Are Ecosystem Services Stabilized By Differences Among Species? A Test Using Crop Pollination

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Also Included In: Water - Air Quality / Agriculture
Article Date: 17 Sep 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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Biodiversity is rapidly being lost worldwide, and this in turn degrades the ecosystem services provided by nature to people.

A key question is whether biodiversity itself can slow the loss of ecosystem services due to stabilizing relationships among multiple species providing a given service.

We used two data sets on crop pollination by wild bees to test for three such stabilizing relationships, and found two of the three to be present in both data sets.

Our results emphasize the value of maintaining diverse ecological communities for their insurance value in preventing the loss of ecosystem services.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Proceedings B is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the rapid publication and broad dissemination of high-quality research papers, reviews and comment and reply papers. The scope of journal is diverse and is especially strong in organismal biology.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences