Soil microbes drive the classic plant diversity–productivity pattern

• DOI: 10.1890/10-0773.1
• Publication Date: 2010-09-21T18:50:46Z
• Authors: Stefan A. Schnitzer; John N. Klironomos; Janneke HilleRisL...; Linda L. Kinkel; Peter B. Reich; Kun Xiao; Matthias C. Rillig; Benjamin A. Sikes; Ragan M. Callaway; Scott A. Mangan; Egbert H. van Nes; Marten Scheffer
• Keywords: Complementarity (molecular biology); Niche differentiation

Ecosystem productivity commonly increases asymptotically with plant species diversity, and determining the mechanisms responsible for this well-known pattern is essential to predict potential changes in ecosystem ongoing loss. Previous studies attributed asymptotic diversity-productivity competition differential resource use (e.g., niche complementarity). Using an analytical model a series of experiments, we demonstrate theoretically empirically that host-specific soil microbes can be major determinants relationship grasslands. In presence microbes, disease decreased increasing increased nearly 500%, primarily because strong effect density-dependent on at low diversity. Correspondingly, was higher plants grown conspecific-trained soils than heterospecific-trained (demonstrating host-specificity), community suggesting primary cause reduced species-poor treatments. sterilized, microbe-free soils, increase number markedly lower measured complementarity weaker determinant relationship. Our results play integral role as