Grassland Ecosystems Become More Resilient with Age

Alpenwiese

Reduced biodiversity affects the stability of the entire ecosystem. A this long-term experiment scientists show that grassland plant communities with multiple species need about 10 years to adjust to each other and produce an even amount of biomass again.

Recent experiments have shown that the loss of species from a plant community can reduce ecosystem functions and services such as productivity, carbon storage and soil health. This reduced functioning may also destabilize the ecosystem in its ability to maintain ecosystem functions and services in the long term. However, assessing this is only possible if experiments can be maintained for a sufficient length of time.

Contact: Prof. Dr. Bernhard Schmid, Remote Sensing Laboratories, Department of Geography, University of Zurich

Publication
Cameron Wagg, C Roscher, A Weigelt, Anja Vogel, A Ebeling, Enrica de Luca1, A Roeder, C Kleinspehn, VM Temperton, ST Meyer, M Scherer-Lorenzen, Nina Buchmann, M Fischer7, WW Weisser, N Eisenhauer & Bernhard Schmid
Biodiversity – stability relationships strengthen over time in a long-term grassland experiment.
Nature Communications, 14. Dezember 2022. Doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-35189-2.

Source
Zurich University News