Plant biodiversity and the regeneration of soil fertility
| Autor: | George N. Furey, David Tilman |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
trait trade-offs
Conservation of Natural Resources Perennial plant Nitrogen Biodiversity Plant Development Biology Poaceae complex mixtures Soil Nutrient Cation-exchange capacity Biomass Ecosystem Environmental Restoration and Remediation Soil Microbiology Biomass (ecology) Multidisciplinary Ecology soil fertility food and beverages Fabaceae Biological Sciences carbon storage Plants Grassland Carbon Fertility Agronomy soil restoration Soil water Potassium Monoculture Soil fertility |
| Zdroj: | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
| ISSN: | 1091-6490 0027-8424 |
| Popis: | Significance Both plant biodiversity and soil fertility are in decline. We find that restoration of plant biodiversity on a nutrient-poor, unfertilized soil led to greater increases in soil fertility than occurred when these same plant species grew in monocultures. The plant species in this biodiversity experiment fell along a trade-off surface in their nutrient content traits, precluding any one species, or any one type of species, from markedly increasing soil fertility. Our results have implications for degraded agroecosystems, suggesting that increasing plant functional biodiversity may help restore their soil fertility. Creative applications of our findings to pastures, cover crops, and intercropping systems may provide greenhouse gas benefits from soil carbon storage and reduce the amounts of fertilizers needed for optimal yields. Fertile soils have been an essential resource for humanity for 10,000 y, but the ecological mechanisms involved in the creation and restoration of fertile soils, and especially the role of plant diversity, are poorly understood. Here we use results of a long-term, unfertilized plant biodiversity experiment to determine whether biodiversity, especially plant functional biodiversity, impacted the regeneration of fertility on a degraded sandy soil. After 23 y, plots containing 16 perennial grassland plant species had, relative to monocultures of these same species, ∼30 to 90% greater increases in soil nitrogen, potassium, calcium, magnesium, cation exchange capacity, and carbon and had ∼150 to 370% greater amounts of N, K, Ca, and Mg in plant biomass. Our results suggest that biodiversity, likely in combination with the increased plant productivity caused by higher biodiversity, led to greater soil fertility. Moreover, plots with high plant functional diversity, those containing grasses, legumes, and forbs, accumulated significantly greater N, K, Ca, and Mg in the total nutrient pool (plant biomass and soil) than did plots containing just one of these three functional groups. Plant species in these functional groups had trade-offs between their tissue N content, tissue K content, and root mass, suggesting why species from all three functional groups were essential for regenerating soil fertility. Our findings suggest that efforts to regenerate soil C stores and soil fertility may be aided by creative uses of plant diversity. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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