Home / Science / Species Loss: Ecosystem Backup Is Smaller Than Feared
Species Loss: Ecosystem Backup Is Smaller Than Feared
18 Oct
Summary
- Ecosystem benefits rarely leveled off, showing rising value with more species.
- Ocean carbon storage heavily depends on marine life's biodiversity.
- Coastal defenses rely on few species, unlike most ecosystem services.
A comprehensive global analysis challenges the long-held assumption that ecosystems possess ample backup capacity when species are lost. Researchers discovered that for the majority of ecosystem services, including clean water provision and crop pollination, the benefits consistently increased with greater species diversity and rarely plateaued.
This study, pooling data from 423 published experiments across diverse habitats, indicates that individual species contribute more significantly than previously understood. While coastal defenses against erosion and flooding were noted as an exception, relying on a few key species, most other services like ocean carbon storage demonstrated a strong dependency on a rich variety of marine life.
The findings highlight that ocean and coastal 'blue carbon' sinks are critically dependent on maintaining marine biodiversity. This is especially significant as ocean carbon storage was found to respond most strongly to biodiversity among all measured ecosystem functions. However, the study also noted a critical gap in research concerning ocean carbon storage compared to terrestrial carbon storage.
Furthermore, projections suggest that natural pest control on farms could weaken under certain development pathways, particularly in regions with rapid population growth and lower Human Development Index scores. The study emphasizes the need to protect overall biodiversity while also safeguarding crucial species that are irreplaceable for specific ecosystem functions.
