TY  - JOUR
A1  - Krause, Sascha
A1  - Le Roux, Xavier
A1  - Niklaus, Pascal A.
A1  - Van Bodegom, Peter M.
A1  - Lennon, Jay T.
A1  - Bertilsson, Stefan
A1  - Grossart, Hans-Peter
A1  - Philippot, Laurent
A1  - Bodelier, Paul L. E.
T1  - Trait-based approaches for understanding microbial biodiversity and ecosystem functioning
JF  - Frontiers in microbiology
N2  - In ecology, biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEE) research has seen a shift in perspective from taxonomy to function in the last two decades, with successful application of trait-based approaches. This shift offers opportunities for a deeper mechanistic understanding of the role of biodiversity in maintaining multiple ecosystem processes and services. In this paper, we highlight studies that have focused on BEE of microbial communities with an emphasis on integrating trait-based approaches to microbial ecology. In doing so, we explore some of the inherent challenges and opportunities of understanding BEE using microbial systems. For example, microbial biologists characterize communities using gene phylogenies that are often unable to resolve functional traits. Additionally, experimental designs of existing microbial BEE studies are often inadequate to unravel BEE relationships. We argue that combining eco-physiological studies with contemporary molecular tools in a trait-based framework can reinforce our ability to link microbial diversity to ecosystem processes. We conclude that such trait-based approaches are a promising framework to increase the understanding of microbial BEE relationships and thus generating systematic principles in microbial ecology and more generally ecology.
KW  - functional traits
KW  - ecosystem function
KW  - ecological theory
KW  - study designs
KW  - microbial diversity
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2014.00251
SN  - 1664-302X
VL  - 5
PB  - Frontiers Research Foundation
CY  - Lausanne
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schurr, Frank Martin
A1  - Pagel, Jörn
A1  - Sarmento, Juliano Sarmento
A1  - Groeneveld, Juergen
A1  - Bykova, Olga
A1  - O'Hara, Robert B.
A1  - Hartig, Florian
A1  - Kissling, W. Daniel
A1  - Linder, H. Peter
A1  - Midgley, Guy F.
A1  - Schröder-Esselbach, Boris
A1  - Singer, Alexander
A1  - Zimmermann, Niklaus E.
T1  - How to understand species' niches and range dynamics: a demographic research agenda for biogeography
JF  - Journal of biogeography
N2  - Range dynamics causes mismatches between a species geographical distribution and the set of suitable environments in which population growth is positive (the Hutchinsonian niche). This is because sourcesink population dynamics cause species to occupy unsuitable environments, and because environmental change creates non-equilibrium situations in which species may be absent from suitable environments (due to migration limitation) or present in unsuitable environments that were previously suitable (due to time-delayed extinction). Because correlative species distribution models do not account for these processes, they are likely to produce biased niche estimates and biased forecasts of future range dynamics. Recently developed dynamic range models (DRMs) overcome this problem: they statistically estimate both range dynamics and the underlying environmental response of demographic rates from species distribution data. This process-based statistical approach qualitatively advances biogeographical analyses. Yet, the application of DRMs to a broad range of species and study systems requires substantial research efforts in statistical modelling, empirical data collection and ecological theory. Here we review current and potential contributions of these fields to a demographic understanding of niches and range dynamics. Our review serves to formulate a demographic research agenda that entails: (1) advances in incorporating process-based models of demographic responses and range dynamics into a statistical framework, (2) systematic collection of data on temporal changes in distribution and abundance and on the response of demographic rates to environmental variation, and (3) improved theoretical understanding of the scaling of demographic rates and the dynamics of spatially coupled populations. This demographic research agenda is challenging but necessary for improved comprehension and quantification of niches and range dynamics. It also forms the basis for understanding how niches and range dynamics are shaped by evolutionary dynamics and biotic interactions. Ultimately, the demographic research agenda should lead to deeper integration of biogeography with empirical and theoretical ecology.
KW  - Biodiversity monitoring
KW  - climate change
KW  - ecological forecasts
KW  - ecological niche modelling
KW  - ecological theory
KW  - geographical range shifts
KW  - global environmental change
KW  - mechanistic models
KW  - migration
KW  - process-based statistics
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2012.02737.x
SN  - 0305-0270
VL  - 39
IS  - 12
SP  - 2146
EP  - 2162
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Hoboken
ER  -