β-Diversity, Community Assembly, and Ecosystem Functioning

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 549-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akira S. Mori ◽  
Forest Isbell ◽  
Rupert Seidl
Keyword(s):  
Community Assembly ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Β Diversity

scholarly journals Stochastic Assembly Leads to Alternative Communities with Distinct Functions in a Bioreactor Microbial Community

mBio ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jizhong Zhou ◽  
Wenzong Liu ◽  
Ye Deng ◽  
Yi-Huei Jiang ◽  
Kai Xue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Microbial Community ◽  
Microbial Diversity ◽  
Microbial Community Structure ◽  
Community Assembly ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Microbial Biodiversity ◽  
Stochastic Assembly

ABSTRACTThe processes and mechanisms of community assembly and its relationships to community functioning are central issues in ecology. Both deterministic and stochastic factors play important roles in shaping community composition and structure, but the connection between community assembly and ecosystem functioning remains elusive, especially in microbial communities. Here, we used microbial electrolysis cell reactors as a model system to examine the roles of stochastic assembly in determining microbial community structure and functions. Under identical environmental conditions with the same source community, ecological drift (i.e., initial stochastic colonization) and subsequent biotic interactions created dramatically different communities with little overlap among 14 identical reactors, indicating that stochastic assembly played dominant roles in determining microbial community structure. Neutral community modeling analysis revealed that deterministic factors also played significant roles in shaping microbial community structure in these reactors. Most importantly, the newly formed communities differed substantially in community functions (e.g., H2production), which showed strong linkages to community structure. This study is the first to demonstrate that stochastic assembly plays a dominant role in determining not only community structure but also ecosystem functions. Elucidating the links among community assembly, biodiversity, and ecosystem functioning is critical to understanding ecosystem functioning, biodiversity preservation, and ecosystem management.IMPORTANCEMicroorganisms are the most diverse group of life known on earth. Although it is well documented that microbial natural biodiversity is extremely high, it is not clear why such high diversity is generated and maintained. Numerous studies have established the roles of niche-based deterministic factors (e.g., pH, temperature, and salt) in shaping microbial biodiversity, the importance of stochastic processes in generating microbial biodiversity is rarely appreciated. Moreover, while microorganisms mediate many ecosystem processes, the relationship between microbial diversity and ecosystem functioning remains largely elusive. Using a well-controlled laboratory system, this study provides empirical support for the dominant role of stochastic assembly in creating variations of microbial diversity and the first explicit evidence for the critical role of community assembly in influencing ecosystem functioning. The results presented in this study represent important contributions to the understanding of the mechanisms, especially stochastic processes, involved in shaping microbial biodiversity.

scholarly journals Genome size mediates the effect of environmental filtering in determining plant β-diversity across temperate grasslands

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai-Yang Zhang ◽  
Xiaotao Lü ◽  
cunzheng wei ◽  
Jeff Powell ◽  
Xiaobo Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genome Size ◽  
Community Assembly ◽  
Nuclear Dna ◽  
Environmental Filtering ◽  
Nuclear Dna Content ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Temperate Grasslands ◽  
Β Diversity

Elucidating mechanisms underlying community assembly and biodiversity patterns is central to ecology and evolution. Genome size (GS, i.e. nuclear DNA content) determines species’ capacity to tolerate environmental stress or to exploit new environments and therefore potentially drive community assembly. However, its role in driving β-diversity (i.e., the site-to-site variability in species composition) remains unclear. We measured GS for 169 plant species and investigated their occurrences within plant communities across 52 sites spanning a 3200-km transect in the temperate grasslands of China. We found environmental factors showed larger effects on β-diversity of large-GS than that of small-GS species. Community weighted mean GS increased with mean annual precipitation, soil total nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations, but decreased with mean annual temperature, suggesting a negative selection against species with large GS in resources-limited or warmer climates. These findings highlight the roles for GS in driving community assembly and predicting species responses to climate change.

scholarly journals Local community assembly mechanisms shape soil bacterial β diversity patterns along a latitudinal gradient

