TY - JOUR

T1 - The Agrodiversity Experiment

T2 - three years of data from a multisite study in intensively managed grasslands Ecological Archives

AU - Kirwan, Laura

AU - Connolly, John

AU - Brophy, Caroline

AU - Baadshaug, Ole

AU - Belanger, Gilles

AU - Black, Alistair

AU - Carnus, Tim

AU - Collins, Rosemary

AU - Cop, Jure

AU - Delgado, Ignacio

AU - de Vliegher, Alex

AU - Elgersma, Anjo

AU - Frankow-Lindberg, Bodil

AU - Golinski, Piotr

AU - Grieu, Philippe

AU - Gustavsson, Anne-Maj

AU - Helgadottir, Aslaug

AU - Höglind, Mats

AU - Huguenin-Elie, Olivier

AU - Jorgensen, Marit

AU - Kadziuliene, Zydre

AU - Lunnan, Tor

AU - Lüscher, Andreas

AU - Kurki, Paivi

AU - Porqueddu, Claudio

AU - Sebastia, M.-Teresa

AU - Thumm, Ulrich

AU - Walmsley, David

AU - Finn, John

PY - 2014/6/11

Y1 - 2014/6/11

N2 - Intensively managed grasslands are globally prominent ecosystems. We investigated whether experimental increases in plant diversity in intensively managed grassland communities can increase their resource use efficiency.This work consisted of a coordinated, continental‐scale 33‐site experiment. The core design was 30 plots, representing 15 grassland communities at two seeding densities. The 15 communities comprised four monocultures (two grasses and two legumes) and 11 four‐species mixtures that varied in the relative abundance of the four species at sowing. There were 1028 plots in the core experiment, with another 572 plots sown for additional treatments. Sites followed a protocol and employed the same experimental methods with certain plot management factors, such as seeding rates and number of cuts, determined by local practice. The four species used at a site depended on geographical location, but the species were chosen according to four functional traits: a fast‐establishing grass, a slow‐establishing persistent grass, a fast‐establishing legume, and a slow‐establishing persistent legume. As the objective was to maximize yield for intensive grassland production, the species chosen were all high‐yielding agronomic species.The data set contains species‐specific biomass measurements (yield per species and of weeds) for all harvests for up to four years at 33 sites. Samples of harvested vegetation were also analyzed for forage quality at 26 sites.These data should be of interest to ecologists studying relationships between diversity and ecosystem function and to agronomists interested in sustainable intensification. The large spatial scale of the sites provides opportunity for analyses across spatial (and temporal) scales. The database can also complement existing databases and meta‐analyses on biodiversity–ecosystem function relationships in natural communities by focusing on those same relationships within intensively managed agricultural grasslands.

AB - Intensively managed grasslands are globally prominent ecosystems. We investigated whether experimental increases in plant diversity in intensively managed grassland communities can increase their resource use efficiency.This work consisted of a coordinated, continental‐scale 33‐site experiment. The core design was 30 plots, representing 15 grassland communities at two seeding densities. The 15 communities comprised four monocultures (two grasses and two legumes) and 11 four‐species mixtures that varied in the relative abundance of the four species at sowing. There were 1028 plots in the core experiment, with another 572 plots sown for additional treatments. Sites followed a protocol and employed the same experimental methods with certain plot management factors, such as seeding rates and number of cuts, determined by local practice. The four species used at a site depended on geographical location, but the species were chosen according to four functional traits: a fast‐establishing grass, a slow‐establishing persistent grass, a fast‐establishing legume, and a slow‐establishing persistent legume. As the objective was to maximize yield for intensive grassland production, the species chosen were all high‐yielding agronomic species.The data set contains species‐specific biomass measurements (yield per species and of weeds) for all harvests for up to four years at 33 sites. Samples of harvested vegetation were also analyzed for forage quality at 26 sites.These data should be of interest to ecologists studying relationships between diversity and ecosystem function and to agronomists interested in sustainable intensification. The large spatial scale of the sites provides opportunity for analyses across spatial (and temporal) scales. The database can also complement existing databases and meta‐analyses on biodiversity–ecosystem function relationships in natural communities by focusing on those same relationships within intensively managed agricultural grasslands.

KW - Biology

KW - Ecosystems Research

KW - agricultural grasslands

KW - biodiversity

KW - Ecosystem function

KW - forage quality

KW - MIXTURES

KW - monocultures

KW - overyielding

KW - plant community

KW - species biomass

KW - Yields

KW - agricultural grasslands

KW - biodiversity

KW - ecosystem function

KW - forage quality

KW - mixtures

KW - monocultures

KW - overyielding

KW - plant community

KW - species biomass

KW - yield

U2 - 10.1890/14-0170.1

DO - 10.1890/14-0170.1

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 95

SP - 2680

JO - Ecology

JF - Ecology

SN - 0012-9658

IS - 9

ER -