Multitrophic diversity of the biotic community drives ecosystem
multifunctionality in alpine grasslands
Abstract
1. Biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality are currently hot
topics in ecological research. However, little is known about the role
of multitrophic diversity in regulating various ecosystem functions,
which limits our ability to predict the impact of biodiversity loss on
human well–being and ecosystem multifunctionality. 2. In this study,
multitrophic diversity was divided into three categories: plant, animal,
and microbial communities (i.e., plant diversity, rodent diversity,
bacterial and fungal diversity). Also, 15 ecosystem functions were
divided into four categories–water conservation, soil fertility,
nutrient cycling and transformation, and community production–to
evaluate the significance of biotic and abiotic variables in maintaining
ecosystem multifunctionality. 3. Results indicated that species
diversity at multiple trophic levels had a greater positive impact on
ecosystem multifunctionality than species diversity at a single trophic
level. Notably, the specific nature of this relationship depended on the
niche breadths of plants, indicating that plants were key indicators
linking above and below ground trophic levels. Abiotic factors such as
altitude and pH directly acted on ecosystem multifunctionality and could
explain changes in ecosystem functions. 4. Overall, our study offers
valuable insights into the critical role of multitrophic species
diversity in preserving ecosystem multifunctionality within alpine
grassland communities, as well as strong support for the importance of
biodiversity protection.