Coexistence through spatio-temporal heterogeneity and species sorting in grassland plant communities.

On the Local Coexistence of Species in Plant Communities

Coexistence of many competitive species is very common in natural plant communities. For example, almost all forests and grasslands consist of various species. Extremely high biodiversity is seen in tropical rain forests. Grassland communities also often consist of many species. In plant communities, spatially competitive species of plants coexist in a mosaic pattern. Communities with a single ...

Soil Properties and Spatial Processes Influence Bacterial Metacommunities within a Grassland Restoration Experiment

Metacommunity theory proposes that a collection of local communities are linked by dispersal and the resulting compositions are a product of both niche-based (species sorting) and spatial processes. Determining which of these factors is most important in different habitats can provide insight into the regulation of community assembly. To date, the metacommunity organization of heterotrophic soi...

Species Coexistence in Restored Grassland Plant Communities: Trait- Based Recruitment, Niche-neutral Assembly, and Heterogeneous Management

Soil Communities Promote Temporal Stability and Species Asynchrony in Experimental Grassland Communities

BACKGROUND Over the past two decades many studies have demonstrated that plant species diversity promotes primary productivity and stability in grassland ecosystems. Additionally, soil community characteristics have also been shown to influence the productivity and composition of plant communities, yet little is known about whether soil communities also play a role in stabilizing the productivi...

Spatial heterogeneity of plant-soil feedback affects root interactions and interspecific competition.

Plant-soil feedback is receiving increasing interest as a factor influencing plant competition and species coexistence in grasslands. However, we do not know how spatial distribution of plant-soil feedback affects plant below-ground interactions. We investigated the way in which spatial heterogeneity of soil biota affects competitive interactions in grassland plant species. We performed a pairw...