The positive effect of biodiversity : Using root traits to understand effects of plant diversity and drought on grassland productivity

Abstract Eutrophication is a widespread environmental change that usually reduces the stabilizing effect of plant diversity on productivity in local communities. Whether this effect is scale dependent remains to be elucidated. Here, we determine the relationship between plant diversity and temporal stability of productivity for 243 plant communities from 42 grasslands across the globe and quantify the effect of chronic fertilization on these relationships. Unfertilized local communities with more plant species exhibit greater asynchronous dynamics among species in response to natural environmental fluctuations, resulting in greater local stability (alpha stability). Moreover, neighborhood communities that have greater spatial variation in plant species composition within sites (higher beta diversity) have greater spatial asynchrony of productivity among communities, resulting in greater stability at the larger scale (gamma stability). Importantly, fertilization consistently weakens the contribution of plant diversity to both of these stabilizing mechanisms, thus diminishing the positive effect of biodiversity on stability at differing spatial scales. Our findings suggest that preserving grassland functional stability requires conservation of plant diversity within and among ecological communities.

Download Full-text

Vegetation dynamics drive the evolution of soil aggregate stability during the first 14,000 years of soil development in the Swiss alps

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-10960 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Konrad Greinwald ◽

Tobias Gebauer ◽

Ludwig Treuter ◽

Victoria Kolodziej ◽

Alessandra Musso ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Vegetation Dynamics ◽

Plant Cover ◽

Aggregate Stability ◽

Root Traits ◽

Soil Aggregate ◽

Swiss Alps ◽

Soil Aggregate Stability ◽

Alpine Regions ◽

The Stability ◽

Positive Effect

Aims:The stability of hillslopes is an essential ecosystem service, especially in alpine regions with soils prone to erosion. One key variable controlling hillslope stability is soil aggregate stability. However, there is comparatively little knowledge about how vegetation dynamics affect soil aggregate stability during landscape evolution.Methods:We quantified soil aggregate stability by determining the Aggregate Stability Coefficient (ASC), which was developed for stone-rich soils. To reveal how hillslope aging and corresponding changes in vegetation affect the evolution of ASC, we measured plant cover, diversity, and root traits along two chronosequences in the Swiss Alps.Results:We found a significant positive effect of vegetation cover and diversity on ASC that was mediated via root traits. These relationships, however, developed in a time-depended manner: At young terrain ages, above- and belowground vegetation characteristics had a stronger effect on aggregate stability than species diversity, whereas these relationships were weaker at older stages.Conclusions:Our findings highlight the importance of vegetation dynamics for the evolution of aggregate stability and enhance our understanding of processes linked to hillslope stabilization, which is a key priority to avoid further soil degradation and connected risks to human safety in alpine areas.

Download Full-text

Plant diversity and root traits benefit physical properties key to soil function in grasslands

Ecology Letters ◽

10.1111/ele.12652 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 19 (9) ◽

pp. 1140-1149 ◽

Cited By ~ 94

Author(s):

Iain J. Gould ◽

John N. Quinton ◽

Alexandra Weigelt ◽

Gerlinde B. De Deyn ◽

Richard D. Bardgett

Keyword(s):

Physical Properties ◽

Plant Diversity ◽

Root Traits ◽

Soil Function

Download Full-text

GENERAL STABILIZING EFFECTS OF PLANT DIVERSITY ON GRASSLAND PRODUCTIVITY AT MULTIPLE SITES THROUGH POPULATION ASYNCHRONY AND OVERYIELDING

Ecology ◽

10.1890/09-1162 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 100413130749096 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Andy Hector ◽

Yann Hautier ◽

Philippe Saner ◽

Luca Wacker ◽

Robert Bagchi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plant Diversity ◽

Grassland Productivity

Download Full-text

EFFECT OF DN1 BACTERIAL STRAIN APPLIED BY DIFFERENT METHODS ON SOME MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF STRAWBERRY CV. SAN ANDREAS (Fragaria X ananassa Duch.)

