CRB: The Role of Diversity in Ecosystem Function

9619875塞德勒保护生物学家专注于保护生物多样性和生态系统管理，但对物种数量和生态系统功能之间的联系知之甚少。最近的实验表明，物种越多，生物量就越高，保留的养分就越多，抗旱性就越强。关于物种的类型、对最关键功能的影响，以及如何利用多样性-功能关系的知识来改善栖息地恢复工作，这些问题都没有得到回答。有一个不同寻常的机会，可以促进在南加州提华纳河口的盐沼植被的实地试验，并使这些试验的结果与恢复生态学有关。一个新的修复地点，盐沼平原，将于1996年在提华纳河国家河口研究保护区挖掘。旨在调查物种丰富度和组成对生态系统功能的影响的实验将在该地点进行。这些实验的结果将直接应用于修复项目。对物种丰富度如何影响生态系统功能的测试直接关系到多样性重要这一基本保护原则。除此之外，这项工作将对恢复生态产生影响。确定单一物种类型或特定物种组合是否提供所需的生态系统功能，将提出加速氮素积累的工具。恢复沿海湿地所需的缓解资金数额表明了恢复对维持南加州生物多样性的重要性。此外，将野外实验设在研究保护区将有助于对长期群落动态的后续研究，包括其他动植物物种的定居。

9619875 Zedler Conservation biologists focus on protecting biodiversity and ecosystem management, yet there is little understanding of the linkage between the numbers of species present and how an ecosystem functions. Recent experiments demonstrate that where more species are present, biomass is higher, more nutrients are retained, and drought resistance is greater. Unanswered are questions regarding the type of species, the impacts on the most critical functions, and how knowledge of diversity-function relationships might be used to improve habitat restoration efforts. An unusual opportunity exists to facilitate field experimentation with salt marsh vegetation in the Tijuana Estuary in southern California and to make the results of these experiments relevant to restoration ecology. A new restoration site, a salt marsh plain, will be excavated in 1996 at the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve. Experiments designed to investigate the effects of species richness and composition on ecosystem function will be conducted at this site. Results from these experiments will then be directly applied to the restoration project. The test of how species richness affects ecosystem functioning relates directly to the basic conservation tenet that diversity matters. Beyond this, the work will have an impact on restoration ecology. Determining whether monospecific types or specific combinations of species provide desired ecosystem functions will suggest tools for accelerating nitrogen accumulation. The importance of restoration for purposes of sustaining southern California's biodiversity is indicated by the magnitude of mitigation funds being required to restore coastal wetlands. Furthermore, locating the field experiments in the Research Reserve will facilitate follow-up studies of long-term community dynamics, including colonization by other plant and animal species.