Biodiversity: From evolutionary origins to ecosystem functioning Authors David Tilman Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior University of Minnesota Keywords: biodiversity · species formation · coexistence of species, preservation, evolution and ecology Abstract How the Earth came to have on the order of 10 million species and the impacts of this biodiversity on ecosystems, are long-standing questions in evolution and ecology. I propose that both the evolutionary causes and the ecological consequences of biodiversity share a common origin—unavoidable tradeoffs that organisms face when dealing with multiple limiting factors. Our grassland biodiversity experiments and studies in many other systems have shown that species diversity is a major determinant of ecosystem productivity, stability, invasibility and nutrient dynamics. The preservation, conservation and restoration of biodiversity should be a high global priority. Indeed, the evidence accumulated over the past two decades suggests the long-term persistence of a species in an ecosystem should be taken as prima facie evidence that the species contributes to the functioning of that ecosystem. [Contrib Sci 11:11-20 (2015)] Keywords: biodiversity · species formation · coexistence of species · preservation · evolution and ecology Downloads PDF Issue Vol. 11 No. 1 (2015) Section Distinguished lectures License This work is subject, unless the contrary is indicated in the text, the photographs or in other illustrations, to an Attribution —Non-Commercial— No Derivative Works 3.0 Creative Commons License, the full text of which can be consulted at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. You are free to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work provided that the author is credited and reuse of the material is restricted to non-commercial purposes only and that no derivative works are created from the original material.
