Understanding how ecosystem multifunctionality is maintained in naturally assembled communities is crucial, because human activities benefit from multiple functions and services of various ecosystems. However, the effects of above‐ and below‐ground biodiversity on ecosystem multifunctionality in alpine and boreal moorland ecosystems remain unclear despite their potential as global carbon sinks. Here we evaluated how ecosystem multifunctionality related to primary production and carbon sequestration, which are crucial for global climate regulation, is maintained in natural systems. We disentangled the relationships between diversity and composition of plants and soil microbes (fungi and bacteria) and ecosystem multifunctionality in subalpine moorlands in northern Japan. We found that microbial composition primarily regulated carbon sequestration, whereas plant taxonomic and functional composition were related to all functions considered. Plant and microbial α diversity (diversity within local communities) were not generally related to any single function, highlighting the important roles of specific plant and microbial taxa in determining ecosystem functioning. When single functions were aggregated to ecosystem multifunctionality within local communities, plant and microbial community composition rather than diversity regulated ecosystem multifunctionality. We further found that plant and bacterial taxonomic β diversity (taxonomic turnover between local communities) primarily regulated the dissimilarity of ecosystem multifunctionality between local communities. Synthesis. We provide observational evidence that plant and microbial community composition rather than diversity are essential for sustaining subalpine moorland multifunctionality. Furthermore, plant and bacterial β diversity enhance the dissimilarity of moorland multifunctionality. Our study provides novel insights into biodiversity–ecosystem multifunctionality relationships occurring in nature, and helps to sustain desirable ecosystem functioning to human society.
Alpine and subalpine moorland ecosystems contain unique plant communities, often with many endemic and threatened species, some of which depend on insect pollination. Although alpine and subalpine moorland ecosystems are vulnerable to climatic change, few studies have investigated ower-visiting insects in such ecosystems and examined the factors regulating plant-pollinator interactions along altitudinal gradients. Here, we explored how altitudinal patterns in ower visitors change according to altitudinal shifts in owering phenology in subalpine moorland ecosystems in northern Japan. We surveyed ower-visiting insects and owering plants at ve sites differing in altitude in early July (soon after snowmelt) and mid-August (peak growing season). In July, we found a higher visiting frequency by more variable insect orders including Dipteran, Hymenopteran, Coleopteran, and Lepidopteran species at the higher altitude sites in association with the mass owering of Geum pentapetalum and Nephrophyllidium crista-galli. In August, such altitudinal patterns were not observed, and Dipteran species dominated across the sites due to the owering of Narthecium asiaticum and Drosera rotundifolia. Earlier snowmelt associated with recent climate change is expected to extend the growth period of moorland plants and modify owering phenology in moorland ecosystems, leading to altered plant-pollinator interactions. Our study provides key baselines for the detection of endangered biotic interactions and extinction risks of moorland plants under ongoing climate change.
Question How does plant species richness respond to simulated area loss based on the realistic geometry of area loss in subalpine moorland ecosystems? Location Hakkoda mountain range, Aomori, Japan. Methods We constructed species distribution models based on relationships between species distributions and environmental conditions in subalpine moorland ecosystems. We then simulated moorland area loss based on the realistic geometry of area loss from the past (1967) to the present (2019) to predict future changes in plant diversity. Here, we defined the realistic geometry of area loss as the plausible spatial pattern of future habitat loss. Finally, we analyzed how the rate of species loss in response to the realistic area loss can be explained by a range of factors including spatial patterns in species distributions, total number of species present, and environmental variables for the focal moorland. Results Within each moorland site, areas prone or those less prone to be lost were distributed non‐randomly at a local scale. In general, the patterns of species loss caused by the realistic area loss differed from those caused by random area loss. At most sites, realistic area loss caused a relatively small decline in species richness up to a certain threshold of area loss, and accelerating decline thereafter. None of the factors can explain the rate of decrease in species richness caused by the realistic area loss. At the species level, however, species with lower occurrence rates at a given site can be lost earlier than those with higher occurrence rates by the realistic area loss. Conclusions Patterns of habitat loss and species distributions are not spatially random, and the classical approach based on the species–area relationship assuming random area loss can thus either under‐ or overestimate the risk of species loss.
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