Ecosystem Engineering by Species

Clive G. Jones
Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies

My collaborative research involves empirical studies on the effects of engineers, the development of concepts and models of ecosystem engineering and syntheses of the existing literature. Research in this area is helping us understand how species – including human engineering – can affect the abundance and diversity of species and the functioning of ecosystems.

Many organisms build, modify or destroy physical structures in the environment. For example, both beavers and the Army Corps of Engineers build dams. Beaver dams and many other physical structures have important ecological effects on other species because these structures create habitat, control the amount of resources that other species can use, and can ameliorate or exacerbate abiotic stress to organisms. Rock-eating snails in the Negev Desert control the amount of soil for plants. Desert Isopods control soil erosion and remove salts that decrease soil fertility for plants. Desert porcupines dig pits that trap water and seeds, making an ideal place for annual plants to grow. There are hundreds of other examples of organisms physically and chemically modifying the environment in all sorts of ecosystems. And yet, in general we know far less about these engineers and their ecological effects than we know about the effects of predation or competition for resources among organisms. How and why do engineers have effects? How important are these effects? How similar are different engineers? How can we quantify, compare and model engineering effects?

Fig. 1. Autogenic (A, B, C) and allogenic (D, E, F) ecosystem engineering. (A) Secondary oak (Quercus rubra) forest near Millbrook, NY, USA (Changes microclimate; affects soil biogeochemistry and understory species). (B) Smooth cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora, in a tidal marsh in the La Plata estuary near Playa Peninos, Uruguay (Attenuates storm surges, increases sedimentation, and retains organic matter; affects biogeochemistry and creates protected habitat for other species). (C) Reefs of tube-building polychaetes, Ficopomatus enigmaticus, an exotic species in Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon, Argentina (Reef in foreground is ca. 3 meters across. Alters hydrodynamics, increases sedimentation; provides shelter for many invertebrates). (D) Riparian forest area transformed by the dam building activity of beaver, Castor canadensis, in Tierra del Fuego, Chile, where it is an exotic species (Alters hydrology, sedimentation, light levels; affects biogeochemistry and species habitats). (E) Mound of leaf-cutting ant, Atta sexdens, in the “blanqueal” area near Fray Bentos, Uruguay (Brings saline soil at depth to surface, eliminating most vegetation on mound). (F) The Southwestern Atlantic burrowing crab, Neohelice (Chasmagnathus) granulata, in Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon, Argentina (buries litter in excavation mounds; prevents litter export as a nutrient subsidy to adjacent estuary). Photos: (A) Jorge Gutiérrez, (B) Cesar Fagúndez, (C) Martín Bruschetti, (D), (E) Clive Jones, (F) Pablo Ribeiro (modified from Gutiérrez & Jones, 2008).

Fig. 2. General pathways of physical ecosystem engineering (modified from Gutiérrez & Jones, 2008)

Ecosystem Engineering Links

Biocrawler Encyclopedia
Encyclopedia of Earth
Cary Institute
North Carolina 4H
Suite 101
Suez Environnement (beaver as engineer)
Wikipedia

Ecosystem Engineering Publications

• Barbosa, O., P. A. Marquet, L. D. Bacigalupe, D. A. Christie, E. Del-Val, A. G. Gutierrez, C. G. Jones, K. C. Weathers, and J. J. Armesto.   2010.   Interactions among patch area, forest structure and water fluxes in a fog-inundated forest ecosystem in semiarid Chile.   Funct. Ecol.   24:909-917. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2010.01697.x
  
  
• Jones, C. G.   2010.   Cows can help with upkeep of ski trails. (Original title: Happy cows take to the slopes). Poughkeepsie Journal   14 March, 4F-5F
  
  
• Jones, C. G.   2010.   Out of the desert toward the Promised Land: Moshe Shachak and the past, present and future of ecosystem engineering. Israel Society of Ecology and Environmental Sciences Website  
  
  
• Jones, C. G., J. L. Gutiérrez, J. E. Byers, J. A. Crooks, J. G. Lambrinos, and T. S. Talley.   2010.   A framework for understanding physical ecosystem engineering by organisms.   Oikos   119(12):1862-1869. For reprint contact jonesc@caryinstitute.org.
  
  
• Gutiérrez, A. G., O. Barbosa, D. A. Christie, E. del-Val, H. A. Ewing, C. G. Jones, P. A. Marquet, K. C. Weathers, and J. J. Armesto.   2008.   Regeneration patterns and persistence of the fog-dependent Fray Jorge forest in semiarid Chile during the past two centuries. Global Change Biol.   14:161–176.
  
