| Biodiversity improves water quality through niche partitioning. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 21475199 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Excessive nutrient loading of water bodies is a leading cause of water pollution worldwide, and controlling nutrient levels in watersheds is a primary objective of most environmental policy. Over the past two decades, much research has shown that ecosystems with more species are more efficient at removing nutrients from soil and water than are ecosystems with fewer species. This has led some to suggest that conservation of biodiversity might be a useful tool for managing nutrient uptake and storage, but this suggestion has been controversial, in part because the specific biological mechanisms by which species diversity influences nutrient uptake have not been identified. Here I use a model system of stream biofilms to show that niche partitioning among species of algae can increase the uptake and storage of nitrate, a nutrient pollutant of global concern. I manipulated the number of species of algae growing in the biofilms of 150 stream mesocosms that had been set up to mimic the variety of flow habitats and disturbance regimes that are typical of natural streams. Nitrogen uptake rates, as measured by using (15)N-labelled nitrate, increased linearly with species richness and were driven by niche differences among species. As different forms of algae came to dominate each unique habitat in a stream, the more diverse communities achieved a higher biomass and greater (15)N uptake. When these niche opportunities were experimentally removed by making all of the habitats in a stream uniform, diversity did not influence nitrogen uptake, and biofilms collapsed to a single dominant species. These results provide direct evidence that communities with more species take greater advantage of the niche opportunities in an environment, and this allows diverse systems to capture a greater proportion of biologically available resources such as nitrogen. One implication is that biodiversity may help to buffer natural ecosystems against the ecological impacts of nutrient pollution. |
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Authors:
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Bradley J Cardinale |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Nature Volume: 472 ISSN: 1476-4687 ISO Abbreviation: Nature Publication Date: 2011 Apr |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2011-04-08 Completed Date: 2011-05-31 Revised Date: 2011-09-30 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 0410462 Medline TA: Nature Country: England |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 86-9 Citation Subset: IM |
Copyright Information:
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©2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved |
Affiliation:
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University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources & Environment, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1041, USA. bradcard@umich.edu |
Export Citation:
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APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Biodiversity* Biofilms / growth & development Biomass Chlorophyta / growth & development, physiology* Diatoms / growth & development, physiology* Environmental Policy Models, Biological Nitrogen / analysis, metabolism Population Density Rivers / chemistry*, microbiology* Species Specificity |
| Chemical | |
Reg. No./Substance:
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7727-37-9/Nitrogen |
| Comments/Corrections | |
Comment In:
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Nature. 2011 Apr 7;472(7341):45-6
[PMID:
21475190
]
Nature. 2011 Sep 29;477(7366):E3; discussion E3-4 [PMID: 21956333 ] |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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