Changes in salt marsh detritivore identity influences on ecosystem multifunctionality

Ecosystems world-wide experience changes in species composition in response to natural and anthropogenic changes in environmental conditions.  Research to date has greatly improved our understanding of how species affect focal ecosystem functions.  However, because measurements of multiple ecosystem functions have not been consistently justified for any given trophic group, it is unclear whether interpretations of research syntheses adequately reflect the contributions of consumers to ecosystems. Using model communities assembled in experimental microcosms, we examined the relationship between four numerically dominant detritivore species and six ecosystem functions that underpin fundamental aspects of carbon and nitrogen cycling above- and below-ground.  We tested whether ecosystem responses to changes in detritivore identity depended upon species trait dissimilarity, food web compartment (aboveground, belowground, mixed), or number of responses considered (one to six). We found littl...全球范围内的生态系统均会因环境条件的自然变化与人为(anthropogenic)扰动发生物种组成改变。迄今已有研究极大地深化了我们对物种如何调控核心生态系统功能的认知。然而，由于目前尚未针对任意给定营养类群(trophic group)统一确立多生态系统功能测量的合理性依据，现有研究综述的解读是否充分反映了消费者对生态系统的贡献，仍尚不明确。本研究借助实验微宇宙(experimental microcosm)构建的模式群落，探究了4种数量占优的碎屑食性物种(detritivore)与6种支撑地上、地下碳氮循环核心过程的生态系统功能之间的关联。我们检验了生态系统对碎屑食性物种组成变化的响应，是否取决于物种性状差异度、食物网分区(food web compartment)以及所考量的响应指标数量（1至6个）。本研究发现……（原文未完结）