Diversity, productivity and temporal stability in the economies of humans and nature

Recent advances in ecology are of great potential relevance to economists. Here we present two ecological models of mechanisms of competition and coexistence, and use these to derive how the primary productivity of ecosystems, the amount of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere and stored by plants, the efficiency of resource use, and the spatial and temporal variability of productivity and resource use should depend on diversity. We then discuss the relevance of these results to (1) ecosystem services and the economic value of diversity and (2) the functioning of any competitive system, including the economy. (c) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.