Unveiling below-ground species abundance in a biodiversity experiment: A test of vertical niche differentiation among grassland species

Journal of Ecology

Volumn 98, Issue 5, 2010, Pages 1117-1127

  Mommer, Liesje ^a,b   van Ruijven, Jasper ^b   de Caluwe, Hannie ^a   Smit Tiekstra, Annemiek E ^a   Wagemaker, Cornelis A M ^a   Joop Ouborg, N ^a   Bögemann, Gerard M ^a   van der Weerden, Gerard M ^a   Berendse, Frank ^b   de Kroon, Hans ^a  

^a RADBOUD UNIVERSITY NIJMEGEN   (Netherlands)

^b WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY   (Netherlands)

Author keywords

Biodiversity; Determinants of plant community diversity and structure; Ecosystem functioning; Niche differentiation; Nutrient depletion; Root ecology; Root interactions; Species interactions

Indexed keywords

ABUNDANCE; BIODIVERSITY; ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION; NICHE PARTITIONING; NUTRIENT AVAILABILITY; NUTRIENT LIMITATION; PLANT COMMUNITY; PRIMARY PRODUCTION; SOIL NUTRIENT; SOIL ORGANIC MATTER; SPECIES DIVERSITY; TOPSOIL;

ANTHOXANTHUM ODORATUM; POACEAE;

EID: 77955389412     PISSN: 00220477     EISSN: 13652745     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2010.01702.x     Document Type: Article

References (54)

1. Bais HP, Vepachedu R, Gilroy S, Callaway RM, Vivanco JM. Allelopathy and exotic plant invasion: from molecules and genes to species interactions. Science 2003, 301:1377-1380.
2. Bais HP, Weir TL, Perry LG, Gilroy S, Vivanco JM. The role of root exudates in rhizosphere interactions with plants and other organisms. Annual Review of Plant Biology 2006, 57:233-266.
3. Bartelheimer M, Steinlein T, Beyschlag W. Aggregative root placement: a feature during interspecific competition in inland sand-dune habitats. Plant and Soil 2006, 280:101-114.
4. Bartelt-Ryser J, Joshi J, Schmid B, Brandl H, Balser T. Soil feedbacks of plant diversity on soil microbial communities and subsequent plant growth. Perspectives in Plant Ecology Evolution and Systematics 2005, 7:27-49.
5. Berendse F. Competition between plant-populations with different rooting depths 2. Pot experiments. Oecologia 1981, 48:334-341.
6. Berendse F. Interspecific competition and niche differentiation between Plantago lanceolata and Anthoxanthum odoratum in a natural hayfield. Journal of Ecology 1983, 71:379-390.
7. Berg G, Smalla K. Plant species and soil type cooperatively shape the structure and function of microbial communities in the rhizosphere. Fems Microbiology Ecology 2009, 68:1-13.
8. Bessler H, Temperton VM, Roscher C, Buchmann N, Schmid B, Schulze ED, Weisser WW, Engels C. Aboveground overyielding in grassland mixtures is associated with reduced biomass partitioning to belowground organs. Ecology 2009, 90:1520-1530.
9. Bever JD. Feedback between plants and their soil communities in an old field community. Ecology 1994, 75:1965-1977.
10. Cardinale BJ, Wrigh JP, Cadotte MW, Carroll IT, Hector A, Srivastava DS, Loreau M, Weis JJ. Impacts of plant diversity on biomass production increase through time because of species complementarity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2007, 104:18123-18128.
11. Casper BB, Schenk HJ, Jackson RB. Defining a plant's belowground zone of influence. Ecology 2003, 84:2313-2321.
12. Chapin FS, Zavaleta ES, Eviner VT, Naylor RL, Vitousek PM, Reynolds HL, Hooper DU, Lavorel S, Sala OE, Hobbie SE, Mack MC, Diaz S. Consequences of changing biodiversity. Nature 2000, 405:234-242.
13. Connell JH. Influence of interspecific competition and other factors on distribution of barnacle Chthamalus stellatus. Ecology 1961, 42:710-717.
14. Dimitrakopoulos PG, Schmid B. Biodiversity effects increase linearly with biotope space. Ecology Letters 2004, 7:574-583.
15. Dudley SA, File AL. Kin recognition in an annual plant. Biology Letters 2007, 3:435-438.
16. Fargione J, Tilman D. Niche differences in phenology and rooting depth promote coexistence with a dominant C-4 bunchgrass. Oecologia 2005, 143:598-606.
17. von Felten S, Schmid B. Complementarity among species in horizontal versus vertical rooting space. Journal of Plant Ecology 2008, 1:33-41.
18. von Felten S, Hector A, Buchmann N, Niklaus PA, Schmid B, Scherer-Lorenzen M. Belowground nitrogen partitioning in experimental grassland plant communities of varying species richness. Ecology 2009, 90:1389-1399.
19. Fornara DA, Tilman D, Hobbie SE. Linkages between plant functional composition, fine root processes and potential soil N mineralization rates. Journal of Ecology 2009, 97:48-56.
20. Gastine A, Scherer-Lorenzen M, Leadley PW. No consistent effects of plant diversity on root biomass, soil biota and soil abiotic conditions in temperate grassland communities. Applied Soil Ecology 2003, 24:101-111.
21. Gersani M, Abramsky Z, Falik O. Density-dependent habitat selection in plants. Evolutionary Ecology 1998, 12:223-234.
22. Gruntman M, Novoplansky A. Physiologically mediated self/non-self discrimination in roots. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2004, 101:3863-3867.
23. van der Heijden MGA, Bardgett RD, van Straalen NM. The unseen majority: soil microbes as drivers of plant diversity and productivity in terrestrial ecosystems. Ecology Letters 2008, 11:296-310.
24. Hooper DU, Chapin FS, Ewel JJ, Hector A, Inchausti P, Lavorel S. Effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning: a consensus of current knowledge. Ecological monographs 2005, 75:3-35.
25. Huber-Sannwald E, Pyke DA, Caldwell MM, Durham S. Effects of nutrient patches and root systems on the clonal plasticity of a rhizomatous grass. Ecology 1998, 79:2267-2280.
26. Kardol P, Cornips NJ, van Kempen MML, Bakx-Schotman JMT, Van der Putten WH. Microbe-mediated plant-soil feedback causes historical contingency effects in plant community assembly. Ecological monographs 2007, 77:147-162.
27. Kowalchuk GA, Buma DS, de Boer W, Klinkhamer PGL, van Veen JA. Effects of above-ground plant species composition and diversity on the diversity of soil-borne microorganisms. Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek International Journal of General and Molecular Microbiology 2002, 81:509-520.
