Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning Frameworks, methodologies, and integration

The biological composition and richness of most of the Earth's major ecosystems are being dramatically and irreversibly transformed by anthropogenic activity. Yet, despite the vast areal extent of our oceans, the mainstay of research to-date in the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning arena has been weighted towards ecological observations and experimentation in terrestrial plant and soil systems. This book provides a framework for examining the mechanistic processes transferable to marine systems. Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioningis the first book to address the latest advances in biodiversity-function science using marine examples. It brings together contributions from the leading scientists in the field to provide an in-depth evaluation of the science, before offering a perspective on future research directions for some of the most pressing environmental issues facing society today and in the future.

1. Marine biodiversity: its history, present status and future threats, Stephen Widdicombe and Paul J. Somerfield
2. Biodiversity in the context of ecosystem function, Anne E. Magurran
3. Ecosystem function and co-evolution of terminology in marine science and management, David M. Paterson, Emma C. Defew, and Julia Jabour
4. Ecological consequences of declining biodiversity: A biodiversity-ecosystem function (BEF) framework for marine systems, Shahid Naeem
5. Lessons from the fossil record: the Ediacaran radiation, the Cambrian radiation, and the end-Permian mass extinction, Stephen Q. Dornbos, Matthew E. Clapham, Margaret L. Fraiser, and Marc Laflamme
6. The analysis of biodiversity-ecosystem function experiments: partitioning richness and density-dependent effects, Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi and Elena Maggi
7. The importance of body size, abundance, and food web structure for ecosystem functioning, Mark C. Emmerson
8. Effects of biodiversity-environment conditions on the interpretation of biodiversity-function relations, Jasmin A. Godbold
9. Extending the approaches of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning to the deep ocean, Roberto Danovaro
10. Incorporating extinction risk and realistic biodiversity futures: Implementation of trait based extinction scenarios, Martin Solan, Finlay Scott, Nick Dulvy, Jasmin A. Godbold, and Ruth Parker
11. Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: an ecosystem-level approach, David Raffaelli and Alan Friedlander
12. Multitrophic biodiversity and the responses of marine ecosystems to global change, J. Emmett Duffy, John J. Stachowicz, and John F. Bruno
13. Reality check: issues of scale and abstraction in biodiversity research, and potential solutions, Tasman P. Crowe, Matthew E. S. Bracken, and Nessa E. O'Connor
14. Why bother going outside: the role of observational studies in understanding biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships, Simon F. Thrush and Andrew M. Lohrer
15. Implementing an ecosystem approach: predicting and safeguarding marine biodiversity futures, Alison R. Holt, Caroline Hattam, Stephen Mangi, Anton Edwards, and Scot Mathieson
Index