景控制的理解。由于缺乏来自现实生态系统的证据，这些见解在管理中的应用仍然受到限制，这些证据可以捕捉生物多样性和环境条件运作的自然时空梯度。在这项研究中，我们在四个月的时间内在 Scheldt 河口的 9 个地点测量了大型动物群落特征、生态系统过程和非生物特性，并量化了（有/无）生物条件对沉积物群落耗氧量的贡献，作为衡量生态系统功能的一个指标。我们发现，大型动物群落的功能属性及其对生物渗滤的影响可以预测生态系统功能，但尤其是在一年中较冷的时期。这一结果表明，只要不承认这一时间因素，关于 BDEF 关系和生物多样性对生态系统功能丧失的泛化就会受到限制。
