The most unique feature of Earth is the existence of life, and the most extraordinary feature of life is its diversity. Approximately 9 million types of plants, animals, protists and fungi inhabit… (More)
The ecological consequences of biodiversity loss have aroused considerable interest and controversy during the past decade. Major advances have been made in describing the relationship between… (More)
All terrestrial ecosystems consist of aboveground and belowground components that interact to influence community- and ecosystem-level processes and properties. Here we show how these components are… (More)
P. F. Bernath, C. T. McElroy, M. C. Abrams, C. D. Boone, M. Butler, C. Camy-Peyret, M. Carleer, C. Clerbaux, P.-F. Coheur, R. Colin, P. DeCola, M. DeMazière, J. R. Drummond, D. Dufour, W. F. J.… (More)
During succession, ecosystem development occurs; but in the long-term absence of catastrophic disturbance, a decline phase eventually follows. We studied six long-term chronosequences, in Australia,… (More)
Study of the impacts of biological invasions, a pervasive component of global change, has generated remarkable understanding of the mechanisms and consequences of the spread of introduced… (More)
The main drivers of global environmental change (CO2 enrichment, nitrogen deposition, climate, biotic invasions and land use) cause extinctions and alter species distributions, and recent evidence… (More)
Worldwide decomposition rates depend both on climate and the legacy of plant functional traits as litter quality. To quantify the degree to which functional differentiation among species affects… (More)
Fire is a global driver of carbon storage and converts a substantial proportion of plant biomass to black carbon (for example, charcoal), which remains in the soil for thousands of years. Black… (More)
Until recently, large apex consumers were ubiquitous across the globe and had been for millions of years. The loss of these animals may be humankind's most pervasive influence on nature. Although… (More)