Faculty Opinions recommendation of Predators have large effects on ecosystem properties by changing plant diversity, not plant biomass.

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Paine
Keyword(s):  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Ecosystem Properties

Assessment of the Effects of Ornamental Wetland Polyculture Combinations on Urban Sewage Treatment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Wang ◽  
Yujue Zhou ◽  
Lin Xiang ◽  
Xiaoyang Ke ◽  
Hui Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Municipal Wastewater ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Removal Rate ◽  
Sewage Treatment ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Wetland Plant ◽  
Urban Sewage ◽  
Thalia Dealbata ◽  
Cyperus Alternifolius

Abstract Previous studies have shown that wetland plants can treat wastewater in a cost-effective and sustainable way, however, the studies on the performance of ornamental wetland plant diversity in treating urban sewage were scarce. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess and select wetland polyculture combination that was effective in urban sewage treatment in subtropical areas. We formed five combinations out of six ornamental wetland plant species including Thalia dealbata, Cyperus alternifolius, Iris pseudacorus, Lythrum sastlicaria, Nymphaea tetragona, and Zantedeschia aethiopica. The growth state and removal effects of each plant combination were systematically measured and assessed. The results indicated all the combinations exhibited remarkable total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), ammonium nitrogen (NH­4+-N), and chemical oxygen demand chromium (CODcr) removal rate of 70.75%-77.67%, 63.86%-73.71%, 69.73%-76.85%, and 57.28%-75.69%, respectively. Additionally, pH was reduced to 7.54-8.00 in the sewage. The purification effect reached the best during 30-36th day. The comprehensive assessment showed the mixture of Thalia dealbata + Cyperus alternifolius, closely followed by Thalia dealbata + Cyperus alternifolius+ Lythrum sastlicaria, was highly effective at extracting various pollutants, and both of them could be used as favorable combinations to convert eutrophication and purify municipal wastewater. Linear regression showed that TP, TP, NH­4+-N, and CODcr. were significantly related to plant biomass, indicating that plant biomass essential indicator for screening purification plants. Our study highlighted the importance of plant diversity in biological wastewater treatment, however the competition between plants was suggested to take into consideration in future studies.

scholarly journals Evolution of nutrient acquisition: when adaptation fills the gap between contrasting ecological theories

2010 ◽  
Vol 278 (1704) ◽  
pp. 449-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Boudsocq ◽  
S. Barot ◽  
N. Loeuille
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Adaptive Dynamics ◽  
Ecosystem Model ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Mineral Nutrient ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Ecosystem Properties ◽  
Ecological Theories ◽  
Limiting Nutrient

Although plant strategies for acquiring nutrients have been widely studied from a functional point of view, their evolution is still not well understood. In this study, we investigate the evolutionary dynamics of these strategies and determine how they influence ecosystem properties. To do so, we use a simple nutrient-limited ecosystem model in which plant ability to take up nutrients is subject to adaptive dynamics. We postulate the existence of a trade-off between this ability and mortality. We show that contrasting strategies are possible as evolutionary outcomes, depending on the shape of the trade-off and, when nitrogen is considered as the limiting nutrient, on the intensity of symbiotic fixation. Our model enables us to bridge these evolutionary outcomes to classical ecological theories such as Hardin's tragedy of the commons and Tilman's rule of R *. Evolution does not systematically maximize plant biomass or primary productivity. On the other hand, each evolutionary outcome leads to a decrease in the availability of the limiting mineral nutrient, supporting the work of Tilman on competition between plants for a single resource. Our model shows that evolution can be used to link different classical ecological results and that adaptation may influence ecosystem properties in contrasted ways.

scholarly journals Climate mediates the biodiversity–ecosystem stability relationship globally

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (33) ◽  
pp. 8400-8405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo García-Palacios ◽  
Nicolas Gross ◽  
Juan Gaitán ◽  
Fernando T. Maestre
Keyword(s):  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Ecosystem Stability ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Insurance Hypothesis ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Dryland Ecosystems

