ORCID

Abstract

1. Biodiversity loss may result in the decline in important ecosystem processes. Theeffect of biodiversity loss on ecosystem functioning is determined by the functionalcontribution of the species lost and the compensatory responses of the remainingspecies. It is unknown to what extent the strength of the compensatoryresponse of the remaining species depends on resources availability.2. Here we evaluate how the primary production of an assemblage of salt marshplants responds to a realistic sequence of species loss in an 7-yearexperiment,with and without the addition of fertiliser.3. We found near-fullcompensation of progressive species loss in gross communityprimary production by the extinction-resistantspecies with fertiliser as long asone species (Triglochin maritima) remained. Without fertiliser, at least four species,including the particularly abundant species Plantago maritima, were needed tomaintain gross community primary production.4. These results suggest that the magnitude of the compensation by extirpation-resistantspecies for the decline in ecosystem processes associated with progressivebiodiversity loss depends on the resource context, and that compensationafter the loss of plant species can be accelerated by increasing resource availability.Ultimately, full compensation appears to be limited by the presence andabundance of species in the remaining community that possess traits that allowthem to compensate for the species lost.5. Synthesis and applications: These findings suggests that the conclusions of a largebody of biodiversity-ecosystemexperiments cannot be used for informing themanagement of natural systems because they do not simulate realistic extinctionsequences and therefore cannot quantify the potential for compensation of ecosystemservices in the real world.

DOI

10.1111/1365-2664.14756

Publication Date

2024-08-07

Publication Title

Journal of Applied Ecology

ISSN

0021-8901

Organisational Unit

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Keywords

biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships, compensation, ecosystem function and services, effect traits, recovery, removal experiment, response traits, species removal

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