BIOTIC DIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES - USING THE ECOTRON TO STUDYA COMPLEX RELATIONSHIP

Global change research examines a variety of effects that changing env ironmental conditions may have on ecosystems. One aspect, a decline in species richness (biodiversity) observable in most ecosystems, has be en less well studied, partly due to the complexity and long time neces sary for experimentation. Model ecosystems (micro- or mesocosms), howe ver, provide a feasible means for testing the many hypothetical relati onships proposed to exist between diversity and ecosystem behaviour th at observation and theory support. This article examines these hypothe ses and shows how mesocosm studies conducted in the Ecotron, a control led environmental facility, provide insights into this comples issue.