![]() The selection effect describes the increasing probability of including a species with strong monoculture performance in species-rich experiments. Complementarity is caused by either resource partitioning, niche differentiation, predator avoidance in mixtures or positive interactions among species. Biodiversity-ecosystem function (BEF) theory suggests that positive biodiversity effects may arise mainly through two mechanisms referred to as ‘complementarity’ and ‘selection 3, 4, 5. Identifying which ecological attributes of species affect the aggregate performance of a diverse ecosystem is instrumental for understanding the importance of biodiversity for ecosystem functioning 1, 2. Such level of manipulation can be achieved best in microbial model systems, which are powerful tools for fundamental hypothesis-driven experiments and the investigation of general ecological theories. We envisage that, including diversity gradients at other trophic levels, in biodiversity-ecosystem functioning research is a key to understanding and managing ecosystem processes. By mathematically partitioning the biodiversity effects, we demonstrate that competitive interactions in diverse communities are reduced and the growth of subdominant species is enhanced. ![]() Here using 465 bacterial microcosms, we show that multiple predation by protists results in positive bacterial diversity effects on bacterial yields (colony-forming units) possibly due to an increased complementarity and evenness among bacterial species. Moreover, it remains uncertain how predation by single or multiple predators affects these mechanisms. These mechanisms have been primarily examined using plant communities, whereas bacterial communities remain largely unexplored. Positive biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships are generally attributed to two mechanisms: complementarity and selection.
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