AGROFOR ◽

10.7251/agreng1901057s ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Murat ŞAHİN ◽

Ahmet EŞİTKEN ◽

Lütfi PIRLAK ◽

Serdar ALTINTAŞ ◽

Metin TURAN

Keyword(s):

Bacterial Strain ◽

Morphological Characteristics ◽

Root Traits ◽

Fruit Weight ◽

Fragaria X Ananassa ◽

Fresh Weight ◽

Fruit Characteristics ◽

Hand Pump ◽

San Andreas ◽

Positive Effect

There have been quite intensive studies on the use of Plant Growth-PromotingRhizobacteria (PGPR) in agriculture. Acidovorax facilis strain DN1 is one of thePGPR commonly used. The effect of DN1 bacterial strain on some morphologicalcharacteristics of strawberry cv. San Andreas was investigated. The DN1 bacterialstrain was applied via soil, leaf, and soil + leaf, for 3 months (once a month) tostrawberry plants. The DN1 spores were prepared with 0.2% boron, 10% cornstarch and distilled water. The bacterial solution was applied to plants at thefollowing day with a hand pump (to leaves; 50 cc) and graduated cylinder (250 cceach 5-liter pot). After 3 treatments, plants removed from pots and data collected.According to the results, DN1 bacterial strain often had a positive effect on themorphological and fruit characteristics. Spraying treatment was the most effectiveway for the stem and root traits we evaluated (crown diameter: 36.87 mm; stemfresh weight: 63.64 g; leaf number: 38.69; root fresh weight: 34.89 g). In addition,soil + leaf treatment had a positive effect on mean fruit weight (23.57 g) and fruitdiameter (27.64 mm). The effect on other properties was also positive, but the rootlength (26.34 cm) was reduced in leaf treatment compared to the control (29.69cm). It is expected that the most effective treatment is the combined (leaf + soil)treatment, while the leaf treatment may be the most effective method on soils withboron toxicity.

Download Full-text

Grazing induced changes in plant diversity is a critical factor controlling grassland productivity in the Desert Steppe, Northern China

Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment ◽

10.1016/j.agee.2018.05.014 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 265 ◽

pp. 73-83 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Ruiyang Zhang ◽

Zhongwu Wang ◽

Guodong Han ◽

Michael P. Schellenberg ◽

Qian Wu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plant Diversity ◽

Critical Factor ◽

Northern China ◽

Desert Steppe ◽

Grassland Productivity ◽

Induced Changes

Download Full-text

Effects of fertilization, burning, and grazing on plant community in the long-term fenced grasslands

Plant Soil and Environment ◽

10.17221/64/2017-pse ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 63 (No. 4) ◽

pp. 171-176 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jing Guanghua ◽

Li Wei ◽

Yu Kailiang ◽

Ratajczak Zak ◽

Kallenbach Robert L ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Plant Community ◽

Aboveground Biomass ◽

Management Practices ◽

Functional Group ◽

Management Practice ◽

Grassland Productivity ◽

Group Diversity ◽

Positive Effect

Fencing is the common management practice to restore degraded grasslands. However, long-term fencing decreases grassland productivity and species diversity. The study was therefore conducted as a three-year (2011–2013) experiment with a randomized complete block in a grassland fenced for 20 years in the Loess Plateau of China, and the effects of fertilization, burning and grazing on aboveground biomass, species and functional group composition, species and some functional group diversity were analysed. Our results showed that the functional group of perennial bunchgrasses dominated the grassland regardless of management practices. However, burning altered species composition (i.e. the unpalatable species, Artemisia sacrorum) more significantly than fertilization or grazing, and surprisingly, nearly quadrupled the functional group of shrubs and semi-shrubs. Fertilization had a positive effect on the aboveground biomass (44.0%), while clearly reducing species diversity (21.9%). Grazing decreased aboveground biomass, but increased species diversity by 15.9%. This study indicated that fertilization influenced plant community through its impact on aboveground biomass, while burning changed plant community by altering dominant species. Thus, it was concluded that fertilizer could further improve community biomass while burning reduced the edibility of grass. Grazing could be carried out to enhance the biodiversity in the long-term fenced grasslands.

Download Full-text

Combined effects of climate warming and plant diversity loss on above- and below-ground grassland productivity

Environmental and Experimental Botany ◽

10.1016/j.envexpbot.2006.07.001 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 60 (1) ◽

pp. 95-104 ◽

Cited By ~ 48

Author(s):

H.J. De Boeck ◽

C.M.H.M. Lemmens ◽

B. Gielen ◽

H. Bossuyt ◽

S. Malchair ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plant Diversity ◽

Climate Warming ◽

Combined Effects ◽

Diversity Loss ◽

Below Ground ◽

Grassland Productivity

Download Full-text

Plant diversity effects on grassland productivity are robust to both nutrient enrichment and drought

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2015.0277 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 371 (1694) ◽

pp. 20150277 ◽

Cited By ~ 80

Author(s):

Dylan Craven ◽

Forest Isbell ◽

Pete Manning ◽

John Connolly ◽

Helge Bruelheide ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Plant Species ◽

Plant Diversity ◽

Resource Availability ◽

Nutrient Enrichment ◽

Plant Species Richness ◽

Nutrient Addition ◽

Ecosystem Productivity ◽

Grassland Productivity ◽

Complementarity Effects

Global change drivers are rapidly altering resource availability and biodiversity. While there is consensus that greater biodiversity increases the functioning of ecosystems, the extent to which biodiversity buffers ecosystem productivity in response to changes in resource availability remains unclear. We use data from 16 grassland experiments across North America and Europe that manipulated plant species richness and one of two essential resources—soil nutrients or water—to assess the direction and strength of the interaction between plant diversity and resource alteration on above-ground productivity and net biodiversity, complementarity, and selection effects. Despite strong increases in productivity with nutrient addition and decreases in productivity with drought, we found that resource alterations did not alter biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships. Our results suggest that these relationships are largely determined by increases in complementarity effects along plant species richness gradients. Although nutrient addition reduced complementarity effects at high diversity, this appears to be due to high biomass in monocultures under nutrient enrichment. Our results indicate that diversity and the complementarity of species are important regulators of grassland ecosystem productivity, regardless of changes in other drivers of ecosystem function.

Download Full-text

Flower diversity and bee reproduction in an arid ecosystem

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.2250 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

pp. e2250 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jimena Dorado ◽

Diego P. Vázquez

Keyword(s):

Plant Diversity ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Structural Equation Models ◽

Temporal Stability ◽

Ecological Factors ◽

Potential Effect ◽

Floral Resources ◽

Flower Production ◽

Negative Effect ◽

Positive Effect

Background:Diverse flower communities are more stable in floral resource production along the flowering season, but the question about how the diversity and stability of resources affect pollinator reproduction remains open. High plant diversity could favor short foraging trips, which in turn would enhance bee fitness. In addition to plant diversity, greater temporal stability of floral resources in diverse communities could favor pollinator fitness because such communities are likely to occupy the phenological space more broadly, increasing floral availability for pollinators throughout the season. In addition, this potential effect of flower diversity on bee reproduction could be stronger for generalist pollinators because they can use a broader floral spectrum. Based on above arguments we predicted that pollinator reproduction would be positively correlated to flower diversity, and to temporal stability in flower production, and that this relationship would be stronger for the most generalized pollinator species.Materials and Methods:Using structural equation models, we evaluated the effect of these variables and other ecological factors on three estimates of bee reproduction (average number of brood cells per nest per site, total number of brood cells per site, and total number of nests per site), and whether such effects were modulated by bee generalization on floral resources.Results:Contrary to our expectations, flower diversity had no effect on bee reproduction, stability in flower production had a weakly negative effect on one of the bee reproductive variables, and the strength of the fitness-diversity relationship was unrelated to bee generalization. In contrast, elevation had a negative effect on bee reproduction, despite the narrow elevation range encompassed by our sites.Discussion:Flower diversity did not affect the reproduction of the solitary bees studied here. This result could stem from the context dependence of the diversity-stability relationship, given that elevation had a positive effect on flower diversity but a negative effect on bee reproduction. Although high temporal stability in flower production is expected to enhance pollinator reproduction, in our study it had a weakly negative—instead of positive—effect on the average number of brood cells per nest. Other environmental factors that vary with elevation could influence bee reproduction. Our study focused on a small group of closely-related bee species, which cautions against generalization of our findings to other groups of pollinators. More studies are clearly needed to assess the extent to which pollinator demography is influenced by the diversity of floral resources.

Download Full-text