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Zhang ◽  
Shirong Liu ◽  
Jingxin Wang ◽  
Yongtao Huang ◽  
Zachary Freedman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Assembly ◽  
Latitudinal Gradient ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Diversity Patterns ◽  
Geographical Patterns ◽  
Β Diversity ◽  
Species Pools ◽  
Regional Species Pool ◽  
Soil Bacterial

Abstract Biodiversity patterns across geographical gradients could result from regional species pool and local community assembly mechanisms. However, little has been done to separate the effects of local ecological mechanisms from variation in the regional species pools on bacterial diversity patterns. In this study, we compare assembly mechanisms of soil bacterial communities in 660 plots from 11 regions along a latitudinal gradient in eastern China with highly divergent species pools. Our results show that β diversity does not co-vary with γ diversity, and local community assembly mechanisms appear to explain variation in β diversity patterns after correcting for variation in regional species pools. The variation in environmental conditions along the latitudinal gradient accounts for the variation in β diversity through mediating the strength of heterogeneous selection. In conclusion, our study clearly illustrates the importance of local community assembly processes in shaping geographical patterns of soil bacterial β diversity.

Influence of Phylogeny on Fungal Community Assembly and Ecosystem Functioning

Science ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 316 (5832) ◽  
pp. 1746-1748 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Maherali ◽  
J. N. Klironomos
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Community ◽  
Community Assembly ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning

α and β diversity of fishes in relation to a gradient of habitat structural complexity supports the role of environmental filtering in community assembly

2019 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo R. Cunha ◽  
Kirk O. Winemiller ◽  
João C. B. da Silva ◽  
Taise M. Lopes ◽  
Luiz C. Gomes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Assembly ◽  
Environmental Filtering ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Β Diversity

Local community assembly processes shape β‐diversity of soil phoD ‐harbouring communities in the Northern Hemisphere steppes

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (11) ◽  
pp. 2273-2285
Author(s):  
Lin Xu ◽  
Nianpeng He ◽  
Xiangzhen Li ◽  
Huili Cao ◽  
Chaonan Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
Community Assembly ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Β Diversity

scholarly journals Biotic interactions, community assembly, and eco-evolutionary dynamics as drivers of long-term biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nico Eisenhauer ◽  
Michael Bonkowski ◽  
Ulrich Brose ◽  
Francois Buscot ◽  
Walter Durka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Assembly ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Research Unit ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Feedback Effects ◽  
Biodiversity Change ◽  
Diversity Effects ◽  
The Jena Experiment

The functioning and service provisioning of ecosystems in the face of anthropogenic environmental and biodiversity change is a cornerstone of ecological research. The last three decades of biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) research have provided compelling evidence for the significant positive role of biodiversity in the functioning of many ecosystems. Despite broad consensus of this relationship, the underlying ecological and evolutionary mechanisms have not been well understood. This complicates the transition from a description of patterns to a predictive science. The proposed Research Unit aims at filling this gap of knowledge by applying novel experimental and analytical approaches in one of the longest-running biodiversity experiments in the world: the Jena Experiment. The central aim of the Research Unit is to uncover the mechanisms that determine BEF relationships in the short- and in the long-term. Increasing BEF relationships with time in long-term experiments do not only call for a paradigm shift in the appreciation of the relevance of biodiversity change, they likely are key to understanding the mechanisms of BEF relationships in general. The subprojects of the proposed Research Unit fall into two tightly linked main categories with two research areas each that aim at exploring variation in community assembly processes and resulting differences in biotic interactions as determinants of the long-term BEF relationship. Subprojects under “Microbial community assembly” and “Assembly and functions of animal communities” mostly focus on plant diversity effects on the assembly of communities and their feedback effects on biotic interactions and ecosystem functions. Subprojects under “Mediators of plant-biotic interactions” and “Intraspecific diversity and micro-evolutionary changes” mostly focus on plant diversity effects on plant trait expression and micro-evolutionary adaptation, and subsequent feedback effects on biotic interactions and ecosystem functions. This unification of evolutionary and ecosystem processes requires collaboration across the proposed subprojects in targeted plant and soil history experiments using cutting-edge technology and will produce significant synergies and novel mechanistic insights into BEF relationships. The Research Unit of the Jena Experiment is uniquely positioned in this context by taking an interdisciplinary and integrative approach to capture whole-ecosystem responses to changes in biodiversity and to advance a vibrant research field.

