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From genes to ecosystems: a genetic basis to ecosystem services

  • Special Feature: Notes and Comments
  • Linking Genome to Ecosystem
  • Published:
Population Ecology

Abstract

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.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to Takayuki Ohgushi for the invitation to submit this commentary. Thanks to Marc Johnson and Jen Schweitzer for conversations that helped shape the ideas in this manuscript. Thanks to Lara Souza, Mark Genung, Nicole Hergott, Jarrod Blue, Emmi Felker-Quinn and Katie Stuble for comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Plant Science, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    Joseph K. Bailey

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  1. Joseph K. Bailey
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Correspondence to Joseph K. Bailey.

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This manuscript was submitted for the special feature based on the symposium in Kyoto, held on 18 October 2009.

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Bailey, J.K. From genes to ecosystems: a genetic basis to ecosystem services. Popul Ecol 53, 47–52 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-010-0251-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-010-0251-4

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