Diversity-dependent production can decrease the stability of ecosystem functioning

There is concern that species loss may adversely affect ecosystem functioning and stability. But although there is evidence that biodiversity loss can lead to reductions in biomass production, there is no direct evidence that biodiversity loss affects ecosystem resistance (ability to withstand perturbation) or resilience (recovery from perturbation). Yet theory, laboratory experiments and indirect experimental evidence strongly suggest that diversity and stability are related. Here we report results from a field experiment with factorially crossed perturbation and diversity manipulations. We simulated drought perturbation on constructed grassland ecosystems containing 1, 2, 4, 8 or 32 plant species. Under unperturbed conditions, the species-poor systems achieved lower biomass production than the species-rich systems. However, the species-poor systems were more resistant to perturbation than the species-rich systems. The species-poor systems also showed a larger initial resilience following perturbation, although the original relationship between diversity and productivity was fully restored after 1year. Our results confirm that biodiversity increases biomass production, but they also point to the fact that such diversity--production associations may lead to an inverse relationship between biodiversity and the stability of ecosystem functioning.     

Biodiversity and ecosystem stability in a decade-long grassland experiment

Human-driven ecosystem simplification has highlighted questions about how the number of species in an ecosystem influences its functioning. Although biodiversity is now known to affect ecosystem productivity, its effects on stability are debated. Here we present a long-term experimental field test of the diversity-stability hypothesis. During a decade of data collection in an experiment that directly controlled the number of perennial prairie species, growing-season climate varied considerably, causing year-to-year variation in abundances of plant species and in ecosystem productivity. We found that greater numbers of plant species led to greater temporal stability of ecosystem annual aboveground plant production. In particular, the decadal temporal stability of the ecosystem, whether measured with intervals of two, five or ten years, was significantly greater at higher plant diversity and tended to increase as plots matured. Ecosystem stability was also positively dependent on root mass, which is a measure of perenniating biomass. Temporal stability of the ecosystem increased with diversity, despite a lower temporal stability of individual species, because of both portfolio (statistical averaging) and overyielding effects. However, we found no evidence of a covariance effect. Our results indicate that the reliable, efficient and sustainable supply of some foods (for example, livestock fodder), biofuels and ecosystem services can be enhanced by the use of biodiversity.     

Species-diversified plant cover enhances orchard ecosystem resistance to climatic stress and soil erosion in subtropical hillside

Naturally occurring plants in agroecosystem evidently play an important role in ecosystem stability. Field studies on the ecological effects of native plants conserved in orchard and their resistance to adverse climatic stress, and soil erosion were conducted from 1998 to 2001 in a newly developed Changshan-huyou (Citrus changshan-huyou Y.B. Chang) orchard. The experimental area covered 150 ha in typical red soil hilly region in southeastern China. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with six combinations of twelve plant species with four replications. All species used were native in the orchard. Plots were 15 x 8 m2 and separated by 2 m buffer strips. Precipitation, soil erosion in rainstorm days and aboveground biomass of plant community when rainstorm days ended, soil temperature and moisture under various plant covers during seasonal megathermal drought period, antiscourability of soil with different root density under various simulated rainfalls were measured. Plant cover significantly decreased the daily highest and mean soil temperature and its daily variation in hot-drought season, but there was no significant difference of the alleviation among various plant covers. Plant covers significantly increased the soil moisture in seasonal megathermal drought period. Better moisture maintenance and soil erosion reduction was found when the plant species numbers in cover plant communities increased from one to eight. Higher root density in plant communities with higher species richness increased significantly the antiscourability of the soil. It was suggested that conserving plant communities with diversified native species could produce the best positive ecological effects on citrus orchard ecosystem stability.     

Plant communities: ecosystem maturity and performance

The effect of maturity, or successional stage, on ecosystem performance (measured as productivity or stability, for example) is important for both basic ecology and ecosystem management. On the basis of the results of a long-term study of two different plant communities at two sites in the Inner Mongolia grassland, Bai et al. claim that these communities simultaneously achieve high species richness, productivity and ecosystem stability at the late successional stage. However, I question their interpretation of the data and suggest that this claim is undermined by evidence from other empirical and theoretical studies.     

The contribution of species richness and composition to bacterial services

Bacterial communities provide important services. They break down pollutants, municipal waste and ingested food, and they are the primary means by which organic matter is recycled to plants and other autotrophs. However, the processes that determine the rate at which these services are supplied are only starting to be identified. Biodiversity influences the way in which ecosystems function, but the form of the relationship between bacterial biodiversity and functioning remains poorly understood. Here we describe a manipulative experiment that measured how biodiversity affects the functioning of communities containing up to 72 bacterial species constructed from a collection of naturally occurring culturable bacteria. The experimental design allowed us to manipulate large numbers of bacterial species selected at random from those that were culturable. We demonstrate that there is a decelerating relationship between community respiration and increasing bacterial diversity. We also show that both synergistic interactions among bacterial species and the composition of the bacterial community are important in determining the level of ecosystem functioning.     

