Combined effects of soil 3D spatial heterogeneity and biotic spatial heterogeneity (plant clumping) on ecosystem processes in grasslands.

ABSTRACT: Soil heterogeneity has been shown to enhance plant diversity, but its effect on grassland productivity is less clear. Even less is known about the effect of plant clumping (intraspecific aggregation) and its potential interaction with soil heterogeneity. The combined effects of soil 3D spatial heterogeneity and species clumping were experimentally studied in grassland mesocosms consisting of four grassland species. These species were planted in three patterns (i.e. completely mixed, clumped by 9 or 36 individuals of the same species) on soils with heterogeneous cells of alternating nutrient-poor and rich soil differing in size from 0 (mixed soil) to 12, 24, and 48 cm (complete poor or rich mesocosm). Moderate soil cell sizes (12-24 cm) consistently increased whole-mesocosm aboveground prod

SUBMITTER: Vinduskova O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10597742 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature