Marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: what’s known and what’s next?

Expanding scales in biodiversity-based research: challenges and solutions for marine systems

As in terrestrial biodiversity, human influences over marine biodiversity will alter the way ecosystems contribute to biogeochemical or ecosystem processes. While many studies have documented how alterations of terrestrial biology affect ecosystem functioning, few studies have examined marine systems. The main challenge faced by biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF) research in marine ec...

Marine chemical ecology: what’s known and what’s next?

In this review, I summarize recent developments in marine chemical ecology and suggest additional studies that should be especially productive. Direct tests in both the field and laboratory show that secondary metabohtes commonly function as defenses against consumers. However, some metabolites also diminish fouling, inhibit competitors or microbial pathogens, and serve as gamete attractants; t...

Methods to Estimate the Diversity in the Marine Photosynthetic Protist Community with Illustrations from Case Studies: A Review

We review the application of molecular methods to estimate biodiversity in the marine environment. All of the methods reviewed here, which are at the forefront of molecular research, can be applied to all organisms in all habitats, but the case studies used to illustrate the points are derived from marine photosynthetic eukaryotic protists. It has been accepted that we know less than 10% of the...

The Role of Biodiversity in the Functioning of Freshwater and Marine Benthic Ecosystems

Ecosystem consequences of diversity depend on food chain length in estuarine vegetation

J. Emmett Duffy*, J. Paul Richardson and Kristin E. France School of Marine Science and Virginia Institute of Marine Science, The College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, VA 23062-1346, USA *Correspondence: E-mail: [email protected] Abstract Biodiversity and food chain length each can strongly influence ecosystem functioning, yet their interactions rarely have been tested. We manipulated g...