Diversity-dependent temporal divergence of ecosystem functioning in experimental ecosystems

Links between tree species, symbiotic fungal diversity and ecosystem functioning in simplified tropical ecosystems.

We studied the relationships among plant and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungal diversity, and their effects on ecosystem function, in a series of replicate tropical forestry plots in the La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica. Forestry plots were 12 yr old and were either monocultures of three tree species, or polycultures of the tree species with two additional understory species. Relationsh...

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning of Selected Terrestrial Ecosystems: Grasslands

Multitrophic functional diversity predicts ecosystem functioning in experimental assemblages of estuarine consumers.

The use of functional traits to explain how biodiversity affects ecosystem functioning has attracted intense interest, yet few studies have a priori altered functional diversity, especially in multitrophic communities. Here, we manipulated multivariate functional diversity of estuarine grazers and predators within multiple levels of species richness to test how species richness and functional d...

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning: Experimental Systems

Experimental studies of the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning have taken two main approaches: the experimental removal of species from real communities and the construction of model communities to form gradients of diversity. The fundamental difficulty in designing biodiversity experiments is the large number of possible species combinations that make simple, unambiguo...

Diversity of Plants and Animals in Mountain Ecosystems in Tajikistan

Tajikistan is a hotspot of plant and animal species diversity and endemism andis important for the conservation of biodiversity on a global scale. The country is located ata biological crossroads. Species from Central and Northern Europe, Central Asia, theMiddle East, and North Africa mingle here with endemics found nowhere else. Therichness of Tajikistan‘s biodiversity shows up at the genetic,...