Biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and ecosystem function

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It is generally assumed that biodiversity is essential for ecosystem function - the goods and services that ecosystems provide to humanity. Species richness and population abundance are important components of biodiversity, but biodiversity also includes genetic diversity, functional diversity, community composition and ecosystem diversity. In fact, most goods and services arise through ecosystem functioning, the broader scope of biodiversity which encompasses the interplay of species and their interaction with the environment. Biodiversity and ecosystem function are central to both community and ecosystems ecology and need to be understood to predict how communities and ecosystems respond to environmental change and how declining diversity influences ecosystem services on which humans depend[1]. Much research is focusing in recent decades on unraveling the relationship between biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and ecosystem function.

Many ecosystems around the world are currently undergoing profound changes in species composition due to the influence of human activity and climate change. These changes are likely to affect the services that ecosystems provide to humanity. Questions about the relationships between biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and ecosystem function have therefore become urgent.[2][3][4][5]


Definition of Ecosystem functioning:
Ecosystem functioning describes the combined effects of all natural processes that sustain an ecosystem, i.e. the combined effects of individual functions, with the overall rate of functioning being governed by the interplay of abiotic (physical and chemical) and/or biotic factors[6].
This is the common definition for Ecosystem functioning, other definitions can be discussed in the article


Definition of Ecosystem function:
Ecosystem function describes the capacity of natural processes and components to provide goods and services that satisfy human needs, either directly or indirectly[7].
This is the common definition for Ecosystem function, other definitions can be discussed in the article

The term 'Ecosystem function' is often used in ecology with a broader meaning, referring to processes, roles or services[8].

The relationship between biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and ecosystem function can be understood as a cascade of processes:


Biodiversity → Ecosystem functioning → Ecosystem function → Ecosystem services


This cascade is a simplification. In real ecosystems, abiotic conditions, disturbance regimes, species interactions and human pressures influence each step, and feedbacks occur between biodiversity, ecosystem processes and the services that society derives from them.


Ecosystem function and functioning

Marine ecosystems provide many important functions at a global, national, regional and individual level. The goods and services provided to society include moderation of climate, processing of waste and toxicants, protection of the coastline, provision of vital food and medicines and a source of employment. Our coasts provide space to live and directly and indirectly create wealth, including millions of jobs in industries such as fishing, aquaculture and tourism. See also the article Ecosystem services.

Although a distinction is not always made, ecosystem function should be distinguished from ecosystem functioning. Ecosystem functioning refers to ecological processes and the causal relations that give rise to them, to the role of organisms within an ecological system, and to the overall processes that sustain an ecological system[9]. It reflects the collective life activities of plants, animals, and microbes and the effects these activities - feeding, growing, moving, excreting waste, etc. - have on the physical and chemical conditions of their environment[10]. Ecosystem functioning determines how energy and matter flow through ecosystems (e.g. primary production, decomposition, nutrient cycling). These processes give rise to ecosystem functions and ultimately to ecosystem services at multiple scales such as food production, climate regulation, waste processing and coastal protection, which benefit to humans as well as to other organisms[8]. Although the distinction between ecosystem function and ecosystem functioning is not always made consistently in the literature, the two concepts are complementary and closely linked[11].

Links with biodiversity

There is broad consensus among scientists that ecosystem functioning is linked to biodiversity. This is thought to be because diverse communities contain a greater range of functional traits and are therefore better adapted to naturally available resources. High diversity therefore provides opportunities for more efficient use of resources and ensures stability of ecosystem functions in variable or disturbed environments[12]. The capacity of an ecosystem to maintain several functions simultaneously is called ecosystem multifunctionality: Different species or functional groups often contribute to different functions, so the biodiversity needed to sustain multiple functions can be greater than the biodiversity needed to maximize a single function.

In contrast, systems with species-poor communities are often less resistant (less capacity to withstand change) and less resilient (less capacity to recover from disturbance, see Resilience and resistance) than systems with species-rich communities[13]. Besides biodiversity, resilience and resistance of ecosystems also depend on environmental conditions, spatial scale and disturbance regime.

Biodiversity effects are not determined by species richness alone. It is only one aspect of biodiversity. The abundance of species, dominance patterns, evenness, functional traits and community composition can strongly influence ecosystem functioning, see Measurements of biodiversity. Functional diversity, based on the traits that determine how organisms use resources and influence their environment, is often more directly related to ecosystem functioning than species richness or abundance. For example, in coastal sediments, the effects of benthic fauna on oxygen penetration and nutrient cycling depend strongly on burrowing depth, feeding mode, mobility and sediment reworking behavior, not only on the number of species present. Some other examples of biodiversity–function links include:

  • Seagrass meadows: species and trait diversity can influence primary production, sediment stabilization, nursery function and carbon burial.
  • Salt marshes and mangroves: vegetation structure and species composition affect wave attenuation, sediment trapping, organic-matter accumulation and habitat provision.
  • Filter feeders: bivalves and sponges can affect water clarity, phytoplankton biomass and benthic–pelagic coupling.
  • Coral reefs and oyster reefs: structural biodiversity and ecosystem engineers create habitat complexity and coastal protection.
  • Plankton communities: size structure and functional composition influence primary production, food-web transfer and carbon export.

