Global quantitative synthesis of ecosystem functioning across climatic zones and ecosystem types

• Published in: Global Ecology and Biogeography
• Main Authors: Gounand, Isabelle, Little, Chelsea, Harvey, Eric, Altermatt, Florian
• Other Authors: Institut d'écologie et des sciences de l'environnement de Paris (iEES Paris ), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, Universität Zürich Zürich = University of Zurich (UZH), Department of Aquatic Ecology, Swiss Federal Insitute of Aquatic Science and Technology Dübendorf (EAWAG), Universitat Zurich Austrian Science Fund (FWF)PP00P3_150698PP00P3_179089
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: carbon cycle; climate; decomposition; ecosystem functioning; global change; meta‐ecosystem; metabolic theory of ecology; multifunctionality; primary production; productivity; [SDV]Life Sciences [q-bio]; Arctic
• Online Access: https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-02900914; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-02900914/document; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-02900914/file/Gounand-et-al_accepted_2020_GEB_accepted.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13093

International audience Aim Providing a quantitative overview of ecosystem functioning in a three-dimensional space defined by ecosystem stocks, fluxes and rates, across major ecosystem types and climatic zones.Location Global.Time period 1966-2019.Major taxa studied Ecosystem-level measurements (all organism types).Methods We conducted a global quantitative synthesis of a wide range of ecosystem variables related to carbon stocks and fluxes. We gathered a total of 4,479 values from 1,223 individual sites (unique geographical coordinates) reported in the literature (604 studies), covering ecosystem variables including biomass and detritus stocks, gross primary production, ecosystem respiration, detritus decomposition and carbon uptake rates, across eight major aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem types and five broad climatic zones (arctic, boreal, temperate, arid and tropical). We analysed the relationships among variables emerging from the comparisons of stocks, fluxes and rates across ecosystem types and climates.Results Within our three-dimensional functioning space, average ecosystems align along a gradient from fast rates-low fluxes and stocks (freshwater and pelagic marine ecosystems) to low rates-high fluxes and stocks (forests), a gradient that we hypothesize results mainly from variation in primary producer characteristics. Moreover, fluxes and rates decrease from warm to colder climates, consistent with the metabolic theory of ecology. However, the strength of climatic effects differs among variables and ecosystem types, resulting, for instance, in opposing effects on net ecosystem production between terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems (positive versus negative effects).Main conclusions This large-scale synthesis provides a first quantified cross-ecosystem and cross-climate comparison of multivariate ecosystem functioning. This gives a basis for a mechanistic understanding of the interdependency of different aspects of ecosystem functioning and their sensitivity to global change. To anticipate ...