Soil depth alters the consequences of species diversity for productivity in an experimental karst herbaceous community

Abstract Aims The mechanism by which species diversity drives productivity in different ecosystems is controversial, possibly due to the confounding effects of key environmental variables. Karst ecosystems are fragile and are at great risk of species loss. In these ecosystems, soil depth is a key driver of community diversity and productivity. However, the influence of soil depth on the relationship between species diversity and productivity in karst ecosystems remains unclear.Methods We established artificial karst herbaceous communities with different soil depths and species richness levels and determined how two biodiversity effects—complementarity effect (effect of positive interactions among species) and selection effect (effect due to dominance of productive species)—contributed to productivity.Results Soil depth, species diversity, and different species combinations were significant predictors of productivity. Species diversity significantly positively affected productivity at all three soil depths, with the effect size of species diversity being the greatest in medium-depth soil. Net diversity effects were greater than 0 in all multi-species communities, indicating that complementarity and selection effects both positively influenced productivity. However, complementarity effect had a greater contribution to productivity than selection effect in all multi-species communities. Furthermore, the contribution of complementarity effect increased with increasing soil depth, while that of selection effect decreased.Conclusions Soil depth influences the relationship between species diversity and productivity in karst herbaceous communities. Furthermore, complementarity effect is the major mechanism by which diversity increases community productivity, particularly in shallow soil. Therefore, environmental variables should be seriously considered when studying the relationship between species diversity and function in other ecosystems.

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MÉTODOS QUANTITATIVOS PARA MENSURAR A DIVERSIDADE TAXONÔMICA EM PEIXES DE RIACHO

Oecologia Australis ◽

10.4257/oeco.2021.2502.11 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 25 (02) ◽

pp. 398-414

Author(s):

Naraiana Loureiro Benone ◽

◽

Luciano Fogaça de Assis Montag ◽

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Beta Diversity ◽

Environmental Variables ◽

Large Scale ◽

Taxonomic Diversity ◽

Stream Fish ◽

Diversity Patterns ◽

The Relationship ◽

Habitat Variables

Species diversity is defined as the variety of species and their relative abundances, and can be decomposed in local (alpha), regional (gamma) and between-communities (beta) diversity. For decades, studies with Brazilian stream fish focused on the relationship between local environmental variables and diversity patterns. However, dispersal gained notoriety for being important to the organization of communities. Besides, large scale variables are increasingly being perceived as good predictors of diversity, complementing the role of habitat variables. We present here a brief review of the methods to obtain alpha and beta taxonomic diversity, considerations regarding their predictors, and their main analysis.

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Relationship between ecological stoichiometry and community diversity of plant ecosystems in the upper reaches of the Tarim River, China

10.1101/432278 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Jingjing Zhao ◽

Lu Gong ◽

Xin Chen

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Plant Community ◽

Ecological Stoichiometry ◽

Diversity Indices ◽

Community Diversity ◽

Tarim River ◽

Arid Zones ◽

The Tarim River ◽

P Content ◽

The Relationship

AbstractAimAlthough it is commonly proposed that nutrient cycling can impact plant community diversity, this relationship has not been fully examined in arid and semi-arid zones. Here, we expand on the framework for evaluating the relationship between biodiversity and ecological stoichiometry by scaling up from the level of the community.LocationThe upper reaches of the Tarim River (Northwest China, 80°10’-84°36’E, 0°25’-41°10’N).MethodsWe used multivariate analysis of variance to compare the stoichiometric characteristics and species diversity indices of sampled plant communities. We also measured carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorous (P) content of plants. We then assessed correlations between community stoichiometry and species diversity through structural equation models (SEM) and redundancy analysis (RDA).ResultsWe found that the differences between stoichiometric characteristics and community diversity indices were highly significant. The Margalef index was strongly related to C and P content. The Simpson’s index and Shannon-Weaner index were most strongly correlated with C content. Pielou’s index was closely related to C and N contents, and the C:N and C:P ratios were important at driving ecological dominance.Main ConclusionsOur study highlights the importance of ecological stoichiometry in driving community assembly and diversity within a desert ecosystems in northwestern China. The relationship between eclogical stoichiometry in the desert plant community had an effect on species diversity, and it was a good indicator of plant community diversity.

