From selection to complementarity: the shift along the abiotic stress gradient in a controlled biodiversity experiment

Wang, Jiang; Zhang, Chong B.; Chen, Tong; Li, Wei H.

doi:10.1007/s00442-012-2400-2

Cited by 32 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Therefore, the positive effect of actual species richness on mineralomass can mainly be attributed to the complementarity effect. Our results suggest that the positive complementarity effect could be attributed to the increase in biomass (see [40] for more details) and the increases in trace metal concentrations in plant tissues (Figure S1 in File S1) could be due to the increase in actual species richness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Facilitation Drives the Positive Effects of Plant Richness on Trace Metal Removal in a Biodiversity Experiment

Wang

Chen

et al. 2014

PLoS ONE

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BackgroundPhytoextraction is an environmentally acceptable and inexpensive technique for mine tailing rehabilitation that uses metallophyte plants. These plants reduce the soil trace metal contents to environmentally acceptable levels by accumulating trace metals. Recently, whether more trace metals can be removed by species-rich communities of these plants received great attention, as species richness has been reported having positive effects on ecosystem functions. However, how the species richness affects trace metals removal of plant communities of mine tailing is rarely known.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe examined the effects of species richness on soil trace metal removal in both natural and experimental plant communities. The root lengths and stem heights of each plant species were measured in order to calculate the functional diversity indices. Our results showed that trace metal (Cu, Cd, Pb and Zn) concentrations in mine tailing soil declined as species richness increased in both the natural and experimental plant communities. Species richness, rather than functional diversity, positively affected the mineralomass of the experimental plant communities. The intensity of plant-plant facilitation increased with the species richness of experimental communities. Due to the incremental role of plant-plant facilitation, most of the species had higher biomasses, higher trace metal concentrations in their plant tissues and lower malondialdehyde concentrations in their leaves. Consequently, the positive effects of species richness on mineralomass were mostly attributable to facilitation among plants.Conclusions/SignificanceOur results provide clear evidence that, due to plant-plant facilitation, species richness positively affects the removal of trace metals from mine tailing soil through phytoextraction and provides further information on diversity conservation and environmental remediation in a mine tailing environment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Facilitation Drives the Positive Effects of Plant Richness on Trace Metal Removal in a Biodiversity Experiment

Wang

Chen

et al. 2014

PLoS ONE

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“…Two main candidate mechanisms have been proposed to explain positive biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships: selection and complementarity effects (Loreau et al 2001). Selection effects occur when the most productive species are more likely to be included in species-rich communities and had greatest species-specific impacts on biomass (Fargione et al 2007; Wang et al 2013). Complementarity effects are thought to occur when species exhibit various forms of niche partitioning or facilitation that allow for a more complete use of resources in space or time and therefore larger influences on ecosystem functioning (Cardinale et al 2007; Reich et al 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional traits composition predict macrophytes community productivity along a water depth gradient in a freshwater lake

Zhong

Yuan

et al. 2014

Ecology and Evolution

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Functional trait composition of plant communities has been proposed as a helpful key for understanding the mechanisms of biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning. In this study, we applied a step-wise modeling procedure to test the relative effects of taxonomic diversity, functional identity, and functional diversity on macrophytes community productivity along water depth gradient. We sampled 42 plots and 1513 individual plants and measured 16 functional traits and abundance of 17 macrophyte species. Results showed that there was a significant decrease in taxonomic diversity, functional identity (i.e., stem dry mass content, leaf [C] and leaf [N]), and functional diversity (i.e., floating leaf, mean Julian flowering date and rooting depth) with increasing water depth. For the multiple-trait functional diversity (FD) indices, functional richness decreased, while functional divergence increased with water depth gradient. Macrophyte community productivity was strongly determined by functional trait composition within community, but not significantly affected by taxonomic diversity. Community-weighted means (CWM) showed a two times higher explanatory power relative to FD indices in determining variations in community productivity. For nine of sixteen traits, CWM and FD showed significant correlations with community productivity, although the strength and direction of those relations depended on selected trait. Furthermore, functional composition in a community affected productivity through either additive or opposite effects of CWM and FD, depending on the particular traits being considered. Our results suggested both mechanisms of mass ratio and niche complementarity can operate simultaneously on variations in community productivity, and considering both CWM and FD would lead to a more profound understanding of traits–productivity relationships.

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“…A controlled experiment was used to manipulate plant diversity in experimental pots filled with either natural or mine tailing soil (Wang et al 2013). Briefly, plant communities were constructed with four species richness levels for a total of 23 pots per soil type (Table 1).…”

Section: Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, facilitation interactions and positive relationships between plant species richness and productivity have been found in many plant communities under stressful environments (Mulder et al 2001;Callaway et al 2002;Wang et al 2011Wang et al , 2013Steudel et al 2012). Although the stress-gradient hypothesis helps predict the facilitative effects of plant diversity on biomass production in stressful environments, how plant diversity affects soil microbial communities in stressful environments is unclear.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive effects of plant diversity on soil microbial biomass and activity are associated with more root biomass production

Wang

Jiang

2017

Journal of Plant Interactions

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This study aims to explore relationships between plant diversity and soil microbial function and the factors that mediate the relationships. Artificial plant communities (1, 2, 4 and 8 species) were established filled with natural and mine tailing soils, respectively. After 12 months, the plant species richness positively affected the soil microbial functional diversity in both soil environments but negatively affected microbial biomass and soil basal respiration in the natural soil. The root biomass positively correlated with the microbial biomass, cultural bacterial activity and soil basal respiration in both soil environments. Moreover, the D i (deviations between observed performances and expected performances from the monoculture performance of each species of mixture) of microbial biomass, cultural bacterial activity and soil basal respiration positively correlated with the D i of root biomass in both soil environments. Consistent with stress-gradient hypothesis, the D mix (over-function index) of aboveground biomass positively correlated plant species richness in the mine tailing soil. Results suggest that the root biomass production is an important mechanism that affects the effects of plant diversity on soil microbial functions. Different responses of soil microbial function to increasing plant diversity may be due to root biomass production mediated by other factors. ARTICLE HISTORY

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From selection to complementarity: the shift along the abiotic stress gradient in a controlled biodiversity experiment

Cited by 32 publications

References 39 publications

Facilitation Drives the Positive Effects of Plant Richness on Trace Metal Removal in a Biodiversity Experiment

Facilitation Drives the Positive Effects of Plant Richness on Trace Metal Removal in a Biodiversity Experiment

Functional traits composition predict macrophytes community productivity along a water depth gradient in a freshwater lake

Positive effects of plant diversity on soil microbial biomass and activity are associated with more root biomass production

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