Do drivers of biodiversity change differ in importance across marine and terrestrial systems - Or is it just different research communities' perspectives?

Abstract

Cross-system studies on the response of different ecosystems to global change will support our understanding of ecological changes. Synoptic views on the planet's two main realms, the marine and terrestrial, however, are rare, owing to the development of rather disparate research communities. We combined questionnaires and a literature review to investigate how the importance of anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity change differs among marine and terrestrial systems and whether differences perceived by marine vs. terrestrial researchers are reflected by the scientific literature. This included asking marine and terrestrial researchers to rate the relevance of different drivers of global change for either marine or terrestrial biodiversity. Land use and the associated loss of natural habitats were rated as most important in the terrestrial realm, while the exploitation of the sea by fishing was rated as most important in the marine realm. The relevance of chemicals, climate change and the increasing atmospheric concentration of CO₂ were rated differently for marine and terrestrial biodiversity respectively. Yet, our literature review provided less evidence for such differences leading to the conclusion that while the history of the use of land and sea differs, impacts of global change are likely to become increasingly similar.

Keywords: Biological invasions; Carbon dioxide; Chemical pollutants; Climate change; Delphi-assessment; Nutrient inputs.