The insurance hypothesis, stating that biodiversity can increase ecosystem stability, has received wide research and political attention. Recent experiments suggest that climate change can impact how plant diversity influences ecosystem stability, but most evidence of the biodiversity–stability relationship obtained to date comes from local studies performed under a limited set of climatic conditions. Here, we investigate how climate mediates the relationships between plant (taxonomical and functional) diversity and ecosystem stability across the globe. To do so, we coupled 14 years of temporal remote sensing measurements of plant biomass with field surveys of diversity in 123 dryland ecosystems from all continents except Antarctica. Across a wide range of climatic and soil conditions, plant species pools, and locations, we were able to explain 73% of variation in ecosystem stability, measured as the ratio of the temporal mean biomass to the SD. The positive role of plant diversity on ecosystem stability was as important as that of climatic and soil factors. However, we also found a strong climate dependency of the biodiversity–ecosystem stability relationship across our global aridity gradient. Our findings suggest that the diversity of leaf traits may drive ecosystem stability at low aridity levels, whereas species richness may have a greater stabilizing role under the most arid conditions evaluated. Our study highlights that to minimize variations in the temporal delivery of ecosystem services related to plant biomass, functional and taxonomic plant diversity should be particularly promoted under low and high aridity conditions, respectively.

Effects of plant diversity on plant biomass production and soil macrofauna in Amazonian pastures

Pedobiologia ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 51 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 397-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kam-Rigne Laossi ◽  
Sébastien Barot ◽  
Deurival Carvalho ◽  
Thierry Desjardins ◽  
Patrick Lavelle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Production ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Soil Macrofauna ◽  
Plant Biomass Production

scholarly journals Diversity increases yield but reduces reproductive effort in crop mixtures

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianguo Chen ◽  
Nadine Engbersen ◽  
Laura Stefan ◽  
Bernhard Schmid ◽  
Hang Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seed Yield ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Higher Plant ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
Crop Varieties ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Facilitative Interactions

AbstractResource allocation to reproduction is a critical trait for plant fitness1,2. This trait, called harvest index in the agricultural context3–5, determines how plant biomass is converted to seed yield and consequently financial revenue of numerous major staple crops. While plant diversity has been demonstrated to increase plant biomass6–8, plant diversity effects on seed yield of crops are ambiguous9. This discrepancy could be explained through changes in the proportion of resources invested into reproduction in response to changes in plant diversity, namely through changes of species interactions and microenvironmental conditions10–13. Here we show that increasing crop plant diversity from monoculture over 2- to 4-species mixtures increased annual primary productivity, resulting in overall higher plant biomass and, to a lesser extent, higher seed yield in mixtures compared with monocultures. The difference between the two responses to diversity was due to a reduced reproductive effort of the eight tested crop species in mixtures, possibly because their common cultivars have been bred for maximum performance in monoculture. While crop diversification provides a sustainable measure of agricultural intensification14, the use of currently available cultivars may compromise larger gains in seed yield. We therefore advocate regional breeding programs for crop varieties to be used in mixtures that should exploit facilitative interactions15 among crop species.

EFFECTS OF PLANT DIVERSITY ON PLANT BIOMASS AND EFFLUENT NITROGEN REMOVAL IN A CONSTRUCTED WETLAND

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 1987-1994
Author(s):  
Jie Chang ◽  
Hai Wang ◽  
Zhengxin Chen ◽  
Ying Ge ◽  
Chengcai Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Nitrogen Removal ◽  
Constructed Wetland ◽  
Plant Biomass

scholarly journals The impact of herbivory and fire on the survival of certain perennial herbs along the Sabie River, Kruger National Park

2012 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Myburgh ◽  
F. Siebert ◽  
H. Van Coller
Keyword(s):  
Plant Diversity ◽  
National Park ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Kruger National Park ◽  
Perennial Species ◽  
Perennial Plant ◽  
Perennial Herbs ◽  
The Impact

Herbivory and fire could be regarded as important drivers for perennial plant diversity, since their absence causes an increase in plant biomass, which was proven to suppress individual numbers of perennial species.

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