Upscaling biodiversity - ecosystem functioning research using intertidal forests as a model system (BEF-SCALE)

升级生物多样性 - 使用潮间带森林作为模型系统的生态系统功能研究（BEF-SCALE）

• 批准号: NE/W006650/1
• 负责人: John Griffin
• 金额: $ 83.08万
• 依托单位: Swansea University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FW006650%2F1
• 关键词: Upscaling; biodiversity; ecosystem; functioning; research; Upscaling; biodiversity; ecosystem; functioning; research

Human activities have already raised global species extinction rates a thousand-fold and have pushed an additional million species towards extinction. Biodiversity is also rapidly changing on more local scales as climate change drives the redistribution of species, and pressures such as overharvesting and habitat fragmentation intensify in many areas. Understanding how biodiversity influences ecosystem functions, such as carbon capture and fisheries productivity, is a crucial challenge directly relevant to meeting the UN sustainable development goals, and UK policy imperatives of harnessing biodiversity to achieve sustainable economic growth and using nature-based solutions to help meet 'net-zero' emissions by 2050.Since the mid- 1990s, several hundred experiments have tested how changes in biodiversity influence ecosystem functions and services, with many studies indicating that biodiversity loss does not reduce functioning as long as the single best-performing species is retained. However, these studies have focused on local-scale interactions between species in small habitat units such as grassland plots, field enclosures, or aquarium tanks; we therefore lack studies that consider BEF relationships on the larger landscape-, regional- or even national- scales most relevant to the public, ecosystem managers, and policy makers. Ecological theory suggests that biodiversity is more important for ecosystem services as scale increases due to greater environmental variation, but it cannot currently be evaluated in real ecosystems because we lack BEF studies across scales and environmental gradients. In this project we aim to bridge the gap between experiments and relevant larger scales by using Great Britain's intertidal forests as a model system. These highly productive and valuable ecosystems occur extensively around the GB's varied and complex coastlines and are formed by a manageable suite of seaweed species which can be easily manipulated across multiple distinct environmental gradients. To meet our overall aim, we will incorporate multiple environmental factors into experiments, observations and models delivered across three inter-linked work packages which together provide a generalised approach and scaling relationships for BEF. Our first work package uses a 100km stretch of the south Wales coastline - which incorporates gradients in wave exposure and turbidity - as an accessible template to experimentally test the causal effect of intertidal forest biodiversity on ecosystem functioning from small patches to the whole coastline. Our second package combines a network of standardised observations in intertidal forests around GB, with satellite remote sensing and statistical modelling, to test how BEF relationships scale-up -- from 1 m to 1000km scales -- in naturally assembled communities. The third and final work package uses the new experimental and observational data to inform dynamic models, allowing us to test how species traits such as dispersal and environmental tolerances interacts with environmental variability to determine BEF relationships across scales. A key innovation here is the explicit - and empirically informed - integration of spatial environmental variability in multiple environmental factors. These will be generalised to represent how the environment varies in a range of different ecosystems from forests, to agricultural landscapes, and to coral reefs. The advancement of our project aim will deliver a revised appreciation of the role of diversity in ecosystems and demonstrate a generalizable approach for upscaling biodiversity - ecosystem functioning relationships. We anticipate that this will feed into predictions for how biodiversity changes will influence ecosystem functioning and services on large, relevant- scales, in intertidal forests and beyond, with a range of applications from natural capital models, to the design of large-scale ecosystem restoration projects.

人类的活动已经提高了全球物种的灭绝率一千倍，并将另外一百万种物种推向灭绝。随着气候变化驱动物种的重新分布，生物多样性也正在迅速变化，并且在许多地区造成了备受收获和栖息地碎片的压力加剧。 Understanding how biodiversity influences ecosystem functions, such as carbon capture and fisheries productivity, is a crucial challenge directly relevant to meeting the UN sustainable development goals, and UK policy imperatives of harnessing biodiversity to achieve sustainable economic growth and using nature-based solutions to help meet 'net-zero' emissions by 2050.Since the mid- 1990s, several hundred experiments have tested how changes in biodiversity influence ecosystem functions and服务，许多研究表明，只要保留了单一表现最佳的物种，生物多样性损失就不会降低功能。但是，这些研究集中在小栖息地单元中的物种之间的局部规模相互作用，例如草原，田间围墙或水族馆坦克。因此，我们缺乏考虑与公众，生态系统经理和政策制定者最相关的较大景观，区域甚至国家规模的研究的研究。生态学理论表明，随着由于较大的环境变化的增加，生物多样性对生态系统服务更为重要，但是目前无法在实际生态系统中对其进行评估，因为我们缺乏跨尺度和环境梯度的BEF研究。在这个项目中，我们旨在通过将大不列颠潮间带作为模型系统来弥合实验和相关范围之间的差距。这些高生产力和有价值的生态系统广泛发生在GB的多样化和复杂的海岸线周围，并由可管理的海藻物种形成，可以在多个不同的环境梯度上轻松操纵。为了满足我们的整体目标，我们将将多个环境因素纳入实验，观察结果和模型中，这些观察和模型共同提供了一个广义的方法和BEF的扩展关系。我们的第一个工作包使用了南威尔士海岸线的100公里，将梯度纳入波浪和浊度中 - 作为可访问的模板，可以实验地测试潮间带森林生物多样性对从小斑块到整个海岸线的生态系统的因果效应。我们的第二个软件包结合了GB周围潮间带的标准化观测网络，以及卫星遥感和统计建模，以测试自然组装社区的BEF关系如何从1 m到1000 km的规模扩展。第三个也是最后的工作包使用新的实验和观察数据来为动态模型提供信息，从而使我们能够测试诸如分散和环境公差之类的物种特征与环境变异性相互作用，以确定跨尺度的BEF关系。这里的一个关键创新是多种环境因素中空间环境变异性的明确且经验知情的整合。这些将被概括为代表环境如何在从森林到农业景观和珊瑚礁的一系列不同的生态系统中变化。我们项目目标的进步将对多样性在生态系统中的作用进行修订，并展示一种可推广的方法来提高生物多样性 - 生态系统功能关系。我们预计，这将涉及对生物多样性变化将如何影响大型，相关的生态系统功能和服务的预测，在潮间带森林及其他地区，以及从自然资本模型到设计大规模生态系统恢复项目的一系列应用。