Uncovering the complete biodiversity structure in spatial networks: the example of riverine systems

Abstract

Uncovering biodiversity as an inherent feature of ecosystems and understanding its effects on ecosystem processes is one of the most central goals of ecology. Studying organisms’ occurrence and biodiversity patterns in natural ecosystems has spurred the discovery of foundational ecological rules, such as the species–area relationship, and is of general scientific interest. Recent global changes add relevance and urgency to understanding the occurrence and diversity of organisms, and their respective roles in ecosystem processes. While information on ecosystem properties and abiotic environmental conditions are now available at unprecedented, highly‐resolved spatial and temporal scales, the most fundamental variable – biodiversity itself – is still often studied in a local perspective, and generally not available at a wide taxonomic breadth, high temporal scale and spatial coverage. This is limiting the capacity and impact of ecology as a field of science. In this forum article, we propose that complete biodiversity assessments should be inclusive across taxonomic and functional groups, across space, and across time to better understand emergent properties, such as ecosystem functioning. We use riverine ecosystems as a case example because they are among the most biodiverse ecosystems worldwide, but are also highly threatened, such that an in‐depth understanding of these systems is critically needed. Furthermore, their inherent spatial structure requires a multiscale perspective and consideration of spatial autocorrelation structures commonly ignored in biodiversity–ecosystem functioning studies. We show how recent methodological advances in environmental DNA (eDNA) provide novel opportunities to uncover broad biodiversity and link it to ecosystem processes, with the potential to revolutionize ecology and biodiversity sciences. We then outline a roadmap for using this technique to assess biodiversity in a complete and inclusive manner. Our proposed approach will help to get an understanding of biodiversity and associated ecosystem processes at spatial scales relevant for landscape ecology and environmental managers.

Toward Sustainable Environmental Quality: Priority Research Questions for Asia

“…To fully apply their potential in environmental impact assessment, some uncertainties must be addressed including the lack of indication of abundance of each specie and spatial uncertainties due to eDNA movement (e.g., flow dynamics in rivers). Fortunately, there are ongoing research efforts to solve these issues (e.g., Altermatt et al 2020).…”

Generation and application of river network analogues for use in ecology and evolution

“…Riverine ecosystems are not only of high interest to ecologists due to their universal network structure, but also due to the considerable biodiversity inhabiting them (Altermatt, 2013;Altermatt et al, 2020;Balian, Segers, Lévèque, & Martens, 2008). River networks cover <1% of the landmasses, but contain up to 10% of all species.…”

Italian Odonates in the Pandora’s Box: A Comprehensive DNA Barcoding Inventory Shows Taxonomic Warnings at the Holarctic Scale

“…Modern conservation efforts rely on the availability of regional or local comprehensive species inventories (Morinière et al, 2019;Weigand et al, 2019;Altermatt et al, 2020).…”