The article A review of biodiversity-ecosystem function research presents an overview of different types of experiments designed to provide insight into the biodiversity-ecosystem function relationship in the marine environment.

Empirical theories

Biodiversity is widely recognized as an important driver of ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services. Loss of biodiversity can reduce ecosystem functioning and impair ecosystem functions, although the strength and direction of these effects depend on the organisms, functions, environmental conditions and spatial and temporal scales considered[14]. Positive correlations between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning do not always imply direct causation, because both may be influenced by environmental gradients such as productivity, habitat complexity, disturbance or pollution. Current understanding is therefore based on a combination of experiments, observations and modelling, and is best expressed as a set of general principles rather than universal laws.

Rather than universal laws, current understanding identifies general principles whose expression varies among ecosystems. A number of recurring patterns have been identified, some of which are listed below. [15][16][17][18][19][20]

  • Functional diversity is often a strong predictor of ecosystem functioning because it captures variation in ecological roles and traits. Species that differ in resource use, habitat use, life history or environmental response can complement one another and thereby enhance resource use, productivity, stability or nutrient cycling. Facilitative interactions, for example through habitat modification by ecosystem engineers, can also enhance functioning. Functional redundancy, where several species perform similar ecological roles, may buffer ecosystem functioning against species loss, because some species can partly compensate for the loss of others. However, such compensation is often incomplete and may break down under strong or multiple stressors.
  • Biodiversity effects tend to be stronger in heterogeneous environments, where niche differentiation can occur. The so-called niche complementarity theory postulates that coexisting species with a great variety of functional traits have different requirements for ecological niches which lead to more efficient utilization of available resources through niche differentiation and facilitation. Positive biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships have been shown to be strongest in complex resource environments. Environmental heterogeneity promotes complementarity effects, suggesting that habitat homogenization may compromise positive biodiversity effects on ecosystem function.
  • Across ecosystems, empirical evidence suggests that diversity at higher trophic levels can be especially important for sustaining multiple ecosystem functions and services, through trophic regulation, food-web stability and consumer-mediated effects. This does not diminish the fundamental role of lower trophic levels and benthic ecosystem engineers, including primary producers, microbes and sediment-dwelling fauna, which support primary production, nutrient cycling, carbon burial, sediment stabilization and habitat formation.
  • Species-rich ecosystems are more likely to include and become dominated by some highly productive species. This is called the selection probability hypothesis. Competitive exclusion can reduce diversity when species with similar resource requirements compete under stable and homogeneous conditions. In natural coastal and marine systems, complete competitive exclusion is often counteracted by environmental variability, disturbance, dispersal, predation and habitat heterogeneity, allowing species with partly overlapping functions to coexist.
  • Some ecosystems are ruled by a small number of key species (e.g. foundation species, predators or ecosystem engineers). Loss of a rare species may have little immediate effect on a measured function, whereas the loss or gain of key species has a significant impact on the ecosystem function. However, the impact of the loss or gain of a species on ecosystem function is context dependent and often idiosyncratic and unpredictable. What happens, will depend on the local conditions under which the species extinction or addition occurs (see Disturbances, biodiversity changes and ecosystem stability)

Understanding the relationships between biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and function is important for ecosystem-based management, marine spatial planning, habitat restoration and nature-based coastal protection[17][18][21]. Management based only on species numbers may miss important changes in functional traits, trophic structure or ecosystem engineers. Conversely, focusing only on a few services may overlook biodiversity components that maintain resilience under future climate and disturbance conditions.


Related articles

A review of biodiversity-ecosystem function research
Measurements of biodiversity
Disturbances, biodiversity changes and ecosystem stability
Biological Trait Analysis
Biodiversity
Resilience and resistance
Ecosystem services
Functional diversity in marine ecosystems
Functional groups


