Linking biodiversity to ecosystems: A task for plant community ecologists

Linking ecosystems to landscapes A challenge for ecologists

This contribution is based on the assumption that solutions to most environmental problems will require the application of knowledge based on an understanding of how ecosystems and landscapes function and how they are linked in time and space. I also assume that almost all plans to solve environmental problems will be made with the knowledge that they are based on a limited and imperfect scient...

Linking biodiversity and ecosystems: towards a unifying ecological theory

Community ecology and ecosystem ecology provide two perspectives on complex ecological systems that have largely complementary strengths and weaknesses. Merging the two perspectives is necessary both to ensure continued scientific progress and to provide society with the scientific means to face growing environmental challenges. Recent research on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning has cont...

Parasitism, community structure and biodiversity in intertidal ecosystems.

There is mounting evidence that parasites can influence the composition and structure of natural animal communities. In spite of this, it is difficult to assess just how important parasitism is for community structure because very few studies have been designed specifically to address the role of parasites at the community level, no doubt because it is difficult to manipulate the abundance of p...

MPowering ecologists: community assembly tools for community assembly rules

Null model tests of presence–absence data (‘NMTPAs’) provide important tools for inferring eff ects of competition, facilitation, habitat fi ltering, and other ecological processes from observational data. Many NMTPAs have been developed, but they often yield confl icting conclusions when applied to the same data. Type I and II error rates, size, power, robustness and bias provide important cri...

Ice Ecosystems and Biodiversity