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Contents:

1 - Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: the emergence of a synthetic ecological framework; 2 - The debate on the role of biodiversity in ecosystem functioning; 3 - Plant diversity and composition; 4 - Biodiversity manipulation experiments; 5 - Evaluating the relative strengths of biotic versus abiotic controls on ecosystem processes; 6 - The design and analysis of biodiversity experiments; 7 - A new look at the relationship between diversity and stability; 8 - Do species interactions buffer environmental variation (in theory)?; 9 - Biodiversity and stability in soil ecosystems; 10 - Neighbourhood scale effects of species diversity on biological invasions and their relationship to community patterns; 11 - Contributions of aquatic model systems to our understanding of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; 12 - How can marine biology contribute to the biodiversity-ecosystem debate?; 13 - Mulit-trophic dynamics and ecosystem processes; 14 - Biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and above-ground-below-ground linkages; 15 - Biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and soil decomposer food webs; 16 - The critical role of plant-microbe interactions on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; 17 - Species diversity, functional diversity and ecosystem functioning; 18 - Slippin' and slidin' between the scales; 19 - Effect of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning in managed ecosystems; 20 - Perspectives and challenges.

Review:

The basic idea about stability and its links with species diversity i.e. the greater the diversity the greater the stability might have been conventional wisdom but there always seemed to be some problems accepting it. True, diverse forests were stable but so were 'monocultural' ecosystems including farming and tundra forest. The notion that a tropical reef was actually very fragile despite its great diversity didn't help the issue. Ideas were proposed to cover this including lengths of food chains but there seemed to be flaws. The ideas of stability led to other related areas being given more research which was now under the banner of ecosystem functions. Cut to another aspect: biodiversity. In the 1980s this was becoming the new buzzword. Diversity (even if we didn't quite know what it meant) was crucial to our survival and that of the ecosystems upon which we depend. Studies on the subject continued. Excellent ideas such as hotspots were investigated. However, there was still no linkage betwen the two topics despite their obvious connections. Finally, in the 1990s there were a few tentative steps towards integrating the two. This was not universally accepted and the topic still remains controversial.

If we take the debate to 2000 this book has its origins. A conference was set up in Paris to investigate the extent to which these two previously disparate topics might be linked. The aim was to gather experts in their own fields who were looking at biodiversity-functioning linkages and see what common ground could be found. The result is this book which is the first major non-specialist attempt to examine this work. Its 20 chapters are divided into six parts. the first part sets the scene. It explains how the topic came into being and gives a useful outline of its history. Perhaps the most useful aspect is the diagram showing early hypotheses for diversity/function. Here we see the possible implications for changes in biodiversity. (It's worth noting that the whole tenor of the text is partly towards integrative science but also a consideration of the management potential of any findings.) The second chapter in this part continues the study with current debates (and a link to on-going project work which highlights the significance of this field of endeavour). Part two takes one ecosystem - grasslands - and uses it as a way of outlining the debate. The four chapters examine various aspects much of which is studied through the use of experiments. This aspect is quite interesting. Most ecological study would be through fieldwork but the argument put forward here is that the areas are too complex to be studeid naturally: it would be very possible that one element of thge study might influence another in ways that might change the result but which could not be separated out. This means we have chapters on experimental grasslands, replication studies, controls and design. Considering that this topic is still relatively new it shows how sophisticated some of the thinking has already become. Part three takes a look at stability: one of the ideas that started this debate. The first chapter in this four chapter set looks specifically at this stability/diversity debate showing how it has developed both historically and conceptually. There is also the argument that we need both theoretical and practical perspectives to understand fully this topic. Given the antipathy between these areas in the past it shows how much we need to re-think ourvideas if we are to make headway here. As if to illustrate this the next two chapters work on the problem from theoretical and practical prespective respectively leaving the final chapter to create another element to study - scale. Part four is a review of the work in a range of other ecosystems. Here we have experts from aquatic systems, marine ecology, soils and plant-microbe interactions each showing how this topic could be of value. Part five is very similar only it deals with other dimensions of working. Chapters examing functional diversity, scale and managed systems provide enough evidence that this topic can only expand. A final chapter in part six allows the editors to gahter their evidence and outline the future for this topic.

Reading this text gives one the impression of being at the beginning of a considerable change in ecological thuoght and action. Its clarity of thought and scope suggest that, in common with very few other texts, it could well become a classic in its field. If the topic started controversially this continues the same line but with the surety of being right. It's not an easy read for the beginner: you need a considerable depth of ecological research history to appreciate it but the effort is well worth it. Anybody who takes ecology seriously should read this book!