Evidence for Biodiversity Action

David U. Hooper and his coauthors (doi:10.1038/nature11118) combined previous meta-analyses, a new assessment of 192 studies of the effects of species richness on ecosystem processes, and 16 published experimental studies in which plant species richness and an environmental variable were factorially manipulated. Depending on the proportion of species lost, the effects on these measures were comparable in magnitude to acidification, increased ultraviolet light, warming, excessive nutrients, and increased carbon dioxide. [...]Peter B. Reich and his colleagues (doi:10.1126/science.1217909) demonstrate that in two long-term studies, the effects of biodiversity on productivity became more linear-and therefore important-over time.