Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland.
Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter. University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
J Anim Ecol. 2022 Nov;91(11):2181-2191. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.13798. Epub 2022 Aug 22.
The mechanisms by which climatic changes influence ecosystem functions, that is, by a direct climatic control of ecosystem processes or by modifying richness and trait compositions of species communities, remain unresolved. This study is a contribution to this discourse by elucidating the linkages between climate, land use, biodiversity, body size and ecosystem functions. We disentangled direct climatic from biodiversity-mediated effects by using dung removal by dung beetles as a model system and by combining correlative field data and exclosure experiments along an extensive elevational gradient on Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Dung removal declined with increasing elevation, being associated with a strong reduction in the richness and body size traits of dung beetle communities. Climate influenced dung removal rates by modifying biodiversity rather than by direct effects. The biodiversity-ecosystem effect was driven by a change in the mean body size of dung beetles. Dung removal rates were strongly reduced when large dung beetles were experimentally excluded. This study underscores that climate influences ecosystem functions mainly by modifying biodiversity and underpins the important role of body size for dung removal.
气候变化影响生态系统功能的机制，即通过直接气候控制生态系统过程或通过改变物种群落的丰富度和特征组成，仍然没有得到解决。本研究通过阐明气候、土地利用、生物多样性、体型和生态系统功能之间的联系，为这一讨论做出了贡献。我们使用蜣螂清除粪便作为模型系统，并结合坦桑尼亚乞力马扎罗山广泛海拔梯度上的相关实地数据和围栏实验，将直接气候因素与生物多样性介导的影响区分开来。随着海拔的升高，粪便清除量下降，与粪便甲虫群落的丰富度和体型特征的强烈减少有关。气候通过改变生物多样性而不是直接影响来影响粪便清除率。生物多样性-生态系统效应是由蜣螂的平均体型变化驱动的。当大型蜣螂被实验排除时，粪便清除率会大幅降低。这项研究强调了气候主要通过改变生物多样性来影响生态系统功能，并强调了体型对粪便清除的重要作用。
