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Process strengths determine the forms of the relationship between plant species richness and primary productivity.

ABSTRACT: The current rates of biodiversity loss have exceeded the rates observed during the earth's major extinction events, which spurs the studies of the ecological relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functions, stability, and services to determine the consequences of biodiversity loss. Plant species richness-productivity relationship (SRPR) is crucial to the understanding of these relationships in plants. Most ecologists have reached a widespread consensus that the loss of plant diversity undoubtedly impairs ecosystem functions, and have proposed many processes to explain the SRPR. However, none of the available studies has satisfactorily described the forms and mechanisms clarifying the SRPR. Observed results of the SRPR forms are inconsistent, and studies have long debated the ecological processes explaining the SRPR. Here, I have developed a simple model that combines the positive and/or negative effects of sixteen ecological processes on the SRPR and models that describe the dynamics of complementary-selection effect, density effect, and the interspecific competitive stress influenced by other ecological processes. I can regulate the strengths of the effects of these ecological processes to derive the asymptotic, positive, humped, negative, and irregular forms of the SRPR, and verify these forms using the observed data. The results demonstrated that the different strengths of the ecological processes determine the forms of the SRPR. The forms of the SRPR can change with variations in the strengths of the ecological processes. The dynamic characteristics of the complementary-selection effect, density effect, and the interspecific competitive stress on the SRPR are diverse, and are dependent on the strengths and variation of the ecological processes. This report explains the diverse forms of the SRPR, clarifies the integrative effects of the different ecological processes on the SRPR, and deepens our understanding of the interactions that occur among these ecological processes.

SUBMITTER: Wang Z

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5687741 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Process strengths determine the forms of the relationship between plant species richness and primary productivity.

Wang Zhenhong Z

PloS one 20171115 11

The current rates of biodiversity loss have exceeded the rates observed during the earth's major extinction events, which spurs the studies of the ecological relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functions, stability, and services to determine the consequences of biodiversity loss. Plant species richness-productivity relationship (SRPR) is crucial to the understanding of these relationships in plants. Most ecologists have reached a widespread consensus that the loss of plant diversity ...[more]

PMID: 29140995

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Project description:Plant functional traits reflect individual and community ecological strategies. They allow the detection of directional changes in community dynamics and ecosystemic processes, being an additional tool to assess biodiversity than species richness. Analysis of functional patterns in plant communities provides mechanistic insight into biodiversity alterations due to anthropogenic activity. Although studies have consi-dered of either anthropogenic management or nutrient availability on functional traits in temperate grasslands, studies combining effects of both drivers are scarce. Here, we assessed the impacts of management intensity (fertilization, mowing, grazing), nutrient stoichiometry (C, N, P, K), and vegetation composition on community-weighted means (CWMs) and functional diversity (Rao's Q) from seven plant traits in 150 grasslands in three regions in Germany, using data of 6 years. Land use and nutrient stoichiometry accounted for larger proportions of model variance of CWM and Rao's Q than species richness and productivity. Grazing affected all analyzed trait groups; fertilization and mowing only impacted generative traits. Grazing was clearly associated with nutrient retention strategies, that is, investing in durable structures and production of fewer, less variable seed. Phenological variability was increased. Fertilization and mowing decreased seed number/mass variability, indicating competition-related effects. Impacts of nutrient stoichiometry on trait syndromes varied. Nutrient limitation (large N:P, C:N ratios) promoted species with conservative strategies, that is, investment in durable plant structures rather than fast growth, fewer seed, and delayed flowering onset. In contrast to seed mass, leaf-economics variability was reduced under P shortage. Species diversity was positively associated with the variability of generative traits. Synthesis. Here, land use, nutrient availability, species richness, and plant functional strategies have been shown to interact complexly, driving community composition, and vegetation responses to management intensity. We suggest that deeper understanding of underlying mechanisms shaping community assembly and biodiversity will require analyzing all these parameters.

Dataset Information

Process strengths determine the forms of the relationship between plant species richness and primary productivity.

Publications

Process strengths determine the forms of the relationship between plant species richness and primary productivity.

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