Over the past 20+ years, the biodiversity-ecosystem-function (BEF) research program has skyrocketed, linking changes in biodiversity to changes in ecosystem functions and services. So much so, that it is integral to this year’s conference theme, “Linking biodiversity, material cycling and ecosystem services in a changing world”. However, a great deal of BEF research has been focused on careful direct manipulations of diversity in local experimental systems. The extent to which the results of these studies can be extended to natural systems is the subject of much debate. Specifically, the applicability of the BEF framework is complicated by the fact that real-world biodiversity is not an independent factor controlling ecosystem function. Rather, it is an emergent property of (meta)community processes, which determine how communities assemble across environments, through the dispersal, colonization, and extinction of species. Although these processes strongly affect the diversity, composition, stability, and function of ecosystems, their role is largely ignored in BEF research. Advancing the study of ecosystem function requires integrating the valuable discoveries of BEF research with (meta)community theory. In this symposium we will explore exciting new efforts to synthesize these perspectives, featuring speakers and topics that reflect the diverse ways in which metacommunity assembly can be incorporated into diversity-ecosystem-function research. Presentations will cover novel analytical approaches, different facets of diversity, considerations of spatial and temporal scaling, environmental variation, and ecosystem multifunctionality. Uniting these perspectives and approaches can inform both how natural ecosystems operate, and how anthropogenic pressures may affect these ecosystems. This symposium, and the discussion it stimulates, will be the basis for creating a better understanding of the linkages between diversity, ecosystem function, and ultimately ecosystem services, on which we depend.