References

  1. ↑ Duffy, J.E. 2003. Biodiversity loss, trophic skew and ecosystem functioning. Ecol. Lett. 6: 680–687
  2. ↑ Walker, B.H., 1992. Biodiversity and ecological redundancy. Conserv. Biol. 6: 18-23.
  3. ↑ Schulze, E.-D. and Mooney, H. A. (eds). 1993. Biodiversity and ecosystem function. Springer Verlag
  4. ↑ Jones, C. G., and Lawton, J. H. editors. 1995. Linking species and ecosystems. Chapman and Hall, New York, New York, USA
  5. ↑ Johnson, K.H., Vogt, K.A., Clark, H., Schmitz, O. and Vogt, D. 1996. Biodiversity and the productivity and stability of ecosystems. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 11: 372-377
  6. ↑ Reiss, J., Bridle, J.R., Montoya, J.M. and Woodward, G. 2009. Emerging horizons in biodiversity and ecosystem functioning research. Trends Ecol. Evol., 24: 505-514
  7. ↑ de Groot, R.S., Wilson, M.A. and Boumans, R.M.J. 2002. A typology for the classification, description and valuation of ecosystem functions, goods and services. Ecological Economics 41: 393–408
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Bellwood, D.R., Streit, R.P., Brandl, S.J. and Tebbett, S.B. 2019. The meaning of the term ‘function’ in ecology: A coral reef perspective. Functional Ecology 33: 948–961
  9. ↑ Naeem, S. 1998. Species redundancy and ecosystem reliability. Conserv. Biol., 12: 39-45
  10. ↑ Naeem, S., Chapin III, F.S. Costanza, R., Ehrlich, P.R., Golley, F.B., Hooper, D.U., Lawton, J.H., O'Neill, R.V., Mooney, H.A., Sala, O.E., Symstad, A.J. and Tilman, D. 1999. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning: Maintaining Natural Life Support Processes. Issues in Ecology 4. Published by the Ecological Society of America
  11. ↑ Jax, K. 2005. Function and functioning in ecology: what does it mean? Oikos 3: 641-648
  12. ↑ Chapin, F.S., Walker, B.H., Hobbs, R.J., Hooper, D.U., Lawton, J.H., Sala, O.E. and Tilman D. 1997. Biotic control over the functioning of ecosystems. Science, 277(5325): 500-504
  13. ↑ Strong, J.A., Andonegi, E., Bizsel. K.C., Danovaro, R., Elliott, M., Franco, A., Garces, E., Little, S.,. Mazik, K., Moncheva, S., Papadopoulou, N., Patrício, J., Queiros, A.M., Smith, C., Stefanova, K. and Solaun, O. 2015. Marine biodiversity and ecosystem function relationships: The potential for practical monitoring applications. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 161: 46-64
  14. ↑ Loreau, M. 1998. Separating sampling and other effects in biodiversity experiments. Oikos 82: 600–602
  15. ↑ Grime, J.P.,1973. Competitive exclusion in herbaceous vegetation. Nature 242, 344–347
  16. ↑ Naeem, S., Thompson, L.J., Lawler, S.P., Lawton, J.H. and Woodfin, R.M. 1994. Declining biodiversity can alter the performance of ecosystems. Nature 368: 734–737
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Loreau, M., Naeem, S., Inchausti, P., Bengtsson, J., Grime, J.P., Hector, A., Hooper, D.U., Huston, M.A., Raffaelli, D., Schmid, B., Tilman, D., Wardle, D.A., 2001. Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: current knowledge and future challenges. Science 294: 804–808
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Tilman, D., Isbell, F., Cowles, J.M., 2014. Biodiversity and ecosystem function. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 45: 471–493
  19. ↑ Eisenhauer, N., Schielzeth, H., Barnes, A.D., Barry, K., Bonn, A., Brose, U., Bruelheide, H., Buchmann, N., Buscot, F., Ebeling, A., Ferlian, O., Freschet, G.T., Giling, D.P., Hättenschwiler, S., Hillebrand, H., Hines, J., Isbell, F., Koller-France, E., König-Ries, B., de Kroon, H., Meyer, S.T., Milcu, A., Müller, J., Nock, C.A., Petermann, J.S., Roscher, C., Scherber, C., Scherer-Lorenzen, M., Schmid, B., Schnitzer, S.A., Schuldt, A., Tscharntke, T., Türke, M., van Dam, N.M., van der Plas, F., Vogel, A., Wagg, C., Wardle, D.A., Weigelt, A., Weisser, W.W., Wirth, C. and Jochum, M. 2019. A multitrophic perspective on biodiversity-ecosystem functioning research. Adv Ecol Res. 19: 1-54
  20. ↑ Ali, A. 2023. Biodiversity–ecosystem functioning research: Brief history, major trends and perspectives. Biological Conservation 285, 110210
  21. ↑ Cardinale, B., Duffy, J., Gonzalez, A. et al. 2012. Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity. Nature 486: 59–67


The main authors of this article are Job Dronkers and Vassiliki, Markantonatou
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Citation: Job Dronkers; Vassiliki, Markantonatou; (2026): Biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and ecosystem function. Available from http://www.coastalwiki.org/wiki/Biodiversity,_ecosystem_functioning_and_ecosystem_function [accessed on 17-06-2026]
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