Environmental conditions influence the plant functional diversity effect on potential denitrification.
Abstract
Global biodiversity loss has prompted research on the relationship between species
diversity and ecosystem functioning. Few studies have examined how plant diversity
impacts belowground processes; even fewer have examined how varying resource levels
can influence the effect of plant diversity on microbial activity. In a field experiment
in a restored wetland, we examined the role of plant trait diversity (or functional
diversity, (FD)) and its interactions with natural levels of variability of soil properties,
on a microbial process, denitrification potential (DNP). We demonstrated that FD significantly
affected microbial DNP through its interactions with soil conditions; increasing FD
led to increased DNP but mainly at higher levels of soil resources. Our results suggest
that the effect of species diversity on ecosystem functioning may depend on environmental
factors such as resource availability. Future biodiversity experiments should examine
how natural levels of environmental variability impact the importance of biodiversity
to ecosystem functioning.
Type
Journal articleSubject
BiodiversityBiomass
Denitrification
Ecosystem
Environment
Metabolic Networks and Pathways
Models, Biological
Oxidation-Reduction
Plant Physiological Phenomena
Plants
Soil
Soil Microbiology
Wetlands
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/15721Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1371/journal.pone.0016584Publication Info
Sutton-Grier, Ariana E; Wright, Justin P; McGill, Bonnie M; & Richardson, Curtis (2011). Environmental conditions influence the plant functional diversity effect on potential
denitrification. PLoS One, 6(2). pp. e16584. 10.1371/journal.pone.0016584. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/15721.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Curtis J. Richardson
John O. Blackburn Distinguished Professor
Curtis J. Richardson is Professor of Resource Ecology and founding Director of the
Duke University Wetland Center in the Nicholas School of the Environment. Dr. Richardson
earned his degrees from the State University of New York and the University of Tennessee.
His research interests in applied ecology focus on long-term ecosystem response to
large-scale perturbations such as climate change, toxic materials, trace metals, flooding,
or nutrient additions. He has specific interests in phosphor
Justin Prouty Wright
Professor of Biology
My research focuses on understanding the causes and consequences of patterns of biological
diversity across the planet. I am particularly interested in two broad questions:
1)How does the modification of the environment by organisms affect community structure
and ecosystem function? and 2) what aspects of biodiversity matter most in the regulation
of ecosystem function? While much of my research has focused on wetland plant communities,
I am willing to study any organism and work in any ecosys
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