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From genes to ecosystems: a genetic basis to ecosystem services
Author(s) -
Bailey Joseph K.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
population ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.819
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1438-390X
pISSN - 1438-3896
DOI - 10.1007/s10144-010-0251-4
Subject(s) - ecosystem , biology , biodiversity , ecosystem services , ecology , energy flow , functional ecology , total human ecosystem , ecosystem ecology , environmental resource management , genetic variation , ecosystem health , energy (signal processing) , environmental science , gene , genetics , statistics , mathematics
Ecosystems provide services, many of which are regulated through species interactions. Emerging research in the fields of community and ecosystem genetics indicate that genetic variation in one species can influence species interactions and affect subsequent patterns of energy flow and nutrient cycles. Because there can be a genetic basis to community‐ and ecosystem‐level processes, evolutionary processes that alter standing genetic variation can have extended consequences that matter to patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem function that exist on the landscape. Here we explore some emerging areas of research in the field of community and ecosystem genetics and discuss the general importance of this approach to evolutionary ecology.