Plant Diversity and Ecosystem Productivity: Theoretical Considerations

Ecosystem processes are thought to depend on both the number and identity of the species present in an ecosystem, but mathematical theory predicting this has been lacking. Here we present three simple models of interspecific competitive interactions in communities containing various numbers of rando...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1997-03, Vol.94 (5), p.1857-1861
Main Authors: Tilman, David, Lehman, Clarence L., Thomson, Kendall T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodiversity
Biological Sciences
Biomass
Ecology
Ecosystem models
Ecosystems
Flowers & plants
Habitats
Natural resources
Plants
Productivity
Species
Species diversity
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Ecosystem processes are thought to depend on both the number and identity of the species present in an ecosystem, but mathematical theory predicting this has been lacking. Here we present three simple models of interspecific competitive interactions in communities containing various numbers of randomly chosen species. All three models predict that, on average, productivity increases asymptotically with the original biodiversity of a community. The two models that address plant nutrient competition also predict that ecosystem nutrient retention increases with biodiversity and that the effects of biodiversity on productivity and nutrient retention increase with interspecific differences in resource requirements. All three models show that both species identity and biodiversity simultaneously influence ecosystem functioning, but their relative importance varies greatly among the models. This theory reinforces recent experimental results and shows that effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning are predicted by well-known ecological processes.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.94.5.1857