TY - JOUR

T1 - Aboveground overyielding in grassland mixtures is associated with reduced biomass partitioning to belowground organs

AU - Bessler, Holger

AU - Temperton, Vicky M.

AU - Roscher, Christiane

AU - Buchmann, Nina

AU - Schmid, Bernhard

AU - Schulze, Ernst Detlef

AU - Weisser, Wolfgang W.

AU - Engels, Christof

PY - 2009/6

Y1 - 2009/6

N2 - We investigated effects of plant species richness in experimental grassland plots on annual above- and belowground biomass production estimated from repeated harvests and ingrowth cores, respectively. Aboveground and total biomass production increased with increasing plant species richness while belowground production remained constant. Root to shoot biomass production ratios (R/S) in mixtures were lower than expected from monoculture performance of the species present in the mixtures, showing that interactions among species led to reduced biomass partitioning to belowground organs. This change in partitioning to belowground organs was not confined to mixtures with legumes, but also measured in mixtures without legumes, and correlated with aboveground overyielding in mixtures. It is suggested that species-rich communities invest less in belowground biomass than do monocultures to extract soil resources, thus leading to increased investment into aboveground organs and overyielding.

AB - We investigated effects of plant species richness in experimental grassland plots on annual above- and belowground biomass production estimated from repeated harvests and ingrowth cores, respectively. Aboveground and total biomass production increased with increasing plant species richness while belowground production remained constant. Root to shoot biomass production ratios (R/S) in mixtures were lower than expected from monoculture performance of the species present in the mixtures, showing that interactions among species led to reduced biomass partitioning to belowground organs. This change in partitioning to belowground organs was not confined to mixtures with legumes, but also measured in mixtures without legumes, and correlated with aboveground overyielding in mixtures. It is suggested that species-rich communities invest less in belowground biomass than do monocultures to extract soil resources, thus leading to increased investment into aboveground organs and overyielding.

KW - Aboveground productivity

KW - Belowground productivity

KW - Biodiversity

KW - Grasslands

KW - Jena Experiment

KW - Plant functional group identity

KW - Plant functional group richness

KW - Root/shoot ratio

KW - Biology

KW - Ecosystems Research

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=67449147115&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1890/08-0867.1

DO - 10.1890/08-0867.1

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 19569367

AN - SCOPUS:67449147115

VL - 90

SP - 1520

EP - 1530

JO - Ecology

JF - Ecology

SN - 0012-9658

IS - 6

ER -