Functional Redundancy Instead of Species Redundancy Determines Community Stability in a Typical Steppe of Inner Mongolia
| Autor: | Yong Ding, Xiaoli Sun, Fang Han, Frank Yonghong Li, Jianming Niu, Wenjing Ma, Saruul Kang, Qing Zhang |
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| Rok vydání: | 2015 |
| Předmět: |
China
Conservation of Natural Resources Steppe Biodiversity lcsh:Medicine Biology Grassland Species Specificity Redundancy (engineering) Ecosystem lcsh:Science Plant Physiological Phenomena geography Multidisciplinary geography.geographical_feature_category business.industry Ecology lcsh:R Environmental resource management Species diversity Plant community Vegetation Plants lcsh:Q business Research Article |
| Zdroj: | PLoS ONE PLoS ONE, Vol 10, Iss 12, p e0145605 (2015) |
| ISSN: | 1932-6203 |
| Popis: | Background The redundancy hypothesis predicts that the species redundancy in a plant community enhances community stability. However, numerous studies in recent years questioned the positive correlation between redundancy and stability. Methodology We explored the relationship between the species redundancy, functional redundancy and community stability in typical steppe grassland in Northern China by sampling grassland vegetation along a gradient of resource availability caused by micro-topography. We aimed to test whether community redundancy enhanced community stability, and to quantify the relative importance of species redundancy and functional redundancy in maintaining community stability. Results Our results showed that the spatial stability of plant community production increases with increased supply of soil resources, and the functional redundancy instead of species diversity or species redundancy is correlated with the community stability. Our results supported the redundancy hypothesis and have implications for sustainable grassland management. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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