Linking local species coexistence to ecosystem functioning: a conceptual framework from ecological first principles in grassland ecosystems

Abstract

One of the unifying goals of ecology is understanding the mechanisms that drive ecological patterns. For any particular observed pattern, ecologists have proposed varied mechanistic models. However, in spite of their differences, all of these mechanistic models rely on either abiotic conditions or biotic conditions, our “ecological first principles”. These major components underlie all of the major mechanistic explanations for patterns of diversity like the latitudinal gradient in diversity, the maintenance of diversity, and the (often positive) biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationship. These components and their interactions alter the dynamics of plant populations, which ultimately determine local coexistence at the community level, and functioning at the ecosystem level. We present a review, starting from ecological first principles of the ways in which ecosystem functioning may be linked to local coexistence in plant communities via mutual effects on and reactions to the abiotic and biotic conditions in which they are imbedded.