Dolbeth, M.Crespo, D.Leston, S.Solan, M.2020-07-172020-07-172019Dolbeth, M., Crespo, D., Leston, S., & Solan, M. (2019). Realistic scenarios of environmental disturbance lead to functionally important changes in benthic species-environment interactions. Marine environmental research, 150, 104770. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2019.1047700141-1136http://hdl.handle.net/10400.8/5018Supported by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the Investigador FCT programme contract (M. Dolbeth, IF/00919/2015) and Decree-law 57/2016 contract (S. Leston), subsidised by the European Social Fund and Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (MCTES) through the Human Potential Operational Programme (POPH), and partially supported by the Strategic Funding (UID/Multi/04423/2019) awarded to CIIMAR. We also acknowledge the support of the MARS Network Travel Award for Young Scientists (D. Crespo) and the fellowship from project SmartBioR – Smart Valorization of Endogenous Marine Biological Resources Under a Changing Climate (D. Crespo, CENTRO-01-0145- FEDER-000018 co-funded by CENTRO2020/PORTUGAL2020/ FEDER); and the Coastal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (CBESS) research programme (NE/J015644/1), funded by the U.K. Natural Environment Research Council (M. Solan, NE/ J015075/1).Changes in community structure concurrent with environmental forcing often form a precursor to changes in species diversity, and can have substantive consequences for ecosystem functioning. Here, we assess the effects of altered levels of evenness that are representative of different levels of eutrophication and changes in salinity associated with altered precipitation patterns, on the mediation of nutrient release by sediment-dwelling invertebrate communities. We find that an adjustment towards a more even distribution of species corresponds with an increase in sediment particle reworking that, in general, translates to increased levels of nutrient release. This response, however, is dependent on the functional role of each species in the community and is influenced by concomitant changes in salinity, especially when salinity extends beyond the range typically experienced by the community. Overall, our findings highlight the dynamic nature of species contributions to functioning and reinforce the importance of understanding when, and how, the mechanistic basis of species-environment interactions are modified as the influence of abiotic and biotic factors flex under periods of directional forcing.engBioturbationEvennessFunctional traitsInvertebratesMultiple stressorsTrait variabilityjournal articledoi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2019.104770