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

Global Climate Change01:50

Global Climate Change

24.3K
Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global temperatures is well outside of the Earth’s cyclic norms, and evidence for human-caused global climate change is compelling. Paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate conditions, provides ample evidence for human-caused global climate change by comparing recent conditions with those in the past.
24.3K
Ecological Disturbance02:26

Ecological Disturbance

17.0K
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.
17.0K
Threats to Biodiversity01:50

Threats to Biodiversity

22.2K
There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...
22.2K
Keystone Species01:39

Keystone Species

21.6K
Measures of species biodiversity, such as richness (i.e., the number of species present) and evenness (i.e., their relative abundance), describe an ecological community’s structure. Many factors affect community structure, including abiotic factors (e.g., sunlight and nutrients), disturbances (e.g., fire or flood), species interactions (e.g., predation or competition), and chance events (e.g., foreign species invasion). Certain species—such as keystone species—also play a...
21.6K
Habitat Fragmentation02:31

Habitat Fragmentation

17.4K
Habitat fragmentation describes the division of a more extensive, continuous habitat into smaller, discontinuous areas. Human activities such as land conversion, as well as slower geological processes leading to changes in the physical environment, are the two leading causes of habitat fragmentation. The fragmentation process typically follows the same steps: perforation, dissection, fragmentation, shrinkage, and attrition.
17.4K
Ecological Succession02:17

Ecological Succession

17.2K
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...
17.2K

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by
Same author

Food web complexity underlies biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning.

Nature·2026
Same author

Shift in Soil Fauna Feeding Mode With Litter Quality Across Forest Biomes.

Ecology letters·2026
Same author

Aridity-induced energy reallocation from green to brown food webs predicts grassland carbon storage.

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

Free-living fungi in the Anthropocene and impacts on public health, food security, and biodiversity.

Mycologia·2026
Same author

Standardized Protocols for Soil Fauna Extraction and a Call for Cross-Lab Implementation.

Ecology and evolution·2026
Same author

Decoupled Climatic Drivers of Tree and Ground-Layer Carbon Uptake in Mountain Ecosystems Around the World.

Global change biology·2026
Same journal

Can habitat modification in the native range promote invasion?

Trends in ecology & evolution·2026
Same journal

The host-microbiome dimension of ecological regime shifts.

Trends in ecology & evolution·2026
Same journal

The emerging field of wild animal welfare science.

Trends in ecology & evolution·2026
Same journal

Integrating nutritional mutualists into the evolution of defense.

Trends in ecology & evolution·2026
Same journal

Formation of three great Asian plateaus, climate change, and biodiversity: (Trends Ecol. Evol. 40, 970-982; 2025).

Trends in ecology & evolution·2026
Same journal

Digital twins as a tool for ecosystem research.

Trends in ecology & evolution·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 14, 2025

Simulating Impacts of Ice Storms on Forest Ecosystems
06:27

Simulating Impacts of Ice Storms on Forest Ecosystems

Published on: June 30, 2020

7.0K

Does warming erode network stability and ecosystem multifunctionality?

Andrew D Barnes1, Julie R Deslippe2, Anton M Potapov3

  • 1Te Aka Mātuatua - School of Science, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand.

Trends in Ecology & Evolution
|August 31, 2024
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Environmental warming impacts food webs, but its effect on resistance to further climate events is unknown. New experiments are needed to test how extreme events affect ecological network stability and multifunctionality.

Keywords:
climate changeecological disturbanceecosystem servicesfood web energy fluxresilienceresistance

More Related Videos

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

754
Simulating Temperature in a Soil Incubation Experiment
08:39

Simulating Temperature in a Soil Incubation Experiment

Published on: October 28, 2022

2.8K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 14, 2025

Simulating Impacts of Ice Storms on Forest Ecosystems
06:27

Simulating Impacts of Ice Storms on Forest Ecosystems

Published on: June 30, 2020

7.0K
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

754
Simulating Temperature in a Soil Incubation Experiment
08:39

Simulating Temperature in a Soil Incubation Experiment

Published on: October 28, 2022

2.8K

Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Climate Change Biology
  • Food Web Dynamics

Background:

  • Environmental warming is a significant driver of ecological change.
  • Food web stability and functioning are critical for ecosystem health.
  • The impact of warming on food web resistance to disturbances is poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how environmental warming affects food web resistance and resilience.
  • To explore the consequences of superimposed acute disturbances on ecological networks under warming conditions.
  • To assess the threat of extreme events to the stability and multifunctionality of food webs.

Main Methods:

  • Conducting controlled warming experiments.
  • Introducing acute disturbances to simulated or natural food webs.
  • Measuring changes in food web structure, stability, and multifunctionality.

Main Results:

  • Warming may reduce the food web's ability to withstand and recover from disturbances.
  • Extreme climatic events superimposed on warming can destabilize ecological networks.
  • Multifunctionality of ecosystems may be compromised under combined warming and disturbance stress.

Conclusions:

  • Understanding the interactive effects of warming and extreme events is crucial for predicting ecosystem responses.
  • Urgent experimental research is needed to address the vulnerability of food webs to climate change.
  • Ecological networks face significant threats to their stability and functioning from escalating climatic pressures.