Linking human impacts to community processes in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems
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Author / Producer
Date
2023-02
Publication Type
Journal Article
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yes
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Abstract
Human impacts such as habitat loss, climate change and biological invasions are radically altering biodiversity, with greater effects projected into the future. Evidence suggests human impacts may differ substantially between terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, but the reasons for these differences are poorly understood. We propose an integrative approach to explain these differences by linking impacts to four fundamental processes that structure communities: dispersal, speciation, species-level selection and ecological drift. Our goal is to provide process-based insights into why human impacts, and responses to impacts, may differ across ecosystem types using a mechanistic, eco-evolutionary comparative framework. To enable these insights, we review and synthesise (i) how the four processes influence diversity and dynamics in terrestrial versus freshwater communities, specifically whether the relative importance of each process differs among ecosystems, and (ii) the pathways by which human impacts can produce divergent responses across ecosystems, due to differences in the strength of processes among ecosystems we identify. Finally, we highlight research gaps and next steps, and discuss how this approach can provide new insights for conservation. By focusing on the processes that shape diversity in communities, we aim to mechanistically link human impacts to ongoing and future changes in ecosystems.
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Publication status
published
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Book title
Journal / series
Volume
26 (2)
Pages / Article No.
203 - 218
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
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Edition / version
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Software
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Date collected
Date created
Subject
aquatic ecology; dispersal; drift; global change; mechanism; selection; speciation; synthesis
Organisational unit
09553 - Pellissier, Loïc / Pellissier, Loïc
03989 - Maurer, Max / Maurer, Max