Large-Scale Biodiversity Experiments
Hector A., Loreau M.
© 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Biodiversity experiments are designed to identify how ecosystem functioning is affected by changes in diversity that can occur due to the decline, extinction, or invasion of species. Biodiversity experiments are a recent complement to observational studies, which examine the correlation between biodiversity and ecosystem processes across landscapes. There are two main ways to manipulate biodiversity: through the removal of species or by the assembly of experimental ecosystems of varying diversities. The richness of diversity in most ecosystems, and the wide range of ecosystem services that they provide have meant that a key feature of biodiversity experiments is their large scale.