Soil heterogeneity and plant species diversity in experimental grassland communities contrasting effects of soil nutrients and pH at different spatial scales

• Published in: Plant and soil Vol. 442; no. 1/2; pp. 497 - 509
• Main Authors: Xue, Wei, Bezemer, T. Martijn, Berendse, Frank
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer Science + Business Media 01.09.2019; Springer International Publishing; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analysis; Biodiversity; Biological diversity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Coexistence; Ecology; field experimentation; Flowers & plants; Focal scale; Grain size; Grasslands; Herbivores; Heterogeneity; Life Sciences; Nutrients; Patch size; pH effects; Plant community composition; Plant diversity; Plant Physiology; Plant Sciences; Plant species; Plant species diversity; REGULAR ARTICLE; seed mixtures; Soil heterogeneity; Soil mixtures; Soil nutrients; Soil nutrients and pH; Soil pH; Soil Science & Conservation; Soils; Species diversity; Species richness; Netherlands; Plant species diversity; Patch size; Soil nutrients and pH; Soil heterogeneity; Plant community composition; Focal scale

Background and aims Current knowledge of soil heterogeneity-diversity relationships (HDR) is largely based on studies manipulating single factor, but the advancements in HDR may require a comprehensive experiment incorporating multiple factors. Methods We conducted a three-year field experiment in w...