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The principal aim of this proposal is to quantify the interactions between diversity, stability, direction and magnitude of the processes in the coastal ecosystem of the northern Baltic Sea. Ecological significance of functional diversity is studied. A key question is to forecast the changes of ecosystem associated with the abiotic environment and biological diversity. We study whether and how the biological diversity is related to the stability of the system. The significance of various processes is estimated on different spatial and temporal scales and organisation levels. The methods are developed to perform experimental studies on higher organisation levels and spatial scales. The response of intra- and interspecific competition is examined on the ecosystem level (e.g. the variability in the matter and energy flows, landscape-scale diversity). We estimate the relative significance of natural environmental variability, eutrophication and biological invasions on the stability of coastal ecosystem and its biological and functional diversity. We evaluate whether the species loss in the poorer communities will have greater ecological implications than in the functionally more complex communities. We determine if there is room for more species in the existing assemblages. We investigate if the competition for food and space is important for the population dynamics of native and introduced species. Complementary resource use and relative contribution of different component of the ecosystem (e.g. phyto-, meiobenthos, macrozoobenthos, phytoplankton, micro- and mesozooplantkon) are detected. This proposal contributes to several objectives of the programme of sustainable development. In particular we address questions that relate strongly to the conservation of biodiversity. Through manipulative experiments we aim to formulate management options to reverse biodiversity loss in the Baltic Sea. |