Utah State University ecologists collect the biomass on each species in experimental plant communities. The researchers developed and tested a novel biomass-specific, multi-species model to examine the role of plant-soil feedbacks in diversity-productivity relationships. (USU photo)
(麻豆淫院) -- Current ecological thought suggests the more diverse a plant community is, the more productive it is. But scientists don鈥檛 fully understand why this is so.
鈥淲e鈥檙e exploring the possibility that plant-soil feedbacks may also be a critical but underappreciated factor in plant community development,鈥� says Andrew Kulmatiski, assistant research professor in Utah State University鈥檚 Ecology Center and Department of Plants, Soils and Climate.
Understanding the mechanisms behind productivity has important implications for agriculture, biofuel production and plant community management, he says.
With USU Ecology Center colleagues Karen Beard, associate professor in USU鈥檚 Department of Wildland Resources and instructor Justin Heavilin of USU鈥檚 Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Kulmatiski published findings in the April 11, 2012 online 鈥淔irstCite鈥� edition of Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a publication of the United Kingdom鈥檚 academy of sciences. The team鈥檚 research is supported by the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station and the National Science Foundation.
鈥淐urrent explanations suggest plant productivity increases with species diversity because more diverse communities can exploit a wider range of resources and because a diverse community is more likely to contain highly productive species,鈥� Kulmatiski says. 鈥淪oil pathogens typically decrease productivity in monocultures and we think this may also explain why more diverse communities are more productive.鈥�
To test their hypothesis, the team developed and tested a novel biomass-specific, multi-species model to examine the role of plant-soil feedbacks in diversity-productivity relationships.
鈥淭his allowed us to examine the effects of plant-soil feedbacks on plant productivity and to examine these effects in plant communities with more than three plant species,鈥� Kulmatiski says. 鈥淣either of these kinds of experiments had been done previously.鈥�
The team鈥檚 model successfully predicted how different plant species would develop in different plant communities.
鈥淥ur results provide conceptual and experimental support for the role of plant-soil feedbacks in diversity-productivity relationships,鈥� Kulmatiski says.
Provided by Utah State University
