Question One: Mechanisms
Question Two:
Stability
Question Three: Global
Change
1 (a) What is known about general relationships between biodiversity above and below the surface of soils and sediments?
(i) E.g. in terrestrial systems, is high plant diversity (species, functional groups, etc.) associated with high diversity of soil organisms (microbes, meso and macrofauna, etc)?
In aquatic environments is high diversity (functional, species etc.) of anchored macrophytes (e.g. seaweeds, grasses) and organisms in the water column (e.g., microbes, phytoplankton, protozoa etc.) associated with high diversity of biota in sediments (e.g., microbes, worms, crustaceans, molluscs, etc.)?
(ii) Do we know whether abovesurface biogeographical patterns are paralleled by belowsurface biogeographical patterns?
(iii) Are there key species or functional groups above or below the surface that may contribute to maintaining high biodiversity at the other side of the surface interface.
1 (b) What are the mechanisms by which biodiversity above the surface impacts biodiversity below the surface, and vice versa?
(i)Physical mechanisms/environment (e.g. root structures, burrowing, microclimate, etc.)?
(ii)Chemical impacts (e.g. oxygen, nitrogen cycling, decomposition, allelopathy, etc.)?
(iii) Biotic interactions (e.g. competition, predation, facilitation, etc.)?
1 (c) At what level of organization (species, functional groups etc.) are the relationships between belowsurface and above surface biodiversity most often expressed?
1(d) Are there indices of biodiversity above the surface of soils and sediments that can be used to estimate belowsurface biodiversity?
(i) Do such indices apply at the functional group or species level?
(ii) Do these indices apply across different biogegraphical regions?
1 (e)
(i) What experiments/methods are being conducted or planned to assess the relationships between and mechanisms connecting abovesurface and belowsurface biodiversity?
(ii) What are the major gaps of knowledge concerning the relationships between abovesurface and belowsurface biodiversity?
(iii) What methods/ techniques are available that could be used to close these gaps?
1 (f) Based on the literature, what are the major similarities/differences in the mechanisms connecting above/belowsurface biodiversity in your domain compared with the other 2 domains?
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2 (a) Can we identify keystone relationships between above and below surface species that are important for resilience and stability ?
(i) Which ecosystem processes that are vital for ecosystem stability are regulated by organisms above and below the surface of soils or sediments. (e.g., decomposition, nutrient cycling, N fixation, microhabitat formation, carbon sequestration etc.)?
(ii) Are the major functional groups AND species involved in each of these processes known? What are they?
(iii) - At what level of organization (species, functional groups etc.) do these relationships operate?
E.g. Are the couplings largely between functional groups with a high degree of redundancy?
OR
Do some important processes involve specific couplings between species (for example a recalcitrant litter may require a specialised community of decomposers, some mycorrhizal associations may be species specific)
2(c) Are there general characteristics that would enable us to identify which species/functional group couplings are keystone to ecosystem stability?
E.g. It has been suggested that species traits which will have most profound effects on ecosystem processes are those which affect (1) soil resources (2) trophic structure and (3) frequency and extent of disturbance (Chapin, Science, 27(5) 1997).
Do the species/functional groups involved in above/belowsuface relationships that are important for ecosystem stability fall into these, or other categories?
2 (d) Based on your assessment of keystone couplings between above and belowsurface organisms and the extent of species redundancy within them, how resitant and resilient to you consider these important functional groups and ecosystem processes to be to disturbance?
2 (e)
(i) What experiments/methods are being conducted or planned to assess how relationships between above and belowsurface biodiversity contribute to ecosystem stability?
(ii) What are the major gaps of knowledge concerning the influence of above/ belowsurface biodiversity relationships on ecosystem stability?
(iii) What methods/ techniques are available that could be used to close these gaps?
2 (f) Based on the literature, what are the major similarities/differences in the influence of above/belowsurface biodiversity relationships on ecosystem stability between your domain and the other two domains?
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(i) will respond to global change.
(ii) will feedback to direct further ecosystem response to global change.
3 (a) Recent syntheses suggest that the major impacts of global change on belowsufcae (soil) biodiversity will be indirect, via effects on abovesurface vegetation (and water column biota?).
Do you agree with this, or do you think that there will be direct effects of global change on belowsurface biota for your domain - for example effects of changes in climate, atmospheric chemical composition and deposition, eutrophication, pollution, elevated CO2, UV-B, ocean circulation patterns, etc.
3(b)
(i) What will be the major changes in above surface BIODIVERSITY that impact belowsurface biodiversity.
(ii) What will the mechanisms for this impact be?
E.g. For terrestrial ecosystems changes in plant species community, plant functional group, through climate and land use change? How will these impact soil biodiversity - e.g. through changes in amount/quality of inputs, microclimate, decoupling of associations between specific plant-soil biota interactions, etc.?
E.g. For aquatic systems changes in species/ functional groups of riparian and coastal plant species (e.g. through climate or land use change such as loss of mangroves) or anchored macrophytes? What changes in water column biodiversity will occur (e.g. altered species in waters subject to nutrient-loading, altered ocean currents and over fishing). How will such changes impact sediment biodiversity - e.g. through altered rates/quality/amount of inputs, decoupling of specific assocations between above/belowsurface organisms etc??
3(c) How will changes in belowsurface biodiversity (whether direct as in (a) or indirect as in (b)) feedback to affect abovesurface biodiversity responses to climate change (e.g. will changes in decomposer communities limit/accelerate plant responses to global change? Will changes in sediment organisms alter fishery nursey grounds and affect the resilience of fish stocks, etc.? )
3 (d) At what level of organization (species, functional groups etc.) do the responses of above and belowsurface organisms to global change impact each other?
3 (e) Are there general characteristics that will enable us to identify species or functional groups whose response to global change will
(i) have a particularly strong impact on biodiversity at the other side of the surface interface
(ii) strongly influence ecosystem responses to global change by altering important couplings between above and belowsurface species or functional groups?
3 (f)
(i) What experiments/methods are being conducted or planned to assess how relationships between above and belowsurface biodiversity respond to global change?
(ii) What are the major gaps of knowledge concerning the response of above/belowsurface biodiversity relationships to global change?
(iii) What methods/ techniques are available that could be used to close these gaps?
3 (g) Based on the literature, what are the major similarities/differences in the response of above/belowsurface biodiversity relationships to global change between your domain and the other two domains?
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