Plant diversity surpasses plant functional groups and plant productivity as driver of soil biota in the long term.

ABSTRACT:

Background

One of the most significant consequences of contemporary global change is the rapid decline of biodiversity in many ecosystems. Knowledge of the consequences of biodiversity loss in terrestrial ecosystems is largely restricted to single ecosystem functions. Impacts of key plant functional groups on soil biota are considered to be more important than those of plant diversity; however, current knowledge mainly relies on short-term experiments.

Methodology/principal findings

We studied changes in the impacts of plant diversity and presence of key functional groups on soil biota by investigating the performance of soil microorganisms and soil fauna two, four and six years after the establishment of model grasslands. The results indicate that temporal changes of plant

SUBMITTER: Eisenhauer N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3017561 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature