Productivity and sustainability influenced by biodiversity in grassland ecosystems (original) (raw)

Nature volume 379, pages 718–720 (1996)Cite this article

Abstract

THE functioning and sustainability of ecosystems may depend on their biological diversity1–8. Elton's9 hypothesis that more diverse ecosystems are more stable has received much attention1,3,6,7,10–14, but Darwin's proposal6,15 that more diverse plant communities are more productive, and the related conjectures4,5,16,17 that they have lower nutrient losses and more sustainable soils, are less well studied4–6,8,17,18. Here we use a well-replicated field experiment, in which species diversity was directly controlled, to show that ecosystem productivity in 147 grassland plots increased significantly with plant biodiversity. Moreover, the main limiting nutrient, soil mineral nitrogen, was utilized more completely when there was a greater diversity of species, leading to lower leaching loss of nitrogen from these ecosystems. Similarly, in nearby native grassland, plant productivity and soil nitrogen utilization increased with increasing plant species richness. This supports the diversity–productivity and diversity–sustainability hypotheses. Our results demonstrate that the loss of species threatens ecosystem functioning and sustainability.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota, 55108, USA
    David Tilman & Johannes Knops
  2. Department of Botany, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3B2, Canada
    David Wedin

Authors

  1. David Tilman
  2. David Wedin
  3. Johannes Knops

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Tilman, D., Wedin, D. & Knops, J. Productivity and sustainability influenced by biodiversity in grassland ecosystems.Nature 379, 718–720 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/379718a0

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