Experimental evidence that evolutionarily diverse assemblages result in higher productivity.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
; 110(22): 8996-9000, 2013 May 28.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-23674676
ABSTRACT
There now is ample experimental evidence that speciose assemblages are more productive and provide a greater amount of ecosystem services than depauperate ones. However, these experiments often conclude that there is a higher probability of including complementary species combinations in assemblages with more species and lack a priori prediction about which species combinations maximize function. Here, I report the results of an experiment manipulating the evolutionary relatedness of constituent plant species across a richness gradient. I show that assemblages with distantly related species contributed most to the higher biomass production in multispecies assemblages, through species complementarity. Species produced more biomass than predicted from their monocultures when they were in plots with distantly related species and produced the amount of biomass predicted from monoculture when sown with close relatives. This finding suggests that in the absence of any other information, combining distantly related species in restored or managed landscapes may serve to maximize biomass production and carbon sequestration, thus merging calls to conserve evolutionary history and maximize ecosystem function.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Filogenia
/
Magnoliopsida
/
Biodiversidade
/
Evolução Biológica
/
Biota
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
Ano de publicação:
2013
Tipo de documento:
Article