Abstract
The global biodiversity loss has increased the need to understand the effects of decreasing diversity, but our knowledge on how species loss will affect the functioning of communities and ecosystems is still very limited. Here, the levels of taxonomic and functional beta diversity and the effect of species loss on functional beta diversity were investigated in an estuary that provides a naturally steep environmental gradient. The study was conducted using diatoms that are among the most important microorganisms in all aquatic ecosystems and globally account for 40% of marine primary production. Along the estuary, the taxonomic beta diversity of diatom communities was high (Bray-Curtis taxonomic similarity 0.044) and strongly controlled by the environment, particularly wind exposure, salinity, and temperature. In contrast, the functional beta diversity was low (Bray-Curtis functional similarity 0.658) and much less controlled by the environment. Thus, the diatom communities stayed functionally almost similar despite large changes in species composition and environment. This may indicate that, through high taxonomic diversity and redundancy in functions, microorganisms provide an insurance effect against environmental change. However, when studying the effect of decreasing species richness on functional similarity of communities, simulated species loss to 45% of the current species richness decreased functional similarity significantly. This suggests that decreasing species richness may increase variability and reduce the stability and resilience of communities. These results highlight the importance of high taxonomic biodiversity for the stable functioning of benthic communities.
Highlights
The global biodiversity crisis has increased the need for understanding the effects of biodiversity loss to ecosystem functioning and the services that ecosystems provide to humans
Total species richness in the samples was 408, of which 33 species were present in more than 50% of the sites and were considered widely distributed
It has previously been shown that the functional alpha diversity of marine microorganisms, namely benthic diatoms, is tightly linked to ecosystem functioning [18]
Summary
The global biodiversity crisis has increased the need for understanding the effects of biodiversity loss to ecosystem functioning and the services that ecosystems provide to humans. A real-world study on the taxonomic and functional beta diversity of benthic diatom communities and the effects of species loss on the functional beta diversity is presented. I.e., the change in species composition between sites, is a key factor for understanding the variability in ecosystem functioning It may be as important as alpha diversity, i.e., diversity at a single site which is a much more frequently studied variable, for biodiversity conservation perspectives, such as designing effective protective area networks or understanding processes that maintain diversity [4]. By considering functional beta diversity, comparisons among broad geographic regions can be made despite differences in taxonomic compositions This can provide new insights on the role of functional biodiversity
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