Shedding light on declines in diversity of grassland plants

Allan, Eric (2022). Shedding light on declines in diversity of grassland plants. Nature, 611(7935), pp. 240-241. Springer Nature 10.1038/d41586-022-03458-1

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A field experiment provides a new way to investigate the mechanisms by which grazing, fertilizer use and light availability can affect the biodiversity of a grassland plant community.
How different plant species coexist is a central question in ecology. In an era of global change and rapid species loss, understanding the mechanisms that affect biodiversity is a matter of urgency. Research shows that adding nutrients to the soil through the use of fertilizer, or removing large grazing animals, such as cattle and sheep, reduces the diversity of plant species in grasslands. Plants generally grow taller when nutrients are added or when grazers are removed, and these tall, fast-growing plants are thought to reduce diversity because they can monopolize access to light and shade out smaller plants.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Further Contribution)

Division/Institute:

10 Strategic Research Centers > Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS)
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS) > Biodiversity

UniBE Contributor:

Allan, Eric

Subjects:

500 Science > 580 Plants (Botany)

ISSN:

1476-4687

Publisher:

Springer Nature

Language:

English

Submitter:

Peter Alfred von Ballmoos-Haas

Date Deposited:

03 Mar 2023 09:54

Last Modified:

14 Mar 2023 20:53

Publisher DOI:

10.1038/d41586-022-03458-1

PubMed ID:

36323896

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/179467

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/179467

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