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Floristic diversity in a model system using experimental microcosms

Abstract

Most investigations of floristic diversity have involved studies1–15 of natural vegetation. Progress using these approaches has been limited because some potentially important factors are not amenable to precise field measurement or manipulation. Here we describe an alternative research strategy in which communities were allowed to develop in turf microcosms providing factorial combinations of soil heterogeneity, grazing and mycorrhizal infection, all of which are capable in theory6,10,13,16–19 of promoting diversity. Both grazing and mycorrhizas increased diversity markedly by raising the biomass of the subordinate species relative to that of the canopy dominant. The effect of grazing is shown to be due to the differential sensitivity of the canopy dominant to defoliation. Export of assimilate from canopy to subordinate species through a common mycelial network is likely, together with enhancement of mineral nutrient capture, to be involved in the beneficial effect of mycorrhizas. No major effects of soil heterogeneity upon diversity were detected.

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Grime, J., Mackey, J., Hillier, S. et al. Floristic diversity in a model system using experimental microcosms. Nature 328, 420–422 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/328420a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/328420a0

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