生物多样性
持续性
生态系统
草原
农林复合经营
物种丰富度
陆地生态系统
生产力
生态系统多样性
环境科学
生态学
生物
经济
宏观经济学
作者
David Tilman,David A. Wedin,Johannes M. H. Knops
出处
期刊:Nature
[Nature Portfolio]
日期:1996-02-01
卷期号:379 (6567): 718-720
被引量:2740
摘要
THE functioning and sustainability of ecosystems may depend on their biological diversity1–8. Elton's9 hypothesis that more diverse ecosystems are more stable has received much attention1,3,6,7,10–14, but Darwin's proposal6,15 that more diverse plant communities are more productive, and the related conjectures4,5,16,17 that they have lower nutrient losses and more sustainable soils, are less well studied4–6,8,17,18. Here we use a well-replicated field experiment, in which species diversity was directly controlled, to show that ecosystem productivity in 147 grassland plots increased significantly with plant biodiversity. Moreover, the main limiting nutrient, soil mineral nitrogen, was utilized more completely when there was a greater diversity of species, leading to lower leaching loss of nitrogen from these ecosystems. Similarly, in nearby native grassland, plant productivity and soil nitrogen utilization increased with increasing plant species richness. This supports the diversity–productivity and diversity–sustainability hypotheses. Our results demonstrate that the loss of species threatens ecosystem functioning and sustainability.
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