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What is Biodiversity?01:19

What is Biodiversity?

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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.
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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...
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Causality or causation is a fundamental concept in epidemiology, vital for understanding the relationships between various factors and health outcomes. Despite its importance, there's no single, universally accepted definition of causality within the discipline. Drawing from a systematic review, causality in epidemiology encompasses several definitions, including production, necessary and sufficient, sufficient-component, counterfactual, and probabilistic models. Each has its strengths and...
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Speciation is the evolutionary process resulting in the formation of new, distinct species—groups of reproductively isolated populations.
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Statistical tests can calculate whether there is a relationship, or correlation, between independent and dependent variables. An indirect relationship of the variables signifies a correlation, while a direct relationship shows causation. If it is determined that no connection exists between the variables, then the correlation is a coincidence.
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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.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 23, 2025

Divergence of Root Microbiota in Different Habitats based on Weighted Correlation Networks
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A graphical causal model for resolving species identity effects and biodiversity-ecosystem function correlations.

Donald R Schoolmaster1,2, Chad R Zirbel3,4, James Patrick Cronin1

  • 1US Geological Survey, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center, 700 Cajundome Blvd, Lafayette, Louisiana, 70506, USA.

Ecology
|April 18, 2020
PubMed
Summary

Biodiversity-ecosystem function correlations are often noncausal associations. This study introduces a formal framework to accurately identify how functional traits mediate community structure

Keywords:
BEF experimentsbiodiversity effectscausal inferencecomposite variablesdirected acyclic graphsecosystem functionfunctional traitsgraphical causal modelingspecies identity effects

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Causal Inference
  • Trait-based Ecology

Background:

  • Identifying drivers of ecosystem function is vital but challenging due to correlated factors like environment, species identity, and biodiversity.
  • A formal framework is lacking to link theoretical ecological concepts to quantitative expressions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop and test analytical strategies for understanding how community structure influences ecosystem function through functional traits.
  • To formally test if functional traits mediate the relationship between community structure and ecosystem function.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a causal diagram for complex hypotheses using a formal graphical framework.
  • Employed causal analysis, simulations, and field data to test analytical strategies.
  • Analyzed model misspecifications to diagnose gaps in functional trait hypotheses.

Main Results:

  • Biodiversity-ecosystem function correlations were identified as noncausal associations.
  • Simulations demonstrated how biodiversity correlations and species identity effects arise from model misspecification or incomplete trait mediation.
  • Addressing model misspecifications eliminated spurious associations between species identity/biodiversity and ecosystem function.

Conclusions:

  • Functional traits are crucial mediators linking community structure to ecosystem function.
  • Formal causal analysis is essential to distinguish correlation from causation in ecological studies.
  • The developed framework and methods enable robust research into trait-mediated ecosystem functions.