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83 results for “biodiversity experiment”

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edi40/100

Plant biomass collection on the Biodiversity Experiment at the Kellogg Biological Station, Hickory Corners, MI (2001 to 2011)

Dataset Abstract The biodiversity gradient experiment is an additional long-term study located within the LTER Main Site complex, in which a series of 21 different experimental treatments vary in plant species diversity. Treatments range from bare soil to single-crop rotations to multiple-crop rotations to annually fallowed fields with early successional plant communities. Plant species richness thus varies from 0 to >15 in any given 3-year rotation cycle. Treatment plots are 9.1×27.4 meters (30×90 feet) replicated in each of 4 randomized blocks. The study site was established in 2000. original data source http://lter.kbs.msu.edu/datasets/112

openCustomFeb 2016View details →

edi40/100

Soil Moisture in the Biodiversity Gradient Experiment at the Kellogg Biological Station, Hickory Corners, MI (2001 to 2001)

Dataset Abstract Soil moisture measurements from the Fall of 2001 original data source http://lter.kbs.msu.edu/datasets/70

openCustomFeb 2016View details →

dryad36/100

Selective extinctions resulting from random habitat destruction lead to under‐estimates of local and regional biodiversity loss in a manipulative field experiment

Land-use change is a significant cause of anthropogenic extinctions, which are likely to continue and accelerate as habitat conversion proceeds in most biomes. One way to understand the effects of habitat loss on biodiversity is through improved tools for predicting the number and identity of species losses in response to habitat loss. There are relatively few methods for predicting extinctions and even fewer opportunities for rigorously assessing the quality of these predictions. In this paper we address these issues by applying a new method based on rarefaction to predict species losses after random, but aggregated, habitat loss. We compare predictions from three rarefaction models, individual-based, sample-based, and spatially-clustered, to those derived from a commonly-used extinction estimation method, the Species-Area Relationship (SAR). We apply each method to a mesocosm experiment, in which we aim to predict species richness and extinctions of arthropods immediately following 50% habitat loss. While each model produced strikingly accurate predictions of species richness immediately after the habitat loss disturbance, each model significantly underestimated the number of extinctions occurring at both the local (within-mesocosm) and regional (treatment-wide) scales. Despite the stochastic nature of our small-scale, short-term, and randomly applied habitat loss experiment, we found surprisingly clear evidence for extinction selectivity, for example when abundant species with low extinction probabilities were extirpated following habitat loss. The important role played by selective extinction even in this contrived experimental system suggests that ecologically driven, trait-based extinctions play an equally important role to stochastic extinction, even when the disturbance itself has no clear selectivity. As a result, neutrally stochastic null models such as the SAR and rarefaction are likely to underestimate extinctions caused by habitat loss. Nevertheless, given the difficulty of predicting extinctions, null models provide useful benchmarks for conservation planning by providing minimum estimates and probabilities of species extinctions.

opencc-zeroDec 2020View details →

zenodo36/100

Data from: Evidence-based restoration of freshwater biodiversity after mining: Experience from Central European spoil heaps

Supplementary datasets for Kolar et al. (in press) Evidence-based restoration of freshwater biodiversity after mining: Experience from Central European spoil heaps. Journal of Applied Ecology. All related information can be found in the cited paper. When using the dataset for anything, cite the Kolar et al. Journal of Applied Ecology paper. For additional information, refer the paper or write to robert.tropek@gmail.com and kolarvojta@seznam.cz

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2021View details →

zenodo36/100

Data from: Within-individual leaf trait response to local light availability and biodiversity in a subtropical forest experiment

This dataset contains 15 leaf traits and the relative light availability from 400 trees at sub-individual level. Leaf samples were collected in August and September 2017 in the BEF-China main experiment (site A) in different sampling heights within the individuals. Samples were taken in 66 plots across all diversity levels of the experimental site. Leaf traits were analysed using near-infrared spectroscopy. Available leaf traits are LDMC, SLA, leaf N, leaf C, CN ratio, leaf Mg, leaf Ca, leaf K, leaf P, leaf S, cellulose, lignin, phenolics and tannin. Additionally, light data is available for each height level.

