Biodiversity: From evolutionary origins to ecosystem functioning

Abstract

How the Earth came to have on the order of 10 million species and the impacts of this biodiversity on ecosystems, are long-standing questions in evolution and ecology. I propose that both the evolutionary causes and the ecological consequences of biodiversity share a common origin—unavoidable tradeoffs that organisms face when dealing with multiple limiting factors. Our grassland biodiversity experiments and studies in many other systems have shown that species diversity is a major determinant of ecosystem productivity, stability, invasibility and nutrient dynamics. The preservation, conservation and restoration of biodiversity should be a high global priority. Indeed, the evidence accumulated over the past two decades suggests the long-term persistence of a species in an ecosystem should be taken as prima facie evidence that the species contributes to the functioning of that ecosystem.