What is the role of the ecosystem functioning and which level of biodiversity has an important role in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem?
biodiversity is very difficult to measure. There are different measurements of biodiversity, e.g. species richness, genetic diversity of the individuals under study, their functional diversity, and many others. As natural ecosystems are faced to fluctuations, or stress, the balance of an ecosystem could be referred to as the resilience to these stressors or as the maintaining of ecosystem functioning. In turn, ecosystem functioning can be measured in a great variety of factors, i.e. multifunctionality.
I think we are still struggling to find the threshold of stress and of biodiversity which are necessary to maintain ecosystem functioning. However, it was found that ecosystem functioning like biomass production is buffered at relatively low stress intensity and destroyed at high stress intensities. But which amount is feasible in natural ecosystems remains unclear as far as I know.
Ecosystem function is the capacity of natural processes and components to provide goods and services that satisfy human needs, either directly or indirectly. Ecosystem functions are conceived as a subset of ecological processes and ecosystem structures. Of all the organisms in an ecosystem, the most important role is played by decomposers. The nutrients are released back into the environment by the decomposition of dead organisms. A niche is the role a species plays in the ecosystem. In other words, a niche is how an organism “makes a living.” A niche will include the organism's role in the flow of energy through the ecosystem.Generally speaking, greater species diversity (alpha diversity) leads to greater ecosystem stability. This is termed the "diversity–stability hypothesis." An ecosystem that has a greater number of species is more likely to withstand a disturbance than an ecosystem of the same size with a lower number of species. Three levels of diversity: species, genetic, and ecosystem diversity. In fact, these levels cannot be separated. Each is important, interacting with and influencing others. Changes at one level can cause changes at other levels. Biodiversity provides vital ecosystem functions such as soil fertilization, nutrient recycling, pest and disease regulation, and erosion control and crop and tree pollination. Biologically diverse communities are also more likely to contain species that confer resilience to that ecosystem because as a community accumulates species, there is a higher chance of any one of them having traits that enable them to adapt to a changing environment. Biodiversity is essential for stability of an ecosystem. Communities having more species tend to be more stable than those with less species. A stable ecosystem is able to resist occasional disturbance. Biodiversity can be categorized into three main types: Genetic Diversity (Diversity within species) Species Diversity (Diversity between species) Ecosystem Diversity (Diversity between ecosystems). All species are important and help keep the ecosystem balanced. Ecological balance is a term describing how ecosystems are organized in a state of stability where species coexist with other species and with their environment. Even if an ecosystem is balanced, that doesn't mean that no changes ever occur. Forest helps in cleaning the environment by absorbing toxic gases like carbon. They help to prevent soil erosion and uphold the fertility of the soil. They help to establish oxygen and carbon balance in nature, and hence, the forest is essential for maintaining an ecological balance.
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