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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Plant-Soil Feedbacks Help Explain Biodiversity-Productivity Relationships, Leslie E. Forero, Andrew Kulmatiski, Josephine Grenzer, Jeanette M. Norton
Plant-Soil Feedbacks Help Explain Biodiversity-Productivity Relationships, Leslie E. Forero, Andrew Kulmatiski, Josephine Grenzer, Jeanette M. Norton
Wildland Resources Student Research
Species-rich plant communities can produce twice as much aboveground biomass as monocultures, but the mechanisms remain unresolved. We tested whether plant-soil feedbacks (PSFs) can help explain these biodiversity-productivity relationships. Using a 16-species, factorial field experiment we found that plants created soils that changed subsequent plant growth by 27% and that this effect increased over time. When incorporated into simulation models, these PSFs improved predictions of plant community growth and explained 14% of overyielding. Here we show quantitative, field-based evidence that diversity maintains productivity by suppressing plant disease. Though this effect alone was modest, it helps constrain the role of factors, …