Communities II Communities II Todaysquestion: Isspeciesrichnessanimportantfactorinhