Abstract
Arising from: D. Tilman, P. B. Reich & J. M. H. Knops Nature 441, 629–632 (2006); Tilman et al. reply
The relationship between species diversity and ecosystem stability is controversial1,2. Tilman et al.3 analyse biomass patterns over a decade in a grassland experiment with artificial plant communities, and provide evidence for a positive relationship between the number of plant species and the temporal stability of the ecosystem. Here we use data from a long-term biodiversity experiment with plant communities that were not controlled by weeding4 in order to show that diverse systems can be both stable and unstable.
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References
Lehman, C. L. & Tilman, D. Am. Nat. 156, 534–552 (2000).
Pfisterer, A. B. & Schmid, B. Nature 416, 84–86 (2002).
Tilman, D., Reich, P. B. & Knops, J. M. H. Nature. 441, 629–632 (2006).
Fukami, T., Bezemer, T. M., Mortimer, S. R. & van der Putten, W. H. Ecol. Lett. 8, 1283–1290 (2005).
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Hooper, D. U. et al. Ecol. Monogr. 75, 3–35 (2005).
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Bezemer, T., van der Putten, W. Diversity and stability in plant communities. Nature 446, E6–E7 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05749
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05749
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