The ghosts of ecosystem engineers: Legacy effects of biogenic modifications

1. Ecosystem engineers strongly influence the communities in which they
live by modifying habitats and altering resource availability. These
biogenic changes can persist beyond the presence of the engineer, and such
modifications are known as ecosystem engineering legacy effects. 2.
Although many authors recognize ecosystem engineering legacies, and some
case studies quantify the effects of legacies, few general frameworks
describe their causes and consequences across species or ecosystem types.
3. Here, we synthesize evidence for ecosystem engineering legacies and
describe how consideration of key traits of engineers improves
understanding of which engineers are likely to leave persistent biogenic
modifications. 4. Our review demonstrates that engineering legacies are
ubiquitous, with substantial effects on individuals, communities, and
ecosystem processes. Attributes that may promote the persistence of
influential legacies relate to an engineer’s traits, including its body
size, lifespan, and living strategy (individual, conspecific group, or
collection of multiple co-occurring species). 5. Additional lines of
inquiry, such as how the recipients respond (e.g., density or richness) or
the mechanism of engineering (e.g., burrowing or structure building),
should be included in future ecosystem engineering legacy research. 6.
Understanding patterns of these persistent effects of ecosystem engineers
and evaluating the consequences of losing them is an important area of
research needed for understanding long-term ecological responses to global
change and biodiversity loss.