28. de Kroon H. Ecology - How do roots interact? Science 2007, 318:1562-1563.
29. Levine JM, HilleRisLambers J. The importance of niches for the maintenance of species diversity. Nature 2009, 461:254-257.
30. Levine JM, Pachepsky E, Kendall BE, Yelenik SG, HilleRisLambers J. Plant-soil feedbacks and invasive spread. Ecology Letters 2006, 9:1005-1014.
31. Li L, Sun JH, Zhang FS, Guo TW, Bao XG, Smith FA, Smith SE. Root distribution and interactions between intercropped species. Oecologia 2006, 147:280-290.
32. Li L, Li SM, Sun JH, Zhou LL, Bao XG, Zhang HG, Zhang FS. Diversity enhances agricultural productivity via rhizosphere phosphorus facilitation on phosphorus-deficient soils. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2007, 104:11192-11196.
33. Loreau M, Hector A. Partitioning selection and complementarity in biodiversity experiments. Nature 2001, 412:72-76.
34. Mahall BE, Callaway RM. Root communication among desert shrubs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 1991, 88:874-876.
35. Maina GG, Brown JS, Gersani M. Intra-plant versus inter-plant root competition in beans: avoidance, resource matching or tragedy of the commons. Plant Ecology 2002, 160:235-247.
36. McKane RB, Johnson LC, Shaver GR, Nadelhoffer KJ, Rastetter EB, Fry B, Giblin AE, Kielland K, Kwiatkowski BL, Laundre JA, Murray G. Resource-based niches provide a basis for plant species diversity and dominance in arctic tundra. Nature 2002, 415:68-71.
37. Mitchell CE, Tilman D, Groth JV. Effects of grassland plant species diversity, abundance, and composition on foliar fungal disease. Ecology 2002, 83:1713-1726.
38. Mommer L, Wagemaker N, de Kroon H, Ouborg NJ. Unravelling belowground plant distributions: a real time PCR method for quantifying species proportions in mixed root samples. Molecular Ecology Notes 2008, 8:947-953.
39. Parrish JAD, Bazzaz FA. Underground niche separation in successional plants. Ecology 1976, 57:1281-1288.
40. Poorter H, Nagel O. The role of biomass allocation in the growth response of plants to different levels of light CO2, nutrients and water: a quantitative review. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 2000, 27:595-607.
41. Reich PB, Tilman D, Naeem S, Ellsworth DS, Knops J, Craine J, Wedin D, Trost J. Species and functional group diversity independently influence biomass accumulation and its response to CO2 and N. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2004, 101:10101-10106.
42. van Ruijven J, Berendse F. Diversity-productivity relationships: Initial effects, long-term patterns, and underlying mechanisms. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2005, 102:695-700.
43. van Ruijven J, Berendse F. Long-term persistence of a positive plant diversity-productivity relationship in the absence of legumes. Oikos 2009, 118:101-106.
44. Schenk HJ. Root competition: beyond resource depletion. Journal of Ecology 2006, 94:725-739.
45. Schenk HJ, Jackson RB. Mapping the global distribution of deep roots in relation to climate and soil characteristics. Geoderma 2005, 126:129-140.
46. Semchenko M, Hutchings MJ, John EA. Challenging the tragedy of the commons in root competition: confounding effects of neighbour presence and substrate volume. Journal of Ecology 2007a, 95:252-260.
47. Semchenko M, John EA, Hutchings MJ. Effects of physical connection and genetic identity of neighbouring ramets on root-placement patterns in two clonal species. New Phytologist 2007b, 176:644-654.
48. Spehn EM, Joshi J, Schmid B, Alphei J, Korner C. Plant diversity effects on soil heterotrophic activity in experimental grassland ecosystems. Plant and Soil 2000, 224:217-230.
49. Steinbeiss S, Bessler H, Engels C, Temperton VM, Buchmann N, Roscher C, Kreutziger Y, Baade J, Habekost M, Gleixner G. Plant diversity positively affects short-term soil carbon storage in experimental grasslands. Global Change Biology 2008, 14:2937-2949.
50. Tilman D, Reich PB, Knops J, Wedin D, Mielke T, Lehman C. Diversity and productivity in a long-term grassland experiment. Science 2001, 294:843-845.
51. Van der Krift TAJ, Berendse F. Root life spans of four grass species from habitats differing in nutrient availability. Functional Ecology 2002, 16:198-203.
52. Van der Putten WH, Peters BAM. How soil-borne pathogens may affect plan competition. Ecology 1997, 78:1785-1795.
53. Weller DM, Raaijmakers JM, Gardener BBM, Thomashow LS. Microbial populations responsible for specific soil suppressiveness to plant pathogens. Annual Review of Phytopathology 2002, 40:-348.
54. Westover KM, Bever JD. Mechanisms of plant species coexistence: roles of rhizosphere bacteria and root fungal pathogens. Ecology 2001, 82:3285-3294.