Strong positively diversity-productivity relationships in the natural sub-alpine meadow communities across time are up to superior performers.

ABSTRACT: In experiments that test plant diversity-productivity relationships, the common practice of weeding unsown species and disallowing species colonization may have the unintended consequence of favoring priority effects that maintain niche complementarity in determining productivity. However, in naturally assembled communities where colonization occurs, resource competition may favor dominant traits, which eventually have the greatest influence on productivity. Here, in naturally developed long-term subalpine meadows (from 4-year to at least 40 years meadows) in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, we investigated the relationships between species richness and productivity to testify whether positive diversity-productivity relationships can still exist in naturally developed long-term communities. We

SUBMITTER: Jiang K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7414895 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature