Assessing the relationship between biodiversity and stability of ecosystem function – is the coefficient of variation always the best metric?

IF 0.2 Q4 EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY Ideas in Ecology and Evolution Pub Date : 2014-01-01 DOI:10.4033/IEE.2014.7.20.C
T. Carnus, J. Finn, L. Kirwan, J. Connolly
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引用次数: 16

Abstract

The role of biodiversity in regulating the stability of ecosystem functioning (functional stability) has importance for the reliable delivery of ecosystem services. To date, ecological studies that aim to measure stability in ecosystem function across a range in diversity have almost universally used the coefficient of variation (CV, the ratio of standard deviation of functional response to its mean) in reaching conclusions. We argue that the use of CV for this purpose can lead to misleading conclusions on functional stability. We use illustrative scenarios to show that an assessment of functional stability based on the CV is not as effective in many cases as one based on joint consideration of mean and standard deviation, and may be completely misleading, especially where low values of functional response are a desirable outcome. Faced with similar questions, agronomic studies that aim to assess the stability of ecosystem function (comparison of yield of different varieties within and across different sites) take both the average response and variability within- and between-sites into consideration. We argue that the way stability is measured should be appropriate for the questions about the delivery of ecosystem services that are being addressed. Assessment of the importance of diversity in providing ecosystem services for society is more likely to be made on socio-economic evaluation of trade-offs between mean and variability of the function rather than its stability as measured by the coefficient of variation.
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评价生物多样性与生态系统功能稳定性的关系——变异系数总是最好的度量标准吗?
生物多样性在调节生态系统功能稳定性(功能稳定性)方面的作用对生态系统服务的可靠提供具有重要意义。迄今为止,旨在衡量多样性范围内生态系统功能稳定性的生态学研究几乎普遍使用变异系数(CV,功能响应的标准差与其平均值的比值)来得出结论。我们认为,将CV用于此目的可能会导致关于功能稳定性的误导性结论。我们使用说明性的场景来表明,在许多情况下,基于CV的功能稳定性评估不如基于均值和标准差的联合考虑的评估有效,并且可能完全误导,特别是当功能响应值较低是理想的结果时。面对类似的问题,旨在评估生态系统功能稳定性的农艺研究(不同地点内和不同地点间不同品种产量的比较)既考虑了平均响应,也考虑了地点内和地点间的变异性。我们认为,衡量稳定性的方式应该适合于正在解决的有关生态系统服务提供的问题。对多样性在为社会提供生态系统服务方面的重要性的评估更可能是对功能的平均值和变异性之间的权衡进行社会经济评价,而不是用变异系数来衡量其稳定性。
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来源期刊
Ideas in Ecology and Evolution
Ideas in Ecology and Evolution EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY-
自引率
0.00%
发文量
4
审稿时长
36 weeks
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