Diversity-productivity relationships: initial effects, long-term patterns, and underlying mechanisms

A common pattern emerging from studies on the relationship between plant diversity and ecosystem functioning is that productivity increases with diversity. Most of these studies have been carried out in perennial grasslands, but many lasted only two growing seasons or reported data from a single yea...

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Published inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 102; no. 3; pp. 695 - 700
Main Authors Ruijven, J. van, Berendse, F
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States National Academy of Sciences 18.01.2005
National Acad Sciences
Subjects
Aboveground biomass
Biodiversity
biodiversity experiments
Biological Sciences
Biomass
community ecology
competition
complementarity
different rooting depths
Ecological function
Ecology
Ecosystem
ecosystem productivity
Ecosystems
elevated co2
Environment
european grasslands
experimental plant-communities
Flowers & plants
Food
grasses
grassland communities
Grasslands
Growing season
Legumes
Magnoliopsida
Netherlands
Nitrogen
Nitrogen fixation
Nutrient uptake
Nutrient use efficiency
Plant communities
Plant Development
Plant diversity
plant ecology
plant growth
plant nutrition
Plant species
Plants
Productivity
Species
Species diversity
Species richness
Time
Netherlands
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Summary:A common pattern emerging from studies on the relationship between plant diversity and ecosystem functioning is that productivity increases with diversity. Most of these studies have been carried out in perennial grasslands, but many lasted only two growing seasons or reported data from a single year. Especially for perennial plant communities, however, the long-term effects of diversity are important. The question whether interactions between few species or among many species lead to increased productivity remained largely unanswered. So far, the main mechanism addressed is the increased input of nitrogen by nitrogen-fixing legumes. We report that other mechanisms can also generate strong increases of productivity with diversity. Results from 4 consecutive years of a plant diversity experiment without legumes show that a positive relationship between plant species richness and productivity emerged in the second year and strengthened with time. We show that increased nutrient use efficiency at high species richness is an important underlying mechanism. This mechanism had not been discussed in earlier studies. Furthermore, our results suggest that complementary nutrient uptake in space and time is important. Together, these mechanisms sustain consistently high productivity at high diversity.
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To whom correspondence should be sent at the present address: Ecology and Evolution section, Department of Biological Sciences, Silwood Park Campus, Imperial College London, Ascot Berkshire SL5 7PY, United Kingdom. E-mail: j.vanruijven@imperial.ac.uk.
This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the PNAS office.
Author contributions: J.v.R. and F.B. designed research; J.v.R. performed research; J.v.R. and F.B. analyzed data; and J.v.R. and F.B. wrote the paper.
Edited by G. David Tilman, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Abbreviations: RYT, relative yield total; NUE, nitrogen use efficiency.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0407524102