Is the outcome of species interactions sensitive to species relative abundances?
Polley, Wayne*,1, Wilsey, Brian2, Tischler, Charles1, 1 USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Temple, TX2 Iowa State University, Ames, IA ABSTRACT- Species relative abundances usually are not rigorously controlled in experiments to test relationships between plant production and species richness. What effect, if any, uncontrolled variation in relative abundances has on richness experiments depends on how sensitive species interactions are to differences in relative abundances. We grew perennial grasses and forbs that co-occur in grasslands in central Texas in field plots (1 m X 1 m) as equal-density monocultures and two-species mixtures. Evenness (1:1 or 3:1 ratio of plants by species) and the identity of the dominant species in 3:1 assemblages was varied in replicated mixtures. After one growing season, we calculated the relative yields of species in mixtures to determine the sensitivity of the net biodiversity effect [NBE; Loreau and Hector (2001)] to differences in species relative ab
Related Questions
- Would you agree that scientists disagree about the relative importance of natural selection, sexual selection, chance, species, hibernation, and other factors which all influence evolution?
- Is FSCU available to answer questions relative to CALSTARS reports when auditors have sensitive questions they do not want to discuss with internal accounting staff?
- What are the relative abundances of Prochlorococcus prophage in natural communities?