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2024View details →

dryad36/100

Community biomass is driven by dominants and their characteristics –the insight from a field biodiversity experiment with realistic species loss scenario

1. Revealing the role of biodiversity in ecosystem functioning (BEF) has been a major focus of ecological research over recent decades. In general, results from artificially assembled communities point to the important role of biodiversity showing that the loss of species has a negative effect on various ecosystem functions (mostly assessed by aboveground peak biomass). However, the evidence from manipulations of natural communities is scarce and results are often contradictory between these two approaches. In particular, the importance of species dominance for ecosystem functioning remains poorly understood. 2. We created a gradient of plant species richness in a meadow community following a realistic species loss scenario (removal of less abundant species) to test the effect of diversity on community biomass and assess the importance of subordinate species compared to dominants in a five-year experiment. 3. Contrasting with the results of BEF experiments with artificial assembly, we did not find any relationship between plant species diversity and aboveground biomass across the timeframe of the experiment. We provide evidence that dominant species' identity and traits are the main drivers of community biomass, because dominant species were able to maintain biomass production after substantial species loss. Further, dominants prevented community biomass from declining and biomass was indirectly influenced not by species richness but through differences in functional diversity. Our results support the mass ratio hypothesis, showing a much bigger effect of dominant species on community biomass production and hints at the rather minor importance of the complementarity effect between species. We emphasize that BEF research should more focus on the role of dominant species in maintaining various ecosystem functions. 4. Synthesis. Species diversity is a poor predictor of community aboveground biomass production and dominant species can effectively compensate the total production after substantial loss of other species in a grassland community.

opencc-zeroNov 2022View details →

dryad36/100

Exotic tree species have consistently lower herbivore load in a cross-Atlantic tree biodiversity experiment

It is commonly expected that exotic plants experience reduced herbivory, but experimental evidence for such enemy release is still controversial. One reason for conflicting results might be that community context has rarely been accounted for, although the surrounding plant diversity may moderate enemy release. Here, we tested the effects of focal tree origin and surrounding tree diversity on herbivore abundance and leaf damage in a cross-Atlantic tree diversity experiment in Canada and Germany. We evaluated six European tree species paired with six North American congeners in both their native and exotic range, expecting lower herbivory for the exotic tree species in each pair at each site. Such reciprocal experiments have long been called for, but have not been realized thus far. In addition to a thorough evaluation of overall enemy release effects, we tested whether enemy release effects change with the surrounding tree diversity. Herbivore abundance was indeed consistently lower on exotics across all six tree genera (12 comparisons). This effect of exotic status was independent of continent, phylogenetic relatedness and surrounding tree diversity. In contrast, leaf damage associated with generalist leaf chewers was consistently higher on North American tree species. Interestingly, several species of European weevils were the most abundant leaf chewers on both continents and the dominant herbivores at the Canadian site. Thus, most observed leaf damage likely reflects the effect of generalist herbivores that feed heavily on plant species they have not evolved with. At the German site, sap-suckers were the dominant herbivores and showed a pattern consistent with enemy release. Taken together, the consistently lower herbivory on exotics on both continents is not purely a pattern of enemy release in the strict sense, but to some degree additionally reflects the susceptibility of native plants to invasive herbivores. In conclusion, our cross-Atlantic study is consistent with the idea that non-native trees have generally reduced herbivory, regardless of tree community diversity and species identity, but for different reasons depending on the dominant herbivore guild.

opencc-zeroApr 2023View details →

dryad36/100

RapidEye and Landsat remote sensing measures for Sabah Biodiversity Experiment plots

Experiments under controlled conditions have established that ecosystem functioning is generally positively related to levels of biodiversity but it is unclear how widespread these effects are in real-world settings and whether they can be harnessed for ecosystem restoration. We used a long-term, field-scale tropical restoration experiment to test how the diversity of planted trees affected recovery of a 500-ha area of selectively logged forest measured using multiple sources of satellite data. Replanting using species-rich mixtures of tree seedlings with higher phylogenetic and functional diversity accelerated restoration of remote sensing estimates of aboveground biomass, canopy cover and Leaf Area Index. Our results are consistent with a positive relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the lowland dipterocarp rainforests of SE Asia and demonstrate that using diverse mixtures of species can enhance their initial recovery after logging.

opencc-zeroJul 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Pan trap and plant-flower visitor observation data for: Multi-species crop mixtures increase insect biodiversity in an intercropping experiment

<ol> <li>Recent biodiversity declines require action across sectors such as agriculture. The situation is particularly acute for arthropods, a species-rich taxon providing important ecosystem services. To counteract negative consequences of agricultural intensification, creating a less hostile agricultural "matrix" through growing crop mixtures can reduce harm for arthropods without yield losses. </li> <li>While grassland biodiversity experiments showed positive plant biodiversity effects on arthropods, experiments manipulating crop diversity and agrochemical input use to study arthropods are lacking. </li> <li>Here, we experimentally manipulated crop diversity (1–3 species, fallows), crop species (wheat, faba bean, linseed, oilseed rape) and agrochemical input (high vs. low) and studied responses of arthropod biodiversity. We tested if arthropod responses were affected by crop diversity, mixtures and management. Additionally, we measured crop biomass.</li> <li>Crop biomass increased with crop diversity under high-input mangement, while under low management intensity, biomass was highest in two-species mixtures.</li> <li>Increasing crop diversity positively affected arthropod abundance and diversity, both under low- and high-input management. Crop mixtures containing faba bean, linseed or oilseed rape had particularly high arthropod diversity.</li> <li>Mass-flowering crops attracted more arthropods than legumes or cereals. Integrating intercropping into agricultural systems could increase flower visits by insects up to 15 million per hectare, thus likely also supporting pollination and pest-control ecosystem services.</li> <li>Flower-visitor network complexity increased in mixtures containing linseed and faba bean, and under low-input management.</li> <li>Intercropping can counteract insect declines in farmland by creating beneficial matrix habitat without compromising crop yield.</li> </ol>

opencc-zeroJul 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Explaining variation in plant-herbivore associational effects in a tree biodiversity experiment

Within biodiversity-ecosystem function research, a major outstanding question is how herbivory, a critical ecosystem function at the base of the food web, changes along gradients of plant biodiversity. Neighborhood-level associational effects are hypothesized to be a strong driver of biodiversity-herbivory relationships, but we lack a successful framework that explains the wide variation observed in the sign and magnitude of plant-herbivore associational effects, particularly in systems with mainly generalist herbivores. In this study, we combine measurements from a tree biodiversity field experiment with simulation to provide a framework for explaining variation in plant-herbivore associational effects, particularly when herbivores that feed on many different species (e.g., generalists) cause most damage. We show that monoculture herbivory levels of focal species and their neighbors predict the direction and strength of associational effects. We provide evidence that this may be due to a "spillover effect", in which some insect herbivores attracted to focal individuals ultimately end up feeding on neighboring individuals. With an empirically parameterized simulation, we explain how spatial organization modifies biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships when associational effects operate. We suggest a set of experiments to test the generality of our conceptual framework, to elucidate the underlying mechanisms that produce the patterns we find, and to ultimately increase the predictability of plant-herbivore associational effects. We conclude by discussing how our results might inform pest management in diversified agroecosystems and reforestation sites. Synthesis Our results provide a potential framework for explaining why positive and negative plant-herbivore associational effects are often balanced in systems with primarily generalist herbivores and point to a path forward for predicting when increased plant biodiversity will be associated with increased, decreased, or unchanged levels of insect herbivory on individual plant species in such systems.

opencc-zeroOct 2023View details →

dryad36/100