Numerous biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) experiments have
shown that plant community productivity typically increases with species
diversity. In these studies, diversity is generally quantified using
metrics of taxonomic, phylogenetic, or functional differences among
community members. Research has also shown that the relationships
between species diversity and functioning depends on the spatial scale
considered, primarily because larger areas may contain different
ecosystem types and span gradients in environmental conditions, which
result in a turnover of the species set present locally. A fact that has
received little attention, however, is that ecological systems are
hierarchically structured, from genes to individuals to communities to
entire landscapes, and that additional biological variation occurs at
levels of organization above and below those typically considered in BEF
research. Here, we present cases of diversity effects at different
hierarchical levels of organization and compare these to the
species-diversity effects traditionally studied. We argue that when this
evidence is combined across levels, a general framework emerges that
allows the transfer of insights and concepts between traditionally
disparate disciplines. Such a framework presents an important step
towards a better understanding of the functional importance of diversity
in complex, real-world systems.
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