  
• Gutiérrez, J. L. and C. G. Jones   2008.   Ecosystem engineers. In: Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, Online. J. Wiley and Sons, Chichester, UK.   DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0021226. Encyclopedia Article.
  
  
• Jones, C. G.   2008.   Puffins' habits change habitat. Nesting practices erode island, making it unlivable for species. (Original title: The Puffins of Grassholme). Poughkeepsie Journal   8 June, 6B.
  
  
• Jones, C. G.   2008.   The Army Corps of Engineers vs. muskrat engineers: Nature declared winner. Poughkeepsie Journal   6 July, 6B-7B.
  
  
• Jones, C. G., I. Dajoz, and L. Abbadie.   2008.   Ecological engineering and the sustainable redesign imperative. pp. 138-139In: L. Garnier (ed.). Between Man and Nature: Making the Relationship Last. Réserves de biosphére - Notes techniques 3 - 2008, UNESCO, Paris.  
  
  
• Hastings, A., J. E. Byers, J. A. Crooks, K. Cuddington, C. G. Jones, J. G. Lambrinos, T. S. Talley, and W. G. Wilson.   2007.   Ecosystem engineering in space and time. Ecol. Lett.   10:153-164.
  
  
• Jones, C. G. and J. L. Gutiérrez.   2007.   On the purpose, meaning, and usage of the physical ecosystem engineering concept.In: K. Cuddington, J. E. Byers, A. Hastings, A. and W. G. Wilson (eds.). Ecosystem Engineers: Plants to Protists. Academic/Elsevier. USA. 405 pp   pp. 3-24
  
  
• Jones, C. G. and R. M. Callaway.   2007.   The third party. J. Veg. Sci.   18:771-776.
  
  
• Wallem, K. P., C. G. Jones, P. A. Marquet, and F. M. Jaksic.   2007.   Identificación de los mecanismos subyacentes a la invasión de Castor canadensis (Rodentia) en el archipiélago de Tierra del Fuego, Chile.Identifying the mechanisms underlying the invasion of Castor canadensis (Rodentia) into Tierra del Fuego archipelago, Chile. Rev. Chil. Hist. Nat.   80(3):309-325.
  
  
• Badano, E. I., C. G. Jones, L. A. Cavieres, and J. P. Wright.   2006.   Assessing impacts of ecosystem engineers on community organization: A general approach illustrated by effects of a high-Andean cushion plant. Oikos   115:369-385.
  
  
• Byers, J. E., K. Cuddington, C. G. Jones, T. S. Talley, A. Hastings, J. G. Lambrinos, J. A. Crooks, and W. G. Wilson.   2006.   Using ecosystem engineers to restore ecological systems. Trends Ecol. Evol.   21(9):493-500.
  
  
• del-Val, E., J. J. Armesto, O. Barbosa, D. A. Christie, A. G. Gutiérrez, C. G. Jones, P. A. Marquet, and K. C. Weathers.   2006.   Rain forest islands in the Chilean semiarid region: Fog-dependency, ecosystem persistence and tree regeneration. Ecosystems   9:598-608.
  
  
• Gutiérrez, J. L., and C. G. Jones.   2006.   Physical ecosystem engineers as agents of biogeochemical heterogeneity. BioScience   56(3):227-236.
  
  
• Gutiérrez, J. L., C. G. Jones, P. M. Groffman, S. E. G. Findlay, O. O. Iribarne, P. D. Ribiero, and C. M. Bruschetti.   2006.   The contribution of crab burrow excavation to carbon availability in surficial salt-marsh sediments. Ecosystems   9:647–658.
  
  
• Jones, C. G., J. L. Gutiérrez, P. M. Groffman, and M. Shachak.   2006.   Linking ecosystem engineers to soil processes: A framework using the Jenny State Factor Equation. European J. Soil Biol.   42:S39-S53.
  
  
• Wright, J. P., and C. G. Jones.   2006.   The concept of organisms as ecosystem engineers ten years on: Progress, limitations, and challenges. BioScience   56(3):203-209.
  
  
• Wright, J. P., C. G. Jones, B. Boeken, and M. Shachak.   2006.   Predictability of ecosystem engineering effects on species richness across environmental variability and spatial scales. J. Ecol.   94:815-824.
  
