In Brief
Biodiversity affects soil productivity
Researchers from UFZ and Forschungszentrum Jülich collaborated in a long-term field experiment near Jena which has now been completed. The goal was to study how the biodiversity of plants impacts the functioning of the entire food web. The lower levels of the food web react more sensitively to the decline of plant species than higher levels.
"For example, a decline in plant diversity can also result in a decline in the diversity of herbivores, predatory species, parasites and omnivores which in turn affects interactions such as the pollination of flowering plants or the symbiosis between mushrooms and plants," explains Dr Christoph Scherber from the University of Göttingen, lead author of the publication which summarises the data from 15 subprojects. To the contrary, a greater diversity of plant species prevents foreign plant species from entering the natural community and reduces the intensity of infestation of the plants with pathogenic fungi.
The experiment also included studies on effects in the soil. To this end, the diversity of mycorrhiza fungi, which live in symbiosis with plant roots, was studied. In this symbiotic community which pervades the soil like a giant system of pipes, the fungi supply the plants with soil nutrients and receive carbohydrates from the plants in return. The studies showed that as the number of plant species increased, so did the number of types of fungi. This also had a positive effect on the soil water content and with it productivity. According to Dr Stephan König from UFZ, "Although these fungi have existed on earth for over 400 million years, we still know comparatively little about them. This knowledge could however potentially help us in the future to increase agricultural production with such fungi and thus reduce our use of fertilisers and their negative effects on the environment."
More information:
www.helmholtz.de/ufz-jena-experiment
www.helmholtz.de/fzj-jena-experiment
Researchers from UFZ and Forschungszentrum Jülich collaborated in a long-term field experiment near Jena which has now been completed. The goal was to study how the biodiversity of plants impacts the functioning of the entire food web. The lower levels of the food web react more sensitively to the decline of plant species than higher levels.
"For example, a decline in plant diversity can also result in a decline in the diversity of herbivores, predatory species, parasites and omnivores which in turn affects interactions such as the pollination of flowering plants or the symbiosis between mushrooms and plants," explains Dr Christoph Scherber from the University of Göttingen, lead author of the publication which summarises the data from 15 subprojects. To the contrary, a greater diversity of plant species prevents foreign plant species from entering the natural community and reduces the intensity of infestation of the plants with pathogenic fungi.
The experiment also included studies on effects in the soil. To this end, the diversity of mycorrhiza fungi, which live in symbiosis with plant roots, was studied. In this symbiotic community which pervades the soil like a giant system of pipes, the fungi supply the plants with soil nutrients and receive carbohydrates from the plants in return. The studies showed that as the number of plant species increased, so did the number of types of fungi. This also had a positive effect on the soil water content and with it productivity. According to Dr Stephan König from UFZ, "Although these fungi have existed on earth for over 400 million years, we still know comparatively little about them. This knowledge could however potentially help us in the future to increase agricultural production with such fungi and thus reduce our use of fertilisers and their negative effects on the environment."
More information:
www.helmholtz.de/ufz-jena-experiment
www.helmholtz.de/fzj-jena-experiment
