Abstract
A field experiment was carried out at the CSIC Muñovela farm belonging to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in order to evaluate the effect of sowing orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata var. Trerano) and lucerne (Medicago sativa var. Aragon) in monoculture and in combination. The experiment was based on a randomized block designed with a factorial arrangement (5 × 2). Experimental units were 40 plots distributed in four blocks. The phosphorus fertilization (P) factor included two types of conditions: basal fertilization without phosphorus (-P) and basal fertilization with phosphorus (+P), and the vegetation cover factor (T) included five conditions depending on the grass (G) and the legume (L). Above-ground biomass showed statistically significant differences among seasons and years (P Lolium perenne L. and Poa pratensis L. throughout the three years indicated that both species significantly increased their presence over time regardless of the treatments applied. The analysis performed for the other plant species (those other than grasses and legumes) allowed us to determine that the T1 and T5 treatments, which correspond to single species not treated with the application of phosphorus, influenced the presence of 70% of other species planted. Our specific aim was to explore how changing plant biotic diversity affects productivity under a given set of conditions. We manipulated plant species richness as an experimental factor to determine if productivity would be affected by changes in the ratios of plants sown.
Highlights
Several ecosystem processes, such as primary productivity, nutrient retention, and vegetation dynamics are affected by changes in plant species diversity (Hector et al, 1999; Schläpfer & Schmid, 1999; Tilman, 1999; Chapin et al, 2000)
The analysis performed for the other plant species allowed us to determine that the T1 and T5 treatments, which correspond to single species not treated with the application of phosphorus, influenced the presence of 70% of other species planted
By using multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) we found that planting D. glomerata did not determine the presence of grasses
Summary
Several ecosystem processes, such as primary productivity, nutrient retention, and vegetation dynamics are affected by changes in plant species diversity (Hector et al, 1999; Schläpfer & Schmid, 1999; Tilman, 1999; Chapin et al, 2000). Annuals and perennials plant species differ in characteristics related to nutrient retention and turnover, including size, relative growth rate resulting from specific leaf area and leaf nitrogen content (Garnier et al, 1997), rooting depth, root to shoot ratio, and foliage C/N ratio (Hooper & Vitousek, 1997). These characteristics can result in the faster growth of annuals as compared to perennials, and greater instantaneous productivity
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