Skip to main content
  • Submit
  • About
    • Editorial Board
    • PNAS Staff
    • FAQ
    • Accessibility Statement
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Site Map
  • Contact
  • Journal Club
  • Subscribe
    • Subscription Rates
    • Subscriptions FAQ
    • Open Access
    • Recommend PNAS to Your Librarian
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Special Feature Articles - Most Recent
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • List of Issues
  • Front Matter
  • News
    • For the Press
    • This Week In PNAS
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • Fees and Licenses
  • Submit
  • About
    • Editorial Board
    • PNAS Staff
    • FAQ
    • Accessibility Statement
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Site Map
  • Contact
  • Journal Club
  • Subscribe
    • Subscription Rates
    • Subscriptions FAQ
    • Open Access
    • Recommend PNAS to Your Librarian

User menu

  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Home
Home

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Special Feature Articles - Most Recent
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • List of Issues
  • Front Matter
  • News
    • For the Press
    • This Week In PNAS
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • Fees and Licenses

New Research In

Physical Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Applied Mathematics
  • Applied Physical Sciences
  • Astronomy
  • Computer Sciences
  • Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
  • Engineering
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Mathematics
  • Statistics

Social Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Anthropology
  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Economic Sciences
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Political Sciences
  • Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
  • Social Sciences

Biological Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Agricultural Sciences
  • Anthropology
  • Applied Biological Sciences
  • Biochemistry
  • Biophysics and Computational Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Ecology
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Evolution
  • Genetics
  • Immunology and Inflammation
  • Medical Sciences
  • Microbiology
  • Neuroscience
  • Pharmacology
  • Physiology
  • Plant Biology
  • Population Biology
  • Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
  • Sustainability Science
  • Systems Biology
Research Article

Phylogenetic, functional, and taxonomic richness have both positive and negative effects on ecosystem multifunctionality

Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Santiago Soliveres, View ORCID ProfileNicolas Gross, View ORCID ProfileRubén Torices, Miguel Berdugo, and View ORCID ProfileFernando T. Maestre
PNAS April 23, 2019 116 (17) 8419-8424; first published April 4, 2019; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1815727116
Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet
aDepartamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Móstoles, Spain;
bAix Marseille University, University of Avignon, CNRS, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Écologie marine et continentale, F-13545 Aix-en-Provence cedex 04, France;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: yoann.pinguet@imbe.fr santiagosoliverescodina@gmail.com nicolas.gross@inra.fr
Santiago Soliveres
cDepartmento de Ecología, Universidad de Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain;
dInstituto Multidisciplinar para el Estudio del Medio Ramón Margalef, Universidad de Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: yoann.pinguet@imbe.fr santiagosoliverescodina@gmail.com nicolas.gross@inra.fr
Nicolas Gross
aDepartamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Móstoles, Spain;
eUniv Clermont Auvergne, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, VetAgro Sup, UMR Ecosystème Prairial, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Nicolas Gross
  • For correspondence: yoann.pinguet@imbe.fr santiagosoliverescodina@gmail.com nicolas.gross@inra.fr
Rubén Torices
aDepartamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Móstoles, Spain;
fEstacion Experimental de Zonas Áridas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 04120 Almería, Spain
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Rubén Torices
Miguel Berdugo
aDepartamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Móstoles, Spain;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Fernando T. Maestre
aDepartamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, Escuela Superior de Ciencias Experimentales y Tecnología, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Móstoles, Spain;
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Fernando T. Maestre
  1. Edited by Nils C. Stenseth, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, and approved March 12, 2019 (received for review September 11, 2018)

  • Article
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Significance

Biodiversity is declining globally, but its different taxonomic, functional, and evolutionary attributes are doing so at a different pace. Understanding how these attributes influence ecosystem functioning is crucial to better predict the ecological consequences of biodiversity loss. Based on a survey of 123 drylands worldwide, our results highlight the phylogenetic and functional attributes of subordinate species as key drivers of the provision of multiple ecosystem functions simultaneously (multifunctionality). Our study expands our understanding of the relationship between biodiversity and multifunctionality by identifying the diversity of early diverging lineages and functional redundancy as important biodiversity attributes to prioritize in conservation and restoration programs aimed at promoting dryland multifunctionality worldwide.

Abstract

Biodiversity encompasses multiple attributes such as the richness and abundance of species (taxonomic diversity), the presence of different evolutionary lineages (phylogenetic diversity), and the variety of growth forms and resource use strategies (functional diversity). These biodiversity attributes do not necessarily relate to each other and may have contrasting effects on ecosystem functioning. However, how they simultaneously influence the provision of multiple ecosystem functions related to carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling (multifunctionality) remains unknown. We evaluated the effects of the taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional attributes of dominant (mass ratio effects) and subordinate (richness effect) plant species on the multifunctionality of 123 drylands from six continents. Our results highlight the importance of the phylogenetic and functional attributes of subordinate species as key drivers of multifunctionality. In addition to a higher taxonomic richness, we found that simultaneously increasing the richness of early diverging lineages and the functional redundancy between species increased multifunctionality. In contrast, the richness of most recent evolutionary lineages and the functional and phylogenetic attributes of dominant plant species (mass ratio effects) were weakly correlated with multifunctionality. However, they were important drivers of individual nutrient cycles. By identifying which biodiversity attributes contribute the most to multifunctionality, our results can guide restoration efforts aiming to maximize either multifunctionality or particular nutrient cycles, a critical step to combat dryland desertification worldwide.

  • functional diversity
  • mass-ratio hypothesis
  • nutrient cycling
  • phylogenetic diversity
  • taxonomic diversity

Footnotes

  • ↵1Y.L.B.-P., S.S., and N.G. contributed equally to this work.

  • ↵2To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: yoann.pinguet{at}imbe.fr, santiagosoliverescodina{at}gmail.com, or nicolas.gross{at}inra.fr.
  • Author contributions: Y.L.B.-P., S.S., N.G., and F.T.M. designed research; Y.L.B.-P., S.S., and N.G. performed research; R.T. and M.B. contributed analytic tools; F.T.M. coordinated data acquisition; Y.L.B.-P. analyzed data; and Y.L.B.-P., S.S., N.G., R.T., M.B., and F.T.M. wrote the paper.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.

  • Data deposition: Data are available through the Figshare repository, https://figshare.com/s/08b538101fe252a2e879, https://figshare.com/s/5c951b7f82dd551737b8.

  • This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1815727116/-/DCSupplemental.

Published under the PNAS license.

View Full Text
PreviousNext
Back to top
Article Alerts
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on PNAS.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Phylogenetic, functional, and taxonomic richness have both positive and negative effects on ecosystem multifunctionality
(Your Name) has sent you a message from PNAS
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the PNAS web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Phylogenetic, functional, and taxonomic richness have both positive and negative effects on ecosystem multifunctionality
Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Santiago Soliveres, Nicolas Gross, Rubén Torices, Miguel Berdugo, Fernando T. Maestre
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Apr 2019, 116 (17) 8419-8424; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1815727116

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Request Permissions
Share
Phylogenetic, functional, and taxonomic richness have both positive and negative effects on ecosystem multifunctionality
Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Santiago Soliveres, Nicolas Gross, Rubén Torices, Miguel Berdugo, Fernando T. Maestre
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Apr 2019, 116 (17) 8419-8424; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1815727116
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: 116 (17)
Table of Contents

Submit

Sign up for Article Alerts

Article Classifications

  • Biological Sciences
  • Ecology

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Methods
    • Acknowledgments
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

You May Also be Interested in

Abstract depiction of a guitar and musical note
Science & Culture: At the nexus of music and medicine, some see disease treatments
Although the evidence is still limited, a growing body of research suggests music may have beneficial effects for diseases such as Parkinson’s.
Image credit: Shutterstock/agsandrew.
Scientist looking at an electronic tablet
Opinion: Standardizing gene product nomenclature—a call to action
Biomedical communities and journals need to standardize nomenclature of gene products to enhance accuracy in scientific and public communication.
Image credit: Shutterstock/greenbutterfly.
One red and one yellow modeled protein structures
Journal Club: Study reveals evolutionary origins of fold-switching protein
Shapeshifting designs could have wide-ranging pharmaceutical and biomedical applications in coming years.
Image credit: Acacia Dishman/Medical College of Wisconsin.
White and blue bird
Hazards of ozone pollution to birds
Amanda Rodewald, Ivan Rudik, and Catherine Kling talk about the hazards of ozone pollution to birds.
Listen
Past PodcastsSubscribe
Goats standing in a pin
Transplantation of sperm-producing stem cells
CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing can improve the effectiveness of spermatogonial stem cell transplantation in mice and livestock, a study finds.
Image credit: Jon M. Oatley.

Similar Articles

Site Logo
Powered by HighWire
  • Submit Manuscript
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feeds
  • Email Alerts

Articles

  • Current Issue
  • Latest Articles
  • Archive

PNAS Portals

  • Anthropology
  • Chemistry
  • Classics
  • Front Matter
  • Physics
  • Sustainability Science
  • Teaching Resources

Information

  • Authors
  • Editorial Board
  • Reviewers
  • Librarians
  • Press
  • Site Map
  • PNAS Updates

Feedback    Privacy/Legal

Copyright © 2021 National Academy of Sciences. Online ISSN 1091-6490