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Ecology

Biodiversity and productivity entwined

Nature volume 529, pages 293–294 (2016)Cite this article

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A systems-level analysis of grasslands across the planet provides stimulating insight into the interlaced pathways that connect species diversity and biological productivity in ecological communities. See Letter p.390

An abiding goal of ecology is to understand how the biological diversity of natural communities is linked to the rate at which those communities produce biomass, if it is linked at all1,2,3,4,5. Elucidating this connection and the processes behind it is useful, among other reasons, for anticipating how ecological communities may change in response to anthropogenic perturbations, such as alterations to the abiotic environment, the introduction of new species or the loss of established ones. Yet despite more than 40 years of study and debate, a comprehensive, mechanistic understanding of the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem productivity remains elusive. On page 390 of this issue, Grace et al.6 argue that the interplay between these factors is more fully understood when both are placed in a rich network of cause-and-effect pathways, as opposed to being regarded as entities engaged in an isolated back-and-forth.

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Figure 1: A network-based view of biodiversity and biomass production.

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  1. Kevin Gross is in the Biomathematics Program, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA.,

    Kevin Gross

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Correspondence to Kevin Gross.

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Gross, K. Biodiversity and productivity entwined. Nature 529, 293–294 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16867

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