Integrating modelling of biodiversity composition and ecosystem function

Abstract

There is increasing reliance on ecological models to improve our understanding of how ecological systems work, to project likely outcomes under alternative global change scenarios and to help develop robust management strategies. Two common types of spatiotemporally explicit ecological models are those focussed on biodiversity composition and those focussed on ecosystem function. These modelling disciplines are largely practiced separately, with separate literature, despite growing evidence that natural systems are shaped by the interaction of composition and function. Here we call for the development of new modelling approaches that integrate composition and function, accounting for the imp..