Proposal for Workshop and Web-Based Working Group on The Theoretical Foundations of Biodiversity/Ecosystem Function Relationships

The Theoretical Foundations of Biodiversity/Ecosystem Function Relationships
We seek to develop a theoretical framework for elucidating relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem function, and for understanding and interpreting the results of several large-scale diversity-function experiments that have either already been completed or are currently underway. We propose to develop this framework by analyzing a series of models; these models will consist of a common ecosystem component coupled to one of several possible different submodels of species coexistence. These coupled models will be analyzed for both equilibrium and transient responses under perturbed and unperturbed conditions, and under different levels of species or functional-group diversity. The results will allow identification of the conditions that determine the form and magnitude of certain diversity-function relationships (e.g., increasing function with increasing diversity versus decreasing function with increasing diversity).