  
• Wright, J. P., and C. G. Jones.   2004.   Predicting effects of ecosystem engineers on patch-scale species richness from primary productivity. Ecology   85(8):2071–2081.
  
  
• Wright, J. P., W. S. C. Gurney, and C. G. Jones.   2004.   Patch dynamics in a landscape modified by ecosystem engineers. Oikos   105(2):336-348.
  
  
• Gutiérrez, J. L., C. G. Jones, D. L. Strayer, and O. O. Iribarne.   2003.   Mollusks as ecosystem engineers: The role of shell production in aquatic habitats. Oikos   101:79-90.
  
  
• Wright, J. P., A. S. Flecker, and C. G. Jones.   2003.   Local versus landscape controls on plant species richness in beaver meadows. Ecology   84(12):3162–3173.
  
  
• Wright, J. P., C. G. Jones, and A. S. Flecker.   2002.   An ecosystem engineer, the beaver, increases species richness at the landscape scale. Oecologia   132(1):96-101.
  
  
• Groffman, P. M., and C. G. Jones.   2000.   Soil processes and global change: will invertebrates make a difference? In: D. C. Coleman and P. F. Hendrix (eds.). Invertebrates as Webmasters in Ecosystems.   CAB International, Oxon, UK, and New York, NY.   pp. 313-326.
  
  
• Pickett, S. T. A., M. L. Cadenasso, and C. G. Jones.   2000.   Generation of heterogeneity by organisms: creation, maintenance, and transformation. In: M. J. Hutchings, E. A. John, and A. J. A. Stewart (eds.).The Ecological Consequences of Environmental Heterogeneity: The 40th Symposium of the British Ecological Society.   Blackwell Science Ltd., Oxford, UK.   pp. 33-52.
  
  
• Jones, C. G., J. H. Lawton, and M. Shachak.   1997.   Ecosystem engineering by organisms: why semantics matters.   Trends Ecol. Evol.   12(7):275 [letter].
  
  
• Jones, C. G., J. H. Lawton, and M. Shachak.   1997.   Positive and negative effects of organisms as physical ecosystem engineers. Ecology   78:1946-1957.
  
  
• Jones, C. G.   1996.   Ecosystem engineering by vertebrates. [Zoogeomorphology: Animals as Geomorphic Agents. 1995. D. R. Butler. Cambridge University Press, New York. 231 pp.]   Ecology   77:653-654.
  
  
• Jones, C. G., J. H. Lawton, and M. Shachak.   1996.   Organisms as ecosystem engineers. [Reprinted from Jones, C. G., J. H. Lawton, and M. Shachak. 1994. Organisms as ecosystem engineers. Oikos 69:373-386.] In: F. B. Samson and F. L. Knopf (eds.). Readings in Ecosystem Management.   Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.   pp. 130-147.
  
  
• Lawton, J. H., and C. G. Jones.   1995.   Linking species and ecosystems: organisms as ecosystem engineers. In: C. G. Jones and J. H. Lawton (eds.). Linking Species and Ecosystems.   Chapman & Hall, Inc., New York.   pp. 141-150.
  
  
• Shachak, M., and C. G. Jones.   1995.   Ecological flow chains and ecological systems: concepts for linking species and ecosystem perspectives. In: C. G. Jones and J. H. Lawton (eds.). Linking Species and Ecosystems. Chapman & Hall, Inc., New York.   pp. 280-294.
  
  
• Shachak, M., C. G. Jones, and S. Brand.   1995.   The role of animals in an arid ecosystem: snails and isopods as controllers of soil formation, erosion and desalinization.   Adv. GeoEcol.   28:37-50.
  
  
• Jones, C. G., and M. Shachak.   1994.   Desert snails' daily grind.   Nat. Hist.   103(8):56-61.
  
  
• Jones, C. G., J. H. Lawton, and M. Shachak.   1994.   Organisms as ecosystem engineers. Oikos   69:373-386.
  
  
• Jones, C. G., and M. Shachak.   1990.   Fertilization of the desert soil by rock-eating snails. Nature   346:839-841.
  
  
• Bianchi, T. S., C. G. Jones, and M. Shachak.   1989.   Positive feedback of consumer population density on resource supply. Trends Ecol. Evol.   4:234-238.
  
  
• Shachak, M., C. G. Jones, and Y. Granot.   1987.   Herbivory in rocks and the weathering of a desert. Science   236:1098-1099.
  
  

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