scholarly journals Beta diversity differs among hydrothermal vent systems: Implications for conservation

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256637
Author(s):  
Thomas N. Giguère ◽  
Verena Tunnicliffe
Keyword(s):  
Community Assembly ◽  
Hydrothermal Vent ◽  
Null Model ◽  
Conservation Strategy ◽  
Distribution Data ◽  
Β Diversity ◽  
Mid Ocean Ridge ◽  
Management Approaches ◽  
Back Arc ◽  
Ocean Ridge

Deep-sea hydrothermal vent habitats are small, rare and support unique species through chemosynthesis. As this vulnerable ecosystem is increasingly threatened by human activities, management approaches should address biodiversity conservation. Diversity distribution data provide a useful basis for management approaches as patterns of β-diversity (the change in diversity from site to site) can guide conservation decisions. Our question is whether such patterns are similar enough across vent systems to support a conservation strategy that can be deployed regardless of location. We compile macrofaunal species occurrence data for vent systems in three geological settings in the North Pacific: volcanic arc, back-arc and mid-ocean ridge. Recent discoveries in the Mariana region provide the opportunity to characterize diversity at many vent sites. We examine the extent to which diversity distribution patterns differ among the systems by comparing pairwise β-diversity, nestedness and their additive components. A null model approach that tests whether species compositions of each site pair are more or less similar than random provides insight into community assembly processes. We resolve several taxonomic uncertainties and find that the Mariana arc and back-arc share only 8% of species despite their proximity. Species overlap, species replacement and richness differences create different diversity distributions within the three vent systems; the arc system exhibits much greater β-diversity than both the back-arc and mid-ocean ridge systems which, instead, show greater nestedness. The influence of nestedness on β-diversity also increased from the arc to back-arc to ridge. Community assembly processes appear more deterministic in the arc and ridge systems while back-arc site pairs deviate little from the null expectation. These analyses reflect the need for a variety of management strategies that consider the character of diversity distribution to protect hydrothermal vents, especially in the context of mining hydrothermal deposits.

scholarly journals Dietary Fiber Influences Bacterial Community Assembly Processes in the Gut Microbiota of Durco × Bamei Crossbred Pig

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xianjiang Tang ◽  
Liangzhi Zhang ◽  
Chao Fan ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Haibo Fu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Community ◽  
Dietary Fiber ◽  
Community Assembly ◽  
Cecal Content ◽  
High Fiber ◽  
Β Diversity ◽  
Composition And Structure ◽  
Α Diversity ◽  
Deterministic Processes ◽  
Crossbred Pigs

Several studies have shown that dietary fiber can significantly alter the composition and structure of the gut bacterial community in humans and mammals. However, few researches have been conducted on the dynamics of the bacterial community assembly across different graded levels of dietary fiber in different gut regions. To address this, 24 Durco × Bamei crossbred pigs were randomly assigned to four experimental chows comprising graded levels of dietary fiber. Results showed that the α-and β-diversity of the bacterial community was significantly different between the cecum and the jejunum. Adding fiber to the chow significantly increased the α-diversity of the bacterial community in the jejunum and cecum, while the β-diversity decreased. The complexity of the bacterial network increased with the increase of dietary fiber in jejunal content samples, while it decreased in cecal content samples. Furthermore, we found that stochastic processes governed the bacterial community assembly of low and medium dietary fiber groups of jejunal content samples, while deterministic processes dominated the high fiber group. In addition, deterministic processes dominated all cecal content samples. Taken together, the variation of gut community composition and structure in response to dietary fiber was distinct in different gut regions, and the dynamics of bacterial community assembly across the graded levels of dietary fiber in different gut regions was also distinct. These findings enhanced our knowledge on the bacterial community assembly processes in gut ecosystems of livestock.

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