RT Journal Article
T1 Punctuated ecological equilibrium in mammal communities over evolutionary time scales
A1 Blanco, Fernando
A1 Calatayud, Joaquín
A1 Martín Perea, David Manuel
A1 Domingo Martínez, María Soledad
A1 Menéndez, Iris
A1 Müller, Johannes
A1 Hernández Fernández, Manuel
A1 Cantalapiedra, Juan L.
AB The study of deep-time ecological dynamics has the ability to inform conservation decisions by anticipating the behavior of ecosystems millions of years into the future. Using network analysis and an exceptional fossil dataset spanning the past 21 million years, we show that mammalian ecological assemblages undergo long periods of functional stasis, notwithstanding high taxonomic volatility due to dispersal, speciation, and extinction. Higher functional richness and diversity promoted the persistence of functional faunas despite species extinction risk being indistinguishable among these different faunas. These findings, and the large mismatch between functional and taxonomic successions, indicate that although safeguarding functional diversity may or may not minimize species losses, it would certainly enhance the persistence of ecosystem functioning in the face of future disturbances.
PB Amer Assoc Advancement Science
SN 0036-8075
YR 2021
FD 2021-04-16
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/6789
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/6789
LA eng
NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO)
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)
NO Comunidad de Madrid
NO Universidad Complutense de Madrid
NO Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
NO Universidad de Alcalá de Henares 
DS Docta Complutense
RD 6 oct 2024