Dataset Information

Soil microbes drive phylogenetic diversity-productivity relationships in a subtropical forest.

ABSTRACT: The relationship between plant diversity and productivity and the mechanisms underpinning that relationship remain poorly resolved in species-rich forests. We combined extensive field observations and experimental manipulations in a subtropical forest to test how species richness (SR) and phylogenetic diversity (PD) interact with putative root-associated pathogens and how these interactions mediate diversity-productivity relationships. We show that (i) both SR and PD were positively correlated with biomass for both adult trees and seedlings across multiple spatial scales, but productivity was best predicted by PD; (ii) significant positive relationships between PD and productivity were observed in nonsterile soil only; and (iii) root fungal diversity was positively correlated with plant PD and SR, while the relative abundance of putative pathogens was negatively related to plant PD. Our findings highlight the key role of soil pathogenic fungi in tree diversity-productivity relationships and suggest that increasing PD may counteract negative effects of plant-soil feedback.

SUBMITTER: Liang M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6810308 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Soil microbes drive phylogenetic diversity-productivity relationships in a subtropical forest.

Liang Minxia M Liu Xubing X Parker Ingrid M IM Johnson David D Zheng Yi Y Luo Shan S Gilbert Gregory S GS Yu Shixiao S

Science advances 20191023 10

The relationship between plant diversity and productivity and the mechanisms underpinning that relationship remain poorly resolved in species-rich forests. We combined extensive field observations and experimental manipulations in a subtropical forest to test how species richness (SR) and phylogenetic diversity (PD) interact with putative root-associated pathogens and how these interactions mediate diversity-productivity relationships. We show that (i) both SR and PD were positively correlated w ...[more]

PMID: 31681847

Similar Datasets

Project description:Understanding the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem productivity has become a central issue in ecology and conservation biology studies, particularly when these relationships are connected with global climate change and species extinction. However, which facets of biodiversity (i.e. taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity) account most for variations in productivity are still not understood very well. This is especially true with regard to temperate forest ecosystems. In this study, we used a dataset from a stem-mapped permanent forest plot in northeastern China exploring the relationships between biodiversity and productivity at different spatial scales (20 × 20 m; 40 × 40 m; and 60 × 60 m). The influence of specific environmental conditions (topographic conditions) and stand maturity (expressed by initial stand volume and biomass) were taken into account using the multivariate approach known as structural equation models. The variable "Biodiversity" includes taxonomic (Shannon), functional (FDis), and phylogenetic diversity (PD). Biodiversity-productivity relationships varied with the spatial scales. At the scale of 20 × 20 m, PD and FDis significantly affected forest biomass productivity, while Shannon had only indirect effects. At the 40 × 40 m and 60 × 60 m scales, biodiversity and productivity were weakly correlated. The initial stand volume and biomass were the most important drivers of forest productivity. The local environmental conditions significantly influenced the stand volume, biomass, biodiversity, and productivity. The results highlight the scale dependency of the relationships between forest biodiversity and productivity. The positive role of biodiversity in facilitating forest productivity was confirmed at the smaller scales. Our findings emphasize the fundamental role of environmental conditions in determining forest ecosystem performances. The results of this study provide a better understanding of the underlying ecological processes that influence specific forest biodiversity and productivity relationships.

Dataset Information

Soil microbes drive phylogenetic diversity-productivity relationships in a subtropical forest.

Publications

Soil microbes drive phylogenetic diversity-productivity relationships in a subtropical forest.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets