Relating biodiversity to ecosystem functioning in natural communities has become a paramount challenge as links between trophic complexity and multiple ecosystem functions become increasingly apparent. Yet, there is still no generalised approach to address such complexity in biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) studies. Energy flux dynamics in ecological networks provide the theoretical underpinning of multitrophic BEF relationships. Accordingly, we propose the quantification of energy fluxes in food webs as a powerful, universal tool for understanding ecosystem functioning in multitrophic systems spanning different ecological scales. Although the concept of energy flux in food webs is not novel, its application to BEF research remains virtually untapped, providing a framework to foster new discoveries into the determinants of ecosystem functioning in complex systems.

随着营养复杂性和多种生态系统功能之间的联系变得越来越明显，将生物多样性与自然群落中的生态系统功能联系起来已成为一项重大挑战。然而，在生物多样性-生态系统功能 (BEF) 研究中仍然没有解决这种复杂性的通用方法。生态网络中的能量通量动态为多营养 BEF 关系提供了理论基础。因此，我们建议将食物网中的能量通量量化作为一种​​强大的通用工具，用于理解跨越不同生态尺度的多营养系统中的生态系统功能。尽管食物网中能量通量的概念并不新颖，但它在 BEF 研究中的应用实际上仍未开发，