Ecosystem functioning and biodiversity: Bioengineering

In addition to the characterisation of ecosystems by the use of their biomass and fluxes, biodiversity is introduced as an important state variable describing the development of marine ecosystems. It is discussed in relation to the Redundant Species Hypothesis, the Rivet Hypothesis and the Diversity-Stability Hypothesis. The relation between diversity and fluxes in marine systems is discussed using processes such as sedimentation and bioturbation as examples. It is concluded that pelagic and benthic systems may respond differently to losses in biodiversity. In pelagic systems, modifications of the food web structure represent the major problem for the future ecosystem development, while it is the loss of ecosystem engineers in benthic systems.