Ecosystem Rates of Transformation Matter

摘要

IN THEIR REVIEW "TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM responses to species gains and losses" (10 June, p. 1273), D. A. Wardle et al. identified an urgent need to develop a framework based on common traits that could be used to combine the effects of species gains and losses on ecosystem responses to global change. When assessing the suitability of species traits for predicting functional consequences, it will be important to differentiate between ecosystems in which changes occur gradually and those in which changes occur abruptly.