The decline in invertebrates also affects the functioning of ecosystems, including two critical ecosystem services: aboveground pest control and belowground decomposition of organic material, according to a new study published in Current Biology and led by researchers at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) and Leipzig University.
The iDiv Ecotron consists of several controlled mini-ecosystems, so-called EcoUnits. Credit: Anja Schmidt
Human-caused environmental changes, in particular land-use change, landscape simplification, and urbanization, includingand chemical pollution, have been driving the global decline of invertebrates in recent decades. However, measuring the potential effect of this loss has so far proven difficult. "Apart from offering a bridge between small-scale experiments under highly controlled conditions and less controllable large-scale field experiments or monitoring programs, the goal of the iDiv Ecotron was to enable experiments manipulating biodiversity changes at different levels of food webs in above- and belowground ecosystem compartments," says iDiv Honorary Member Francois Buscot, professor emeritus at Leipzig University and former head of the UFZ department for Soil Ecology.
The researchers found that as the biomass of invertebrates decreases, so does the number of ecosystem services. For example, aboveground invertebrates play an important role in natural pest control. The researchers observed that declines in invertebrates went hand in hand with aphid outbreaks indicating that pest outbreaks may be a widespread consequence of biodiversity loss at higher trophic levels, with significant cascading effects on crop production and other ecosystem services.
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