Plant resource-use characteristics as predictors for species contribution to community biomass in experimental grasslands

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Christiane Roscher
  • Michael Scherer-Lorenzen
  • Jens Schumacher
  • Vicky M. Temperton
  • Nina Buchmann
  • Ernst Detlef Schulze

Increasing productivity of mixtures as compared to monocultures has been reported from numerous experimental studies, but so far the variable contribution of individual species to higher mixture productivity in biodiversity experiments is not well understood. To address this issue, we quantified the productivity of 60 species in monocultures and mixtures of varying species richness (2, 4, 8, 16, 60) and functional group number and composition (1, 2, 3, 4; legumes, grasses, small herbs, tall herbs) and tested how species properties are related to species performance in mixtures in the third year after sowing. We analysed monoculture biomass, plant biomass from separately grown plant individuals (=estimate of plant growth rates), and the monoculture resource-use characteristics canopy height and structure (leaf area index) as indicators for light acquisition, and soil nitrate concentration (=estimate of depletion of plant available nitrogen) and biomass:N ratios (=estimate of biomass produced per unit plant N) as indicators for nitrogen acquisition and use. High monoculture productivity was related to different combinations of resource-use characteristics. The biomass of a species and its proportional contribution to mixture biomass correlated positively with species relative yields, suggesting that highly productive mixture species were most important for an overyielding of mixtures. Although monoculture biomass was a significant predictor for species performance in mixtures except for grasses, a combination of monoculture biomass, plant growth rates and resource-use traits associated with nutrient and light acquisition explained non-legume species performance best. Legume performance was best associated with their monoculture biomass and traits associated with light acquisition. In spite of the fact that high species performance in mixtures was associated with a species' competitive ability as represented by monoculture productivity, growth rates and resource-use traits, our results suggest that species uniqueness in resource acquisition strategies increases the chance for niche differentiation among overyielding species.

Original languageEnglish
JournalPerspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics
Volume13
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)1-13
Number of pages13
ISSN1433-8319
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20.03.2011
Externally publishedYes

    Research areas

  • Biomass:N ratio, Light interception, Plant height, Productivity, Relative yield, Soil nitrate depletion
  • Biology
  • Ecosystems Research

Recently viewed

Researchers

  1. Ines Lietzke-Prinz

Publications

  1. Préparer Erasmus: tout un projet
  2. Contrasting temporal trends and relationships of total organic carbon, black carbon, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in rural low-altitude and remote high-altitude lakes
  3. Influence of carbon nanoparticle modification on the mechanical and electrical properties of epoxy in small volumes
  4. Multisensory Design of Retail Environments
  5. Queer Theory After Marriage Equality. Edited collection in the journal "South Atlantic Quarterly"
  6. Plant–flower visitor interaction webs
  7. Ästhetik des Überblicks
  8. Angst
  9. Harmonisierung der Standards zur Klimaberichterstattung?
  10. Carbon–biodiversity relationships in a highly diverse subtropical forest
  11. Institutional Entrepreneurship
  12. Participation of Adolescents in the Development of a Smartphone App-based Intervention to Promote the Health Literacy
  13. Implementing Environmental Management Accounting in South-East Asian Companies
  14. Effects of training on employee suggestions and promotions
  15. QALD-9-plus
  16. Planning Table
  17. Ärger in der Freundschaft
  18. In situ studies of light metals with synchrotron radiation and neutrons
  19. Mathematik 1
  20. The Hidden Space of Production
  21. Konventionelle Verwaltung im Cyberspace?
  22. Biodiversity–stability relationships strengthen over time in a long-term grassland experiment
  23. Mountain cold-trapping increases transfer of persistent organic pollutants from atmosphere to cows' milk
  24. Facebook – todo un mundo a descubrir
  25. Schulentwicklung und Schulprofil
  26. Schulinspektion in Hamburg
  27. Mitarbeitergespräch
  28. Luthers Arbeit an christologischen Metaphern
  29. Nun brat’ mir doch eine(r) einen Elch!
  30. The development and function of anger in childhood and adolescence
  31. Nachhaltige Entwicklung
  32. Theodor Fontane, das Fremde und die Juden
  33. Entrepreneurial strategies for professional service firms
  34. Precipitation hardening on mechanical and corrosion properties of extruded Mg10Gd modified with Nd and La
  35. Tiefen der Täuschung
  36. Similar performance in central and range-edge populations of a Eurasian steppe grass under different climate and soil pH regimes
  37. Adjustments of Wage-Tenure Profiles with Respect to Entry Age
  38. Angsthasen
  39. Anspruch und Wirklichkeit
  40. The impact of governance on integrated reporting
  41. Notting Hill Gate 6
  42. Licinini