Department of Plant Biology and Center for Ecology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, 62901, USA.
Department of Environmental Systems Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland.
Ecol Appl. 2017 Mar;27(2):355-362. doi: 10.1002/eap.1503.
The positive relationship between plant diversity and ecosystem functioning has been criticized for its applicability at large scales and in less controlled environments that are relevant to land management. To inform this gap between ecological theory and application, we compared recovery rates of belowground properties using two chronosequences consisting of continuously cultivated and independently restored fields with contrasting diversity management strategies: grasslands restored with high plant richness and managed for diversity with frequent burning (n = 20) and grasslands restored with fewer species that were infrequently burned (n = 15). Restoration and management for plant diversity resulted in 250% higher plant richness. Greater recovery of roots and more predictable recovery of the active microbial biomass across the high diversity management strategy chronosequence corresponded with faster recovery of soil structure. The high diversity grasslands also had greater nutrient conservation indicated by lower available inorganic nitrogen. Thus, mesic grasslands restored with more species and managed for high plant diversity with frequent burning enhances the rate of belowground ecosystem recovery from long-term disturbance at a scale relevant to conservation practices on the landscape.
植物多样性与生态系统功能之间的正相关关系因其在大尺度和对土地管理相关的控制较少的环境中的适用性而受到批评。为了填补生态理论与应用之间的这一空白，我们比较了两种时间序列中地下特性的恢复速率，这两种时间序列由连续耕种和独立恢复的农田组成，具有不同的多样性管理策略：用高植物丰富度和经常燃烧（n=20）管理多样性恢复的草地，以及用较少物种和不常燃烧（n=15）管理多样性的草地。恢复和管理植物多样性导致植物丰富度增加了 250%。在高多样性管理策略时间序列中，根系的恢复程度更高，活性微生物生物量的恢复更可预测，这与土壤结构的更快恢复相对应。高多样性草地也具有更高的养分保持能力，表现为无机氮的可用性较低。因此，在与景观保护实践相关的尺度上，用更多物种和经常燃烧来管理高植物多样性恢复的湿润草地，增强了地下生态系统从长期干扰中恢复的速度。
