Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity

Abstract

This is an author produced version of a paper published in Nature. This paper has been peer-reviewed and is proof-corrected, but does not include the journal pagination. The most unique feature of Earth is the existence of life, and the most extraordinary feature of life is its diversity. Approximately 9 million types of plants, animals, protists and fungi inhabit the earth. So, too, do 7 billion people. Two decades ago, at the first Earth Summit, the vast majority of the world's nations declared that human actions were dismantling Earth's ecosystems, eliminating genes, species, and biological traits at an alarming rate. This observation led to a daunting question: How 30 will loss of biological diversity alter the functioning of ecosystems and their ability to provide society with the goods and services needed to prosper?

Herbivore and pathogen effects on tree growth are additive, but mediated by tree diversity and plant traits

“…Biodiversity loss is a key driver of global environmental change (Hooper et al., 2012), with considerable effects on ecosystem functioning and human well‐being (Cardinale et al., 2012; Naeem, Duffy, & Zavaleta, 2012). These effects are substantially modified by biotic interactions across trophic levels (Lefcheck et al., 2015; Soliveres et al., 2016).…”

“…Niche characteristics might also be important if potentially stressful environmental conditions at the plant species' range margins make it more susceptible to damage (Fine, Mesones, & Coley, 2004; Maron & Crone, 2006). While the integration of functional traits has led to a better understanding of BEF relationships in recent years (Cardinale et al., 2012; Fichtner et al., 2017), range characteristics have not been tested explicitly as modifiers of BEF relationships so far but might help to provide us with a better understanding of these relationships under real‐world conditions.…”

Genetic diversity, population structure, and traditional culture of Camellia reticulata

“…However, rapid economic development, social and cultural shifts, habitat loss, overexploitation of resources, climate change, and pollution are posing serious threats to biodiversity (Cardinale et al., 2012) including eliminating the plant genetic resources that support life on earth (Garcia, Gabeza, Rahbek, & Araujo, 2014; Rands et al., 2010). Effective conservation of biodiversity is called for to support the maintenance of ecosystem processes that ultimately sustain human life (Khairo, 2016).…”

Is a community still a community? Reviewing definitions of key terms in community ecology

“…In the BEF literature, informing how a group will react to changes in the environment is an important component of stability mechanics ( sensu Cardinale et al. 2012), and the stability of functional groups has implications for the stability of ecosystems as a whole (Bellwood et al. 2004).…”