Connectivity, non-random extinction and ecosystem function in experimental metacommunities

Ecology Letters (2010) 13: 543-552 The spatial insurance hypothesis indicates that connectivity is an important attribute of natural ecosystems that sustains both biodiversity and ecosystem function. We tested the hypothesis by measuring the impact of manipulating connectivity in experimental metaco...

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Published in:Ecology letters 2010-05, Vol.13 (5), p.543-552
Main Authors: Staddon, Philip, Lindo, Zoë, Crittenden, Peter D, Gilbert, Francis, Gonzalez, Andrew
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abundance
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Arthropods - metabolism
Biodiversity
Biological and medical sciences
Carbon - metabolism
Carbon Dioxide - metabolism
Connectivity
dispersal
Ecosystem
Ecosystem biology
ecosystem function
Ecosystems
extinction
Extinction, Biological
fragmentation
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
metacommunity
Models, Theoretical
Nitrogen - metabolism
trophic cascade
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Summary:Ecology Letters (2010) 13: 543-552 The spatial insurance hypothesis indicates that connectivity is an important attribute of natural ecosystems that sustains both biodiversity and ecosystem function. We tested the hypothesis by measuring the impact of manipulating connectivity in experimental metacommunties of a natural and diverse microecosystem. Isolation led to the extinction of large-bodied apex predators, subsequently followed by increases in prey species abundance. This trophic cascade was associated with significantly altered carbon and nitrogen fluxes in fragmented treatments. The ecosystem impacts were characteristic of a function debt because they persisted for several generations after the initial loss of connectivity. Local extinctions and disruption of ecosystem processes were mitigated, and even reversed, by the presence of corridors in the connected metacommunities, although these beneficial effects were unexpectedly delayed. We hypothesized that corridors maintained grazer movement between fragments, which enhanced microbial activity, and decomposition in comparison to isolated fragments. Our results indicate that knowledge of habitat connectivity and spatial processes is essential to understand the magnitude and timing of ecosystem perturbation in fragmented landscapes.
ISSN:1461-023X
1461-0248
DOI:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01450.x