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Relationship between Diversity and Stability of a Karst Plant Community

10.22541/au.164203826.66321902/v1 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Yang Wang ◽

Jin Chen ◽

Limin Zhang ◽

Ling Feng ◽

Lingbin Yan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Plant Community ◽

Functional Diversity ◽

Plant Communities ◽

Functional Redundancy ◽

Community Diversity ◽

Ecosystem Ecology ◽

Community Recovery ◽

The Relationship ◽

Late Stages

The relationships among species diversity, functional diversity, functional redundancy, and community stability are central to community and ecosystem ecology. This paper examines plant communities at different stages of vegetation restoration in the Guizhou karst plateau to study the relationship among functional diversity, functional redundancy, and stability of plant communities. The most important results include the following. (1) Species diversity (SD), functional redundancy (FR), and stability (STB) gradually increased with restoration, and there were significant differences among the different stages; functional diversity (FD) increased at first and then decreased, and reached the highest level at the tree irrigation stage. (2) Plant height (PLH) and specific leaf area (SLA) were functional traits that affected the diversity and stability of the plant community, and PLH was positively correlated with plant community diversity and stability, while SLA was negatively correlated with plant community diversity and stability. (3) During the community recovery, FD and FR interacted to maintain stability. In the early and late stages of recovery, the effect of functional redundancy on stability was greater than that of functional diversity, but it was the opposite in the middle stages. (4) The tree irrigation stage is the likely point at which the species diversity of plant communities in karst areas reached saturation, and the growth rate of functional redundancy after species diversity saturation was greater than that before saturation.

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Comparison of Drivers of Soil Microbial Communities Developed in Karst Ecosystems with Shallow and Deep Soil Depths

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11010173 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 173

Author(s):

Huiling Guan ◽

Jiangwen Fan ◽

Haiyan Zhang ◽

Warwick Harris

Keyword(s):

Microbial Community ◽

Microbial Communities ◽

Soil Depth ◽

Phospholipid Fatty Acid ◽

Soil Microbial Communities ◽

Deep Soil ◽

Soil System ◽

Soil Microbial ◽

Total Soil ◽

Karst Ecosystems

Soil erosion is prevalent in karst areas, but few studies have compared the differences in the drivers for soil microbial communities among karst ecosystems with different soil depths, and most studies have focused on the local scale. To fill this research gap, we investigated the upper 20 cm soil layers of 10 shallow–soil depth (shallow–SDC, total soil depth less than 100 cm) and 11 deep–soil depth communities (deep–SDC, total soil depth more than 100 cm), covering a broad range of vegetation types, soils, and climates. The microbial community characteristics of both the shallow–SDC and deep–SDC soils were tested by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFAs) analysis, and the key drivers of the microbial communities were illustrated by forward selection and variance partitioning analysis. Our findings demonstrated that more abundant soil nutrients supported higher fungal PLFA in shallow–SDC than in deep–SDC (p < 0.05). Furthermore, stronger correlation between the microbial community and the plant–soil system was found in shallow–SDC: the pure plant effect explained the 43.2% of variance in microbial biomass and 57.8% of the variance in the ratio of Gram–positive bacteria to Gram–negative bacteria (G+/G−), and the ratio of fungi to total bacteria (F/B); the pure soil effect accounted for 68.6% variance in the microbial diversity. The ratio of microbial PLFA cyclopropyl to precursors (Cy/Pr) and the ratio of saturated PLFA to monounsaturated PLFA (S/M) as indicators of microbial stress were controlled by pH, but high pH was not conducive to microorganisms in this area. Meanwhile, Cy/Pr in all communities was >0.1, indicating that microorganisms were under environmental stress. Therefore, the further ecological restoration of degraded karst communities is needed to improve their microbial communities.

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A revision of daily egg production estimation methods, with application to Atlanto-Iberian sardine. 2. Spatially and environmentally explicit estimates of egg production

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fsr002 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 68 (3) ◽

pp. 528-536 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Miguel Bernal ◽

Yorgos Stratoudakis ◽

Simon Wood ◽

Leire Ibaibarriaga ◽

Luis Valdés ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Temporal Variability ◽

Environmental Variables ◽

Egg Production ◽

Stock Assessment ◽

Production Model ◽

Estimation Methods ◽

Statistical Framework ◽

Spatio Temporal ◽

The Relationship ◽

Made In

Abstract Bernal, M., Stratoudakis, Y., Wood, S., Ibaibarriaga, L., Uriarte, A., Valdés, L., and Borchers, D. 2011. A revision of daily egg production estimation methods, with application to Atlanto-Iberian sardine. 2. Spatially and environmentally explicit estimates of egg production. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: . A spatially and environmentally explicit egg production model is developed to accommodate a number of assumptions about the relationship between egg production and mortality and associated environmental variables. The general model was tested under different assumptions for Atlanto-Iberian sardine. It provides a flexible estimator of egg production, in which a range of assumptions and hypotheses can be tested in a structured manner within a well-defined statistical framework. Application of the model to Atlanto-Iberian sardine increased the precision of the egg production time-series, and allowed improvements to be made in understanding the spatio-temporal variability in egg production, as well as implications for ecology and stock assessment.

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Soil Nutrient and Vegetation Diversity Patterns of Alpine Wetlands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13116221 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 6221

Author(s):

Muyuan Ma ◽

Yaojun Zhu ◽

Yuanyun Wei ◽

Nana Zhao

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Tibetan Plateau ◽

Soil Properties ◽

Soil Ph ◽

Plant Biomass ◽

Principal Component ◽

Vegetation Diversity ◽

Vegetation Biomass ◽

Relative Contribution ◽

The Relationship

To predict the consequences of environmental change on the biodiversity of alpine wetlands, it is necessary to understand the relationship between soil properties and vegetation biodiversity. In this study, we investigated spatial patterns of aboveground vegetation biomass, cover, species diversity, and their relationships with soil properties in the alpine wetlands of the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. Furthermore, the relative contribution of soil properties to vegetation biomass, cover, and species diversity were compared using principal component analysis and multiple regression analysis. Generally, the relationship between plant biomass, coverage, diversity, and soil nutrients was linear or unimodal. Soil pH, bulk density and organic carbon were also significantly correlated to plant diversity. The soil attributes differed in their relative contribution to changes in plant productivity and diversity. pH had the highest contribution to vegetation biomass and species richness, while total nitrogen was the highest contributor to vegetation cover and nitrogen–phosphorus ratio (N:P) was the highest contributor to diversity. Both vegetation productivity and diversity were closely related to soil properties, and soil pH and the N:P ratio play particularly important roles in wetland vegetation biomass, cover, and diversity.

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Consistency of patterns between laboratory experiments and field collected fish in otolith chemistry: an example and applications for salinity reconstructions

Marine and Freshwater Research ◽

10.1071/mf04146 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 56 (5) ◽

pp. 609 ◽

Cited By ~ 71

Author(s):

T. S. Elsdon ◽

B. M. Gillanders

Keyword(s):

Environmental Variables ◽

Laboratory Experiments ◽

Juvenile Fish ◽

Otolith Chemistry ◽

Ambient Water ◽

Elemental Concentrations ◽

Adequate Knowledge ◽

Black Bream ◽

Environmental Histories ◽

The Relationship

Elemental concentrations within fish otoliths can track movements and migrations of fish through gradients of environmental variables. Tracking the movements of fish relies on establishing links between environmental variables and otolith chemistry, with links commonly made using laboratory experiments that rear juvenile fish. However, laboratory experiments done on juvenile fish may not accurately reflect changes in wild fish, particularly adults. We tested the hypotheses that: (1) the relationship between ambient (water) and otolith chemistry is similar between laboratory-reared black bream (Acanthopagrus butcheri) and wild black bream; and (2) ontogeny does not influence otolith chemistry. Field-collected and laboratory-reared fish showed similar effects of ambient strontium : calcium (Sr : Ca) on otolith Sr : Ca concentrations. However, ambient and otolith barium : calcium concentrations (Ba : Ca) differed slightly between laboratory-reared and field-collected fish. Importantly, fish reared in stable environmental variables showed no influence of ontogeny on Sr : Ca or Ba : Ca concentrations. Natural distributions of ambient Sr : Ca showed no clear relationship to salinity, yet, ambient Ba : Ca was inversely related to salinity. The distribution of ambient Sr : Ca and Ba : Ca in estuaries inhabited by black bream, suggest that these elements can answer different questions regarding environmental histories of fish. Reconstructing salinity histories of black bream using otolith Ba : Ca concentrations seems plausible, if adequate knowledge of Ba : Ca gradients within estuaries is obtained.

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The relationship between species diversity and functional diversity along aridity gradients in semi-arid rangeland

Journal of Arid Environments ◽

10.1016/j.jaridenv.2021.104632 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 195 ◽

pp. 104632

Author(s):

Guy Dovrat ◽

Ehud Meron ◽

Moshe Shachak ◽

Yosef Moshe ◽

Yagil Osem

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Functional Diversity ◽

The Relationship ◽

Semi Arid ◽

Arid Rangeland

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Effects of pollution and climate change on the ecosystem components

10.46489/eopacc-1204211 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yuriy Lykholat

Keyword(s):

Endocrine System ◽

Biologically Active ◽

Soil Conditions ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Current State ◽

Herbaceous Communities ◽

Active Chemical ◽

Study Results ◽

Ecological Patterns ◽

The Relationship

The book contains the study results of the environmental and soil conditions of the transformed territories, the ecological patterns of woody plants natural communities’ formation as well as the features of the herbaceous communities’ succession in flooded areas. The current state of forest areas is highlighted, the problems of forest management and their exploitation in Ukraine are outlined. Aspects of anthropogenic impact on natural aquatic ecosystems are shown and various biotesting methods of negative effects are characterized. The relationship between the presence of exogenous biologically active chemical compounds in the environment and damage to the endocrine system of animals has been revealed. The scientific manuscript is intended for ecologists, specialists interested in environmental management and environmental protection. The book may be useful for graduate students and scientific researchers.

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The Mediating Effect of English Self-efficacy on the Relationships between Motivation to Learn, Intention to Share Knowledge, and Job Performance Among Military Personnel

ADVANCES IN BUSINESS RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ◽

10.24191/abrij.v7i2.14733 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 228

Author(s):

Siti Haizam Mohd Zin ◽

Mohammad Nazri

Keyword(s):

Job Performance ◽

Military Personnel ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Military Training ◽

Armed Forces ◽

Mediating Effect ◽

Future Research ◽

Positive Interactions ◽

Motivation To Learn ◽

The Relationship

Extensive research on the relationship between employees' use of English in the workplace and their job performance has revealed that the use of English at work leads to increased job performance and positive interactions among staff. In relation to this, a good command of English among military staff, especially officers, is of great importance to the Armed Forces, as military personnel often serve abroad and need to be proficient in communicating their instructions and orders to a foreign team. Previous research has also shown that self-efficacy is a significant predictor of job performance; however, the role of self-efficacy in learning English language skills has not been widely explored as mediator in the relationship between motivation to learn, intention to share knowledge, and job performance. Therefore, this paper aims to develop a conceptual framework that can be used to improve the understanding of English self-efficacy and its relationship with employees’ motivation to learn, intention to share knowledge, and capability to complete a given task. This framework informs and guides future research that will test the hypothesized relationships. The findings would assist the English Department of the Education Directorate of the Malaysian Armed Forces to design or revise military training syllabi and approaches.

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