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Science 29 August 1997:
Vol. 277. no. 5330, pp. 1260 - 1261
DOI: 10.1126/science.277.5330.1260
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Perspectives

ECOLOGY:
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function: The Debate Deepens

J. P. Grime

One of the tenets of the conservation movement has been that areas containing many species--those of high biodiversity--are particularly worth saving, since ecosystems of high diversity show improved ecosystem function. As Grime explains in his Perspective, this tenet is being replaced by another view, which is bolstered by three reports in this week's issue (pages 1296, 1300, and 1302). These studies all show that it is actually the specific features of the species in an ecosystem that determine its function--not their number.

The author is in the Unit of Comparative Plant Ecology, University of Sheffield, UK. E-mail: j.p.grime{at}sheffield.ac.uk

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