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| NSF Cedar Creek LTER site experiments show what makes prairies and forests most productive. (Credit: David Tilman, UMN) |
ScienceDaily, May 3, 2012
Vegetation, such as a
patch of prairie or a forest stand, is more productive in the long run when
more plant species are present, results of a new study show.
The long-term study
of plant biodiversity found that each species plays a role in maintaining a
productive ecosystem, especially when a long time horizon is considered.
The research found
that every additional species in a plot contributed to a gradual increase in
both soil fertility and biomass production over a 14-year period.
This week's issue
of the journal Science published the results. They highlight the importance of
managing for diversity in prairies, forests and crops, according to Peter
Reich, lead author of the paper and a forest ecologist at the University of
Minnesota.
Reich and
colleagues looked at how the effect of diversity on productivity of plants
changed over the long-term.
Two large field
experiments were conducted at the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Cedar
Creek Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site in Minnesota, one of 26 such
NSF LTER sites around the globe in ecosystems from forests to grasslands,
tundra to coral reefs.
"This study
reveals what short-term experiments have missed: that the effects of
biodiversity loss on ecosystems are more complex, severe and unpredictable than
previously thought," says Matt Kane, an NSF LTER program director.
"The work
shows the importance of doing long-term research," says Kane, "in
this case documenting for the first time the critical importance of
biodiversity for ecosystem health and sustainability."
The biodiversity
experiments at Cedar Creek are the longest-running such experiments in the
world, says Reich.
They contain plots
with one, four, nine or 16 different species of plants.
The research used
long-lived prairie plants, but serves as a model system for all vegetation,
whether prairie, forest or row crop.
The study also
showed how diversity works by demonstrating that different species have
different ways of acquiring water, nutrients and carbon--and maintaining them
in an ecosystem.
"Prior
shorter-term studies, most about two years long, found that diversity increased
productivity, but that having more than six or eight species in a plot gave no
additional benefit," Reich says.
The scientists
found that over a 14-year time span, all 16 species in the most diverse plots
contributed more and more each year to higher soil fertility and biomass
production.
"The take-home
message," says Reich, "is that when we reduce diversity in the landscape--think
of a cornfield or a pine plantation or a suburban lawn--we are failing to
capitalize on the valuable natural services that biodiversity provides."
Co-authors
of the paper are David Tilman, Forest Isbell, Kevin Mueller, Sarah Hobbie and
Nico Eisenhauer of the University of Minnesota, and Dan Flynn of the University
of Zurich.
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by National Science Foundation.Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- P. B. Reich, D. Tilman, F. Isbell, K. Mueller, S. E. Hobbie, D. F. B. Flynn, N. Eisenhauer. Impacts of Biodiversity Loss Escalate Through Time as Redundancy Fades.Science, 2012; 336 (6081): 589 DOI:10.1126/science.1217909
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