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Expert‐led priorities for a response diversity research agenda in ecology

Samuel R. P.‐J. Ross Orcid Logo, Ceres Barros Orcid Logo, Laura E. Dee Orcid Logo, Mike Fowler Orcid Logo, Owen L. Petchey Orcid Logo, Takehiro Sasaki Orcid Logo, Hannah J. White Orcid Logo, Anna LoPresti Orcid Logo

Oikos, Start page: e11358

Swansea University Author: Mike Fowler Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1002/oik.11358

Abstract

Response diversity describes variation in ecological responses to environmental change. Response diversity is expected to drive ecological stability since a wider variety of responses to one or more environmental factors should stabilise fluctuations of ecosystem functions. However, uptake of empiri...

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Published in: Oikos
ISSN: 0030-1299 1600-0706
Published: Wiley 2026
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71303
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Here we assess current thinking around response diversity by conducting a targeted expert survey of response diversity researchers. Our survey revealed that one barrier to a unified research agenda on response diversity is the lack of agreement among respondents on the definition of response diversity, and to which dimension(s) of ecological stability response diversity might relate. When asked to select the temporal, spatial and biological scales at which response diversity may be most relevant for ecological stability, respondents chose a wide range of scales indicating differences in how experts view response diversity's stabilising effect. Respondents considered studies incorporating both biotic interactions and abiotic environmental responses to be especially challenging. So too were those thinking about responses to multiple environmental changes simultaneously. Moreover, respondents thought inconsistencies in the definitions of, and methods for measuring response diversity were a major challenge facing the field. Despite these barriers, experts expressed strong support for globally coordinated research efforts on response diversity through syntheses, workshops, and distributed experiments. However, they also cautioned that imposing a single standardised metric across use-cases would be too restrictive. Our findings suggest we can shift response diversity from a loose collection of conceptual studies and inconsistent empirical applications towards a coordinated research programme mechanistically linking biodiversity and ecological stability. 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spelling 2026-02-05T14:10:44.9461799 v2 71303 2026-01-25 Expert‐led priorities for a response diversity research agenda in ecology a3a29027498d4b43a3f082a0a5ba16b4 0000-0003-1544-0407 Mike Fowler Mike Fowler true false 2026-01-25 BGPS Response diversity describes variation in ecological responses to environmental change. Response diversity is expected to drive ecological stability since a wider variety of responses to one or more environmental factors should stabilise fluctuations of ecosystem functions. However, uptake of empirical response diversity research has been slow. Here we assess current thinking around response diversity by conducting a targeted expert survey of response diversity researchers. Our survey revealed that one barrier to a unified research agenda on response diversity is the lack of agreement among respondents on the definition of response diversity, and to which dimension(s) of ecological stability response diversity might relate. When asked to select the temporal, spatial and biological scales at which response diversity may be most relevant for ecological stability, respondents chose a wide range of scales indicating differences in how experts view response diversity's stabilising effect. Respondents considered studies incorporating both biotic interactions and abiotic environmental responses to be especially challenging. So too were those thinking about responses to multiple environmental changes simultaneously. Moreover, respondents thought inconsistencies in the definitions of, and methods for measuring response diversity were a major challenge facing the field. Despite these barriers, experts expressed strong support for globally coordinated research efforts on response diversity through syntheses, workshops, and distributed experiments. However, they also cautioned that imposing a single standardised metric across use-cases would be too restrictive. Our findings suggest we can shift response diversity from a loose collection of conceptual studies and inconsistent empirical applications towards a coordinated research programme mechanistically linking biodiversity and ecological stability. As such, we are launching a research community interested in the science and application of response diversity – the Response Diversity Network – whose activities we hope will benefit both individual studies of response diversity and globally coordinated research efforts. Journal Article Oikos 0 e11358 Wiley 0030-1299 1600-0706 ecological stability; expert survey; free-text analysis; functional diversity; horizon scan; qualitative coding; research prioritisation; response diversity 25 1 2026 2026-01-25 10.1002/oik.11358 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences Geography and Physics School COLLEGE CODE BGPS Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University Theoretical Sciences Visiting Program (TSVP). 2026-02-05T14:10:44.9461799 2026-01-25T17:58:18.6305861 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Samuel R. P.‐J. Ross 0000-0001-9402-9119 1 Ceres Barros 0000-0003-4036-977x 2 Laura E. Dee 0000-0003-0471-1371 3 Mike Fowler 0000-0003-1544-0407 4 Owen L. Petchey 0000-0002-7724-1633 5 Takehiro Sasaki 0000-0001-8727-9152 6 Hannah J. White 0000-0002-6793-8613 7 Anna LoPresti 0000-0003-4801-1529 8 71303__36097__937237711af2485cb9f5760c58d3fd5c.pdf Ross_etal_2026_Oikos.pdf 2026-01-25T18:12:26.5686751 Output 2069884 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2026 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ 345 Sam RPJ Ross 0000-0001-9402-9119 s.ross.res@outlook.com true 10.5281/zenodo.17547778 false
title Expert‐led priorities for a response diversity research agenda in ecology
spellingShingle Expert‐led priorities for a response diversity research agenda in ecology
Mike Fowler
title_short Expert‐led priorities for a response diversity research agenda in ecology
title_full Expert‐led priorities for a response diversity research agenda in ecology
title_fullStr Expert‐led priorities for a response diversity research agenda in ecology
title_full_unstemmed Expert‐led priorities for a response diversity research agenda in ecology
title_sort Expert‐led priorities for a response diversity research agenda in ecology
author_id_str_mv a3a29027498d4b43a3f082a0a5ba16b4
author_id_fullname_str_mv a3a29027498d4b43a3f082a0a5ba16b4_***_Mike Fowler
author Mike Fowler
author2 Samuel R. P.‐J. Ross
Ceres Barros
Laura E. Dee
Mike Fowler
Owen L. Petchey
Takehiro Sasaki
Hannah J. White
Anna LoPresti
format Journal article
container_title Oikos
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container_start_page e11358
publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
issn 0030-1299
1600-0706
doi_str_mv 10.1002/oik.11358
publisher Wiley
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
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description Response diversity describes variation in ecological responses to environmental change. Response diversity is expected to drive ecological stability since a wider variety of responses to one or more environmental factors should stabilise fluctuations of ecosystem functions. However, uptake of empirical response diversity research has been slow. Here we assess current thinking around response diversity by conducting a targeted expert survey of response diversity researchers. Our survey revealed that one barrier to a unified research agenda on response diversity is the lack of agreement among respondents on the definition of response diversity, and to which dimension(s) of ecological stability response diversity might relate. When asked to select the temporal, spatial and biological scales at which response diversity may be most relevant for ecological stability, respondents chose a wide range of scales indicating differences in how experts view response diversity's stabilising effect. Respondents considered studies incorporating both biotic interactions and abiotic environmental responses to be especially challenging. So too were those thinking about responses to multiple environmental changes simultaneously. Moreover, respondents thought inconsistencies in the definitions of, and methods for measuring response diversity were a major challenge facing the field. Despite these barriers, experts expressed strong support for globally coordinated research efforts on response diversity through syntheses, workshops, and distributed experiments. However, they also cautioned that imposing a single standardised metric across use-cases would be too restrictive. Our findings suggest we can shift response diversity from a loose collection of conceptual studies and inconsistent empirical applications towards a coordinated research programme mechanistically linking biodiversity and ecological stability. As such, we are launching a research community interested in the science and application of response diversity – the Response Diversity Network – whose activities we hope will benefit both individual studies of response diversity and globally coordinated research efforts.
published_date 2026-01-25T05:35:07Z
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