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

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Holger Bessler
  • Vicky M. Temperton
  • Christiane Roscher
  • Nina Buchmann
  • Bernhard Schmid
  • Ernst Detlef Schulze
  • Wolfgang W. Weisser
  • Christof Engels

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.

Original languageEnglish
JournalEcology
Volume90
Issue number6
Pages (from-to)1520-1530
Number of pages11
ISSN0012-9658
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 06.2009
Externally publishedYes

    Research areas

  • Aboveground productivity, Belowground productivity, Biodiversity, Grasslands, Jena Experiment, Plant functional group identity, Plant functional group richness, Root/shoot ratio
  • Biology
  • Ecosystems Research

DOI

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