PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Sofia J. van Moorsel
AU  - Terhi Hahl
AU  - Cameron Wagg
AU  - Gerlinde B. De Deyn
AU  - Dan F.B. Flynn
AU  - Varuna Yadav
AU  - Debra Zuppinger-Dingley
AU  - Bernhard Schmid
TI  - Community selection increases biodiversity effects
AID  - 10.1101/111617
DP  - 2017 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 111617
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/02/25/111617.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/02/25/111617.full
AB  - Species extinctions from local communities can negatively affect ecosystem functioning1. Statistical and ecological mechanisms underlying these impacts are well studied2–4 but the role of evolutionary mechanisms has rarely been addressed5,6. In particular, it is not known to what extent local populations are co-adapted, not only to their environment but also to each other, because such a co-adaption would suggest that species extinctions can result in a larger than expected decline in ecosystem functioning. We used a longterm field biodiversity experiment with 52 plant species to determine if natural selection at the level of entire communities intensified the effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning. We re-assembled communities with 8-year co-selection histories adjacent to communities with identical species composition but no history of co-selection on native soil from the experiment and on novel soil. Over four years, selected plant communities were more productive and expressed stronger biodiversity effects than naïve communities. Novel soil increased productivity initially but not in the longer term. Our findings suggest that plant community selection can lead to increased community-level functioning, regardless of the soil in which they were assembled. As a consequence, it may take many years to reconstruct well-functioning communities if one reassembles them with populations lacking a common selection history.