井冈山大学校园湿地松人工林植物多样性研究

植物多样性对于区域生态平衡和生态功能的维护以及生物资源的可持续性有重要意义。湿地松(Pinus elliottii)是我国南方丘陵区主要的造林树种,具有显著的经济效益,且发挥着维护生态环境的重要作用。本试验对井冈山大学校园湿地松人工林的植物多样性进行研究,结果表明湿地松人工林的植物物种有37种,Margalef物种丰富度指数(12.302±1.450)与江西省吉安县湿地松人工林的物种多样性丰富度指数相近,Shannon-Wiener多样性指数(0.444±0.219)和Simpson多样性指数(0.972±0.011)均低于相同气候区湿地松人工林植物多样性指数,说明试验区湿地松人工林群落结构单一,不利于植物群落的稳定和正常生态功能的发挥。应合理配置一些阔叶树种来形成异龄混交林结构,以提高植物多样性、系统稳定性及生态系统服务功能。     

呼伦贝尔草原群落生产力与物种多样性关系分析

在呼伦贝草原选取5种代表性草原群落类型,采用取样调查的方法,探讨自然状况下草原植被群落生产力与物种多样性的关系,旨在为草原生态系统功能的恢复和草原有效管理提供理论依据.研究结果表明:大针茅+糙隐子草群落、羊草+克氏针茅群落、克氏针茅+羊草群落和贝加尔针茅+羊草群落多样性指数(物种丰富度指数、Simpson指数和Shannon-Winner指数)与生产力均呈显著正相关关系,但是羊草+寸草苔草甸草原物种多样性指数与生产力没有显著性相关关系.群落生产力受物种多样性、物种组成和环境因子等多因素共同影响,不仅仅是由物种多样性决定.     

铁岭莲花湖湿地生物多样性研究进展

湿地生物多样性对于维持湿地生态功能和生态系统稳定有重要作用,湿地生物多样性研究的深入开展,对生物多样性保护和生态恢复具有重要意义,也为制定可持续利用规划提供可靠依据.简要介绍铁岭莲花湖湿地的自然概况,从植物种类的多样性、动物种类的多样性、植物群落的多样性和生物多样性评价几个方面,对现有研究成果进行评述,并对铁岭莲花湖湿地生物多样性的下一步研究进行展望.     

青藏高原青南地区植物群落生态梯度分析

依据对青藏高原青南地区26个群落的样地调查和环境因子原始数据，用主分量分析(PCA)排序技术和回归模型，定量分析植物群落在空间的分布格局，以及群落结构特征和环境梯度之间的关系．结果表明：植物群落的类型分布主要决定于地理位置驱动下的水热条件，其次还受制于土壤养分．代表植物群落结构特征的生物多样性和丰富度分别与环境梯度有显著的相关性，随年均温和年降水量减少，群落物种多样性和丰富度有降低的趋势．     

Partitioning selection and complementarity in biodiversity experiments.

The impact of biodiversity loss on the functioning of ecosystems and their ability to provide ecological services has become a central issue in ecology. Several experiments have provided evidence that reduced species diversity may impair ecosystem processes such as plant biomass production. The interpretation of these experiments, however, has been controversial because two types of mechanism may operate in combination. In the 'selection effect', dominance by species with particular traits affects ecosystem processes. In the 'complementarity effect', resource partitioning or positive interactions lead to increased total resource use. Here we present a new approach to separate the two effects on the basis of an additive partitioning analogous to the Price equation in evolutionary genetics. Applying this method to data from the pan-European BIODEPTH experiment reveals that the selection effect is zero on average and varies from negative to positive in different localities, depending on whether species with lower- or higher-than-average biomass dominate communities. In contrast, the complementarity effect is positive overall, supporting the hypothesis that plant diversity influences primary production in European grasslands through niche differentiation or facilitation.     

围封对蒙古荒漠草原和高山草原植物群落组成及稳定性的影响

基于蒙古国两种典型草地生态系统类型(荒漠草原和高山草原), 采取围封和放牧两种处理方式, 对2013—2018年这两种草地类型的群落盖度进行系统分析。按植物分类学法, 将群落内的所有物种划分为五大功能群——杂草类、蒿类、豆科、禾本科和莎草科, 采用Gordon稳定性方法评估围封对群落稳定性的影响。结果表明: 1) 围封显著增加荒漠草原杂草类植物覆盖度, 减少蒿类和禾本科植物覆盖度, 年际间无明显的变化规律, 而对于高山草原, 围封对不同功能群盖度无显著影响; 2) 围封增加荒漠草原的群落稳定性, 而对高山草原无明显影响; 3) 群落稳定性与优势种盖度占群落的比例呈显著的正相关关系, 荒漠草原的优势种占比高于高山草原, 导致荒漠草原的群落稳定性更好。根据上述结果, 建议在对草地进行围封管理前, 应充分考虑当地的环境条件及围封对植物群落及生态系统的潜在影响, 同时辅以休牧、轮牧或季节性放牧等措施, 才能真正提高草原生态系统服务的使用价值。     

Diversity of Plant Species of Alpine Grassland in Nakchu of Tibet, China

0Introduction Biologicaldiversityconcernedwiththesumofvariouslivingbeingsandtheirprocesses,aswellasthebasisofharmonious coexistencebetweenmanandnatureplaysanimportantroleinecology,economy,esthetics,ethics,etc.Duetodeteriorationofglobal environment,acceler…     

南京典型城市道路植物多样性与土壤因子的耦合关系

目的 植物-土壤系统的作用机制复杂,揭示城市道路绿地植物群落正向演替的限制因子,筛选配置最优的植物群落类型,为城市道路绿化景观再设计提供数据支撑,也为城市道路绿化带土壤管护提供理论指导。方法 以南京市大气污染程度排名前列的3条城市道路(江北大道、诚信大道和仙林大道)为研究对象,选取典型的植物群落进行实地勘察和土壤采样分析,根据植物的生活型划分群落类别(单层群落、双层群落、3层群落和4层群落),采用灰色关联度分析方法测算不同类型群落的物种多样性与土壤因子的耦合关系。结果 随群落层次结构的增加,城市道路绿地的植物群落物种多样性水平呈现升高趋势。4层群落的土壤含水率普遍较高;土壤有机质、土壤全氮和土壤速效钾的含量随群落层次的增加呈现增大趋势。土壤因子更易影响植物的分布,而对植物种类的影响最小;土壤全钾、土壤容重、土壤有机质、土壤全氮、土壤全磷和土壤pH是植物生长的主要限制因子,平均关联系数均大于0.90,与物种多样性的关联度极强。随群落层次结构的增加,物种多样性与土壤因子的耦合度增大。结论 结构层次丰富的植物群落,其生态系统稳定性强,因此,城市道路绿化景观建设中,在考虑环境条件和交通需求的基础之上,植物群落的构建应首先推荐结构丰富的4层群落。     

Effects of macrophyte species richness on wetland ecosystem functioning and services

Wetlands provide many important ecosystem services to human society, which may depend on how plant diversity influences biomass production and nutrient retention. Vascular aquatic plant diversity may not necessarily enhance wetland ecosystem functioning, however, because competition among these plant species can be strong, often resulting in the local dominance of a single species. Here we have manipulated the species richness of rooted, submerged aquatic plant (macrophyte) communities in experimental wetland mesocosms. We found higher algal and total plant (algal plus macrophyte) biomass, as well as lower loss of total phosphorus, in mesocosms with a greater richness of macrophyte species. Greater plant biomass resulted from a sampling effect; that is, the increased chance in species mixtures that algal production would be facilitated by the presence of a less competitive species-in this case, crisped pondweed. Lower losses of total phosphorus resulted from the greater chance in species mixtures of a high algal biomass and the presence of sago pondweed, which physically filter particulate phosphorus from the water. These indirect and direct effects of macrophyte species richness on algal production, total plant biomass and phosphorus loss suggest that management practices that maintain macrophyte diversity may enhance the functioning and associated services of wetland ecosystems.     

Diversity and dispersal interactively affect predictability of ecosystem function

Theory and small-scale experiments predict that biodiversity losses can decrease the magnitude and stability of ecosystem services such as production and nutrient cycling. Most of this research, however, has been isolated from the immigration and emigration (dispersal) processes that create and maintain diversity in nature. As common anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity change--such as habitat fragmentation, species introductions and climate change--are mediated by these understudied processes, it is unclear how environmental degradation will affect ecosystem services. Here we tested the interactive effects of mobile grazer diversity and dispersal on the magnitude and stability of ecosystem properties in experimental seagrass communities that were either isolated or connected by dispersal corridors. We show that, contrary to theoretical predictions, increasing the number of mobile grazer species in these metacommunities increased the spatial and temporal variability of primary and secondary production. Moreover, allowing grazers to move among and select patches reduced diversity effects on production. Finally, effects of diversity on stability differed qualitatively between patch and metacommunity scales. Our results indicate that declining biodiversity and habitat fragmentation synergistically influence the predictability of ecosystem functioning.     

生态系统的可靠性及其稳定性的维持

 生态系统的营养结构是由营养级组成的.可靠性模型实验表明,营养级的可靠性取决于物种的失效率大小,物种丢失对物种丰富、失效率高的营养级的可靠性影响甚微,而对物种贫乏、失效率低的营养级略大,换言之,营养级的可靠性与物种的丰富度无紧密关系.其次,在营养级可靠性相同的条件下,简单系统的可靠性普遍略高于营养级多或食物链长的复杂生态系统.生物多样性与生态系统的稳定性没有必然联系,只要营养级还存在(无论剩下几个物种),那么按串并联方式组合成的生态系统就不会崩溃.生态系统的稳定性是冗余结构的稳定性.生态系统经常遭受干扰,但物种和个体的丢失可以通过来自其内外源源不断的冗余补充,以维持生态系统营养结构的稳定性.     

A taxa-area relationship for bacteria

A positive power-law relationship between the number of species in an area and the size of that area has been observed repeatedly in plant and animal communities. This species-area relationship, thought to be one of the few laws in ecology, is fundamental to our understanding of the distribution of global biodiversity. However, such a relationship has not been reported for bacteria, and little is known regarding the spatial distribution of bacteria, relative to what is known of plants and animals. Here we describe a taxa-area relationship for bacteria over a scale of centimetres to hundreds of metres in salt marsh sediments. We found that bacterial communities located close together were more similar in composition than communities located farther apart, and we used the decay of community similarity with distance to show that bacteria can exhibit a taxa-area relationship. This relationship was driven primarily by environmental heterogeneity rather than geographic distance or plant composition.     

草原植物群落物种多样性与结构稳定性之间的相关性分析

以位于内蒙古高原中东部的锡林郭勒草原的代表性植物群落做为研究对象，在不同的空间尺度上，以生物量涨落、频度涨落及微涨落种群比例做为群落结构稳定性的度量指标，与表示草原植物群落物种多样性的丰富度指数、Ｓｈａｎｎｏｎ－ｗｉｅｎｅｒ指数、均匀度指数进行了直线回归分析，主要结果如下：１）以频度涨落反映的群落结构稳定性与丰富度指数，Ｓｈａｎｎｏｎ－ｗｉｅｎｅｒ指数不相关；２）生物量涨落在区域尺度上（荒漠草原－典型草原－草甸草原）与丰富度指数、均匀度指数以及Ｓｈａｎ－ｎｏｎ－Ｗｉｅｎｅｒ指数呈正相关，即群落多样性越高，其结构稳定性越高；３）尺度对多样性与稳定性关系起着十分重要的作用．在群落尺度上（群系内三个群落类型之间相比较），微涨落种群比例、生物量涨落与几个多样性指数都不相关，说明物种多样性对于全局稳定性起着更明显的影响．     

Diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal spore communities and its relations to plants under increased temperature and precipitation in a natural grassland

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi(AMF)form mutualisms with most plant species,and therefore,understanding how AMF communities will respond to climate change is essential for predictions of changes in plant communities.To evaluate the impact of global climate change on AMFs and plant-AMF interactions in a natural grassland in Inner Mongolia,both artificial warming and watering treatments were assigned to experimental plots.Our results indicate that(1)warming and precipitation significantly affected the relative spore abundance of abundant sporulating AMF species;(2)the relative abundance of weak sporulating AMF species and AMF diversity decreased under experimental warming;(3)evidence was found that the composition of the AMF community in a given year might be correlated with plant community composition in the following year;and(4)grasses and forbs showing different preferences to Claroideoglomus etunicatum or Ambispora gerdemannii dominated plots.Our results imply that climate change appears to induce changes in AMF assemblages with knock-on effects on grassland plant communities.AMF communities may play a much more important role than we have thought in the responses of ecosystem to global climate changes.     

旅游干扰对南湾国家森林公园植物组成特征的影响

采用典型抽样法对南湾国家森林公园三个景点的旅游干扰地段和未干扰地段的植物组成进行调查,分析了干扰对植物类型及物种多样性的影响及其差异.结果表明:干扰造成乔、灌、草不同层次的植物种类减少,群落结构发生了变化,麻栎的重要值增加,在群落中处于优势种地位;园区植物的丰富度指数、优势度指数和均匀度指数均为对照高于干扰,表明旅游干扰使园区的植物多样性降低,森林群落的稳定性出现了一定程度的下降.旅游活动的开展与园区生物多样性保护存在一定的冲突.