Better understanding of ecological impacts and consequences

There are sound theoretical reasons to infer that as biodiversity declines so does ecosystem functionality and thus the supply of ecosystem services, but the evidentiary base remains incomplete.  Some specific research questions related to ecological knowledge are reported here:

• How quickly and for how long are ecosystem services perturbed by specific types and duractions of disturbances.
• How are ecosystem services affected by multiple stressors? How should multiple stressors be considered?
• Can we determine ecosystem resilience, thresholds that lead to a major change in ecological functioning and condition, and under what circumstance might these occur?
• Are organisms adapting to degradation? Losses of natural conditions are often assumed to permanently diminish performance, but is there evidence for this?
• Consequences of land degradation on freshwater and coastal ecosystems including mangroves and seegrass systems