Data from: The ecological importance of intraspecific variation

Human activity is causing wild populations to experience rapid trait change and local extirpation. The resulting effects on intraspecific variation could have substantial consequences for ecological processes and ecosystem services. Although researchers have long acknowledged that variation among species influences the surrounding environment, only recently has evidence accumulated for the ecological importance of variation within species. We conducted a meta-analysis comparing the ecological effects of variation within a species (intraspecific effects) with the effects of replacement or removal of that species (species effects). We evaluated direct and indirect ecological responses, including changes in abundance (or biomass), rates of ecological processes and changes in community composition. Our results show that intraspecific effects are often comparable to, and sometimes stronger than, species effects. Species effects tend to be larger for direct ecological responses (for example, through consumption), whereas intraspecific effects and species effects tend to be similar for indirect responses (for example, through trophic cascades). Intraspecific effects are especially strong when indirect interactions alter community composition. Our results summarize data from the first generation of studies examining the relative ecological effects of intraspecific variation. Our conclusions can help inform the design of future experiments and the formulation of strategies to quantify and conserve biodiversity.

人类活动正促使野生种群快速发生性状改变，并出现局地灭绝。由此对种内变异（intraspecific variation）产生的影响，可能会对生态过程与生态系统服务造成显著后果。尽管长期以来研究者已认识到物种间的变异会影响周边环境，但直至近期，关于物种内部变异的生态学重要性的证据才逐渐积累起来。本研究开展了一项元分析（meta-analysis），对比了物种内部变异的生态学效应——即种内效应（intraspecific effects）——与替换或移除该物种所产生的效应（即物种效应（species effects））。本研究评估了直接与间接生态响应，包括丰度（或生物量）变化、生态过程速率以及群落组成改变。研究结果表明，种内效应通常可与物种效应相媲美，有时甚至更强。对于直接生态响应（例如通过捕食作用）而言，物种效应往往更为显著；而对于间接生态响应（例如通过营养级联（trophic cascades）效应）而言，种内效应与物种效应则较为相近。当间接相互作用改变群落组成时，种内效应尤为显著。本研究结果整合了首批探究种内变异相对生态学效应的相关研究数据。本研究结论可为未来实验设计，以及量化与保护生物多样性的策略制定提供参考依据。