Disentangling Ecosystem Necromass Dynamics for Biodiversity Conservation

Global environmental change has redistributed earth’s biomass and the inputs and dynamics of basal detrital resources in ecosystems, contributing to the decline of biodiversity. Yet efforts to manage detrital necromass for biodiversity conservation are often overlooked or consider only singular resource types for focal species groups. We argue there is a significant opportunity to broaden our perspective of the spatiotemporal complexity among multiple necromass types for innovative biodiversity conservation. Here, we introduce an ecosystem-scale perspective to disentangling the spatial and temporal characteristics of multiple and distinct forms of necromass and their associated biota. We show that terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems contain a diversity of necromass types, each with contrasting temporal frequencies and magnitudes, and spatial density and configurations. By conceptualising an ecosystem in this way, we demonstrate that specific necromass dynamics can be identified and targeted for management that benefits the unique spatiotemporal requirements of dependent decomposer organisms and their critical role in ecosystem biomass conversion and nutrient recycling. We encourage conservation practitioners to think about necromass quantity, timing of inputs, spatial dynamics, and to engage with researchers to deepen our knowledge of how necromass might be manipulated to exploit the distinct attributes of different necromass types to help meet biodiversity conservation goals.