Aquatic biodiversity enhances multiple nutritional benefits to humans

Humanity depends on biodiversity for health, well-being and a stable environment. As biodiversity change accelerates, we are still discovering the full range of consequences for human health and well-being. Here, we test the hypothesis -- derived from biodiversity - ecosystem functioning theory -- that species richness and ecological functional diversity allow seafood diets to fulfill multiple nutritional requirements, a condition necessary for human health. We analyzed a newly synthesized dataset of 7245 observations of nutrient and contaminant concentrations in 801 aquatic animal taxa, and found that species with different ecological traits have distinct and complementary micronutrient profiles, but little difference in protein content. The same complementarity mechanisms that generate positive biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning in terrestrial ecosystems also operate in seafood assemblages, allowing more diverse diets to yield increased nutritional benefits independent of t...

人类的健康、福祉与稳定的环境均依赖于生物多样性。随着生物多样性变化的加速，我们仍在探索其对人类健康与福祉的全部影响。在此，我们验证了一个源于生物多样性-生态系统功能理论的假设——即物种丰富度与生态功能多样性可使海鲜饮食满足多种营养需求，而这正是人类健康的必要条件。我们分析了一个新合成的数据集，其中包含对801种水生动物类群中7245项营养物质与污染物浓度的观测结果，发现具有不同生态特征的物种拥有独特且互补的微量营养素谱，但蛋白质含量差异甚微。在陆地生态系统中，生物多样性对生态系统功能产生积极影响的互补机制，同样适用于海鲜群落，这使得多样化的饮食能够在不依赖于……的情况下获得更多营养益处。