Consistent drivers of plant biodiversity across managed ecosystems.

ABSTRACT: Ecosystems managed for production of biomass are often characterized by low biodiversity because management aims to optimize single ecosystem functions (i.e. yield) involving deliberate selection of species or cultivars. In consequence, considerable differences in observed plant species richness and productivity remain across systems, and the drivers of these differences have remained poorly resolved so far. In addition, it has remained unclear if species richness feeds back on ecosystem functions such as yield in real-world systems. Here, we establish N = 360 experimental plots across a broad range of managed ecosystems in several European countries, and use structural equation models to unravel potential drivers of plant species richness. We hypothesize that the relationships between pro

SUBMITTER: Minden V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4843704 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature