Effects of plant species traits on ecosystem processes: experiments in the Patagonian steppe

Several experiments have shown that aboveground net primary productivity increases with plant species richness. The main mechanism proposed to explain this relationship is niche complementarity, which is determined by differences in plant traits that affect resource use. We combined field and labora...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology (Durham) 2012-02, Vol.93 (2), p.227-234
Main Authors: Flombaum, Pedro, Sala, Osvaldo E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
aboveground net primary production (ANPP)
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Argentina
Biodiversity
Biological and medical sciences
carbon
Ecosystem
Ecosystems
field experimentation
Flowers & plants
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Grasses
laboratory experimentation
microclimate
niche complementarity
nitrification
Nitrogen
Nonnative species
Phenology
Plant populations
Plant Roots
Plants
Plants - classification
primary productivity
rooting
Rooting depth
Shrubs
Soil
Soil ecology
soil nitrification
Soil respiration
soil thermal amplitude
Soils
Species
species diversity
Species Specificity
Steppe soils
steppes
Synecology
Temperature
trait diversity
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Summary:Several experiments have shown that aboveground net primary productivity increases with plant species richness. The main mechanism proposed to explain this relationship is niche complementarity, which is determined by differences in plant traits that affect resource use. We combined field and laboratory experiments using the most abundant species of the Patagonian steppe to identify which are the traits that determine niche complementarity in this ecosystem. We estimated traits that affect carbon, water, microclimate, and nitrogen dynamics. The most important traits distinguishing among species, from the standpoint of their effects on ecosystem functioning, were potential soil nitrification, rooting depth, and soil thermal amplitude. Additionally, we explored the relationship between trait diversity and aboveground net primary production (ANPP) using a manipulative field experiment. ANPP and the fraction of ANPP accounted for by trait diversity increased with number of traits. The effect of trait diversity decreased as the number of traits increased. Here, the use of traits gave us a mechanistic understanding of niche complementarity in the Patagonian steppe.
ISSN:0012-9658
1939-9170
DOI:10.1890/11-0722.1