HIATE: Testing the generality of biotic homogenization by human impact in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems

Global anthropogenic change affects biodiversity and community composition with likely consequences for ecosystem functioning. Studies addressing the impacts of land use on multiple ecosystem functions (multifunctionality) have mainly focused on local richness. However, since no single assemblage can host all functions, species turnover across different local assemblages may be especially important for maintaining multifunctionality in a landscape. Here we will study (1) the relative role of land-use change at the local and landscape scale as a driver of taxonomic and functional homogenization (loss of β-diversity) in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems; (2) the signature of community homogenization in terrestrial and aquatic systems along gradients of land-use intensity, disentangling the relative contributions of richness differences and replacements of species or functions.

 

Project details

Collaborators

Jakob Brodersen (Eawag), Catherine Graham (WSL), Heike Lischke (WSL), Marco Moretti (WSL), Loïc Pellissier (WSL), Ole Seehausen (Eawag), Thomas Wohlgemuth (WSL), Niklaus E. Zimmermann (WSL)

Project duration

2020 - 2021