Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Ecological Niches02:02

Ecological Niches

All organisms have a position within an ecosystem. The complete set of living and nonliving factors—including food resources, climate, and terrain—that define the position of a given organism are collectively referred to as the organism’s ecological niche.
Symbiosis00:58

Symbiosis

Symbiotic relationships are long-term, close interactions between individuals of different species that affect the distribution and abundance of those species. When a relationship is beneficial to both species, this is called mutualism. When the relationship is beneficial to one species but neither beneficial nor harmful to the other species, this is called commensalism. When one organism is harmed to benefit another, the relationship is known as parasitism. These types of relationships often...
What is Biodiversity?01:19

What is Biodiversity?

Biodiversity describes the variety of living things at multiple organizational levels: genetic, species and ecosystem diversity. Species diversity includes all branches of the evolutionary tree from single-celled prokaryotic organisms, bacteria, and archaea, to the eukaryotic kingdoms: plants; animals; fungi; and protists. To date, there have been about 1.75 million species identified, and new species are discovered every week.
Ecological Disturbance02:26

Ecological Disturbance

An ecological disturbance is a temporary disruption in the environment resulting from abiotic, biotic, or anthropogenic factors, causing a pronounced change in an ecosystem. The impact of an ecological disturbance, which can depend on its intensity, frequency, and spatial distribution, plays a significant role in shaping the species diversity within the ecosystem.
Microbial Interactions: Competition01:26

Microbial Interactions: Competition

Microbial competition is an ecological interaction in which microorganisms vie for limited resources within shared environments. These resources may include nutrients, space, or light, depending on the system. The intensity and outcome of competition are influenced by the environmental context, such as nutrient availability, spatial constraints, and the diversity of microbial species present. These competitive interactions significantly influence the structure, function, and resilience of...
Ecological Succession02:17

Ecological Succession

Ecological succession is influenced by the processes of facilitation, inhibition, and toleration. Facilitation occurs when early successional species create more favorable ecological conditions for subsequent species, such as enhanced nutrient, water, or light availability. In contrast, inhibition happens when early successional species create unfavorable ecological conditions for potential successive species, such as limiting resource availability. In some cases, later successional species...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Biodiversity effects under climate extremes intensify with aridity in grasslands but not forests.

Nature ecology & evolution·2026
Same author

Biodiversity buffers forest ecosystems from compound climate extremes.

Nature communications·2026
Same author

Cascading social-ecological benefits of biodiversity for agriculture.

Current biology : CB·2026
Same author

Trophic cascades drive sustainability in the agricultural heritage rice-fish coculture system.

Current biology : CB·2026
Same author

Mechanistic links between coexistence, productivity, and stability in experimental grasslands.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026
Same author

What Have We Learned From Empirical Applications of Modern Coexistence Theory?

Ecology letters·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 15, 2026

JenaTron - An Experimental Approach to Study the Effects of Plant History and Soil History on Grassland Ecosystem Functioning
09:23

JenaTron - An Experimental Approach to Study the Effects of Plant History and Soil History on Grassland Ecosystem Functioning

Published on: March 21, 2025

Coexistence, niches and biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning.

Lindsay Ann Turnbull1, Jonathan M Levine, Michel Loreau

  • 1Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland. lindsay.turnbull@ieu.uzh.ch

Ecology Letters
|January 3, 2013
PubMed
Summary

Biodiversity experiments show species mixtures outperform monocultures. Our model reveals stable coexistence requires niche differences and resource use trade-offs, not just complementarity effects.

More Related Videos

Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity
08:16

Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity

Published on: March 13, 2014

Linking Predation Risk, Herbivore Physiological Stress and Microbial Decomposition of Plant Litter
10:20

Linking Predation Risk, Herbivore Physiological Stress and Microbial Decomposition of Plant Litter

Published on: March 12, 2013

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 15, 2026

JenaTron - An Experimental Approach to Study the Effects of Plant History and Soil History on Grassland Ecosystem Functioning
09:23

JenaTron - An Experimental Approach to Study the Effects of Plant History and Soil History on Grassland Ecosystem Functioning

Published on: March 21, 2025

Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity
08:16

Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity

Published on: March 13, 2014

Linking Predation Risk, Herbivore Physiological Stress and Microbial Decomposition of Plant Litter
10:20

Linking Predation Risk, Herbivore Physiological Stress and Microbial Decomposition of Plant Litter

Published on: March 12, 2013

Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Theoretical Ecology
  • Biodiversity Research

Background:

  • Species mixtures often outperform monocultures, attributed to complementarity and selection effects.
  • Existing measures of these effects lack direct correspondence to niche and fitness differences governing coexistence.
  • This gap hinders understanding of biodiversity benefits' stability and persistence.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a mechanistic model linking species interactions to stable coexistence.
  • To investigate how niche differences and resource use influence biodiversity effects.
  • To reconcile theoretical predictions with empirical findings from long-term biodiversity experiments.

Main Methods:

  • Development of a resource-based included-niche model with asymmetric resource access.
  • Simulation of plant species interactions within nested belowground resource pools.
  • Analysis of complementarity and selection effects under varying resource use strategies and trade-offs.

Main Results:

  • Positive complementarity effects can arise from stabilizing niche differences but may be transient without stable coexistence.
  • Transient complementarity effects were observed even without complementary resource use among species.
  • Trade-offs between uptake rates and resource pool size stabilized interactions, leading to persistent complementarity and weak/negative selection.

Conclusions:

  • Stable species coexistence and persistent biodiversity benefits depend on niche differentiation and resource use trade-offs.
  • Complementarity effects alone do not guarantee stable coexistence or lasting diversity benefits.
  • Further research needs to mechanistically link ecosystem functions to underlying biological processes for a deeper understanding of biodiversity.