Abstract
Naeem and Li reply — Wardle's concerns arise from conflating biodiversity loss within an ecosystem (our study1) with biodiversity loss among ecosystems. To examine biodiversity loss within an ecosystem experimentally, a community is compared with more depauperate versions of itself2,3. This design mimics the pattern observed in nature and sheds light on theory and mechanisms. Our experiment followed this approach to test predictions of reliability theory based on the mechanism of compensatory growth among redundant species.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Naeem, S. & Li, S. Nature 390, 507–509 (1997).
Naeem, S. et al. Nature 368, 734–737 (1994).
Tilman, D. et al. Science 277, 1300–1302 (1997).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Naeem, S., Li, S. A more reliable design for biodiversity study?. Nature 394, 30 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/27815
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/27815
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.