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Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / In aquatic environments, heavy metals are produced from natural and anthropogenic sources and the degree of contamination in fish tissues depend on pollutant type, fish species, sampling site, trophic level and their mode of feeding. The heavy metal concentration (Al, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Zn and Pb) in water, sediment and liver of two fish species (Oligosarcus spp - carnivore and Chyphocarax voga - detritovore) was analyzed at two sampling sites in Sinos River, Brazil, during the four seasons. The highest heavy metals concentration was observed in the sediment, followed by water and lowest in fish. As the sediment was the major sink for pollution by metals in this river, it probably played an important role in the uptake of these metals by the detritivore species, which accumulated more metals in the liver than the carnivore species. Furthermore, potential ecological risk was low for both sampling sites, showing the low metal contamination in this area. / Em ambientes aquáticos, metais pesados são produzidos a partir de fontes naturais e antropogênicas e o grau de contaminação nos tecidos dos peixes depende do tipo de poluente, da espécie de peixe, do local da amostragem, do nível trófico e seu modo de alimentação. A concentração de metais pesados (Al, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Zn e Pb) na água, sedimento e fígado de duas espécies de peixes (Oligosarcus spp - carnívoro e Chyphocarax voga - detritívoro) foram analisados em dois pontos do Rio do Sinos, Brasil, durante as quatro estações do ano. O objetivo foi testar as hipóteses que o nível trófico e a proximidade com áreas impactadas influenciam o nível de contaminação por metais. As maiores concentrações de metais pesados foram observadas no sedimento, seguidas pela água e menores nos peixes. Como o sedimento foi o maior dreno para poluição por metais neste rio, provavelmente desempenhou um importante papel na captação destes metais pela espécie detritívora, a qual acumulou mais metais no fígado que a espécie carnívora. Além disso, o potencial risco ambiental foi baixo para os dois pontos amostrados, demonstrando a baixa contaminação por metais na área.

Ecosystems world-wide experience changes in species composition in response to natural and anthropogenic changes in environmental conditions. Research to date has greatly improved our understanding of how species affect focal ecosystem functions. However, because measurements of multiple ecosystem functions have not been consistently justified for any given trophic group, it is unclear whether interpretations of research syntheses adequately reflect the contributions of consumers to ecosystems. Using model communities assembled in experimental microcosms, we examined the relationship between four numerically dominant detritivore species and six ecosystem functions that underpin fundamental aspects of carbon and nitrogen cycling aboveand below-ground. We tested whether ecosystem responses to changes in detritivore identity depended upon species trait dissimilarity, food web compartment (aboveground, belowground, mixed) or number of responses considered (one to six). We found little influence of detritivore species identity on brown (i.e. soil-based) processes. Only one of four detritivore species uniquely influenced decomposition, and detritivore species did not vary in their influence on soil nitrogen pools (NO3 − and NH4 +), or root biomass. However, changes in detritivore identity influenced multiple aboveground ecosystem functions. That is, by serving as prey, ecosystem engineers and occasionally also as herbivores as well as detritivores, these species altered the strength of aboveground predator–herbivore interactions and plant–shoot biomass. Yet, dissimilarity of detritivore functional traits was not associated with dissimilarity of ecosystem functioning. These results serve as an important reminder that consumers influence ecosystem processes via multiple energy channels and that food web interactions set important context for consumer-mediated effects on multiple ecosystem functions. Given that species are being lost, gained and redistributed at unprecedented rates, we can anticipate that changes in species identity will have additional ecosystem consequences beyond those predicted by species’ primary functional role.

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Aquatic sediments are, by surface, the largest habitat on Earth. A wide diversity of organisms inhabit these sediments and by their actions they have a large influence on and also mediate many ecosystem processes. Several of these processes, such as decomposition and remineralisation of organic matter are important on a global scale and are essential to sustain life on Earth. The main aim of this thesis was to use an experimental ecosystem ecology approach in order to study some of these ecosystem processes in marine sediments and how they are linked to biodiversity. Paper I and II found that an increased species richness of sediment deposit feeders increases the processing of organic matter from phytoplankton settled on the sea-floor, and that species-rich communities have a more efficient resource utilization of deposited organic matter. The results in paper IV and V also suggest that there is a link between microbial diversity in sediments and the degradation of organic contaminants. Paper V also shows that antibiotic pollution is a potential threat to natural microbial diversity and microbially mediated ecosystem services. The introduction of invasive species to ecosystems is another major threat to biodiversity and was studied in Paper II and III, by investigating the ecology of Marenzelleria arctia, a polychaete worm recently introduced in the Baltic Sea. Paper II suggests that M. arctia mainly utilize food resources not used by native deposit feeders, thus potentially increasing the benthic production in the Baltic Sea by increasing resource use efficiency. Paper III, however, show that M. arctia is protected from predation by the native benthic invertebrate predators, due to its ability to burrow deep in the sediment, suggesting that predation on M. arctia by higher trophic levels is restricted, thereby limiting trophic transfer. In conclusion, this thesis gives some examples of the importance of marine biodiversity for the generation of a few key ecosystem processes, such as organic matter processing and the degradation of harmful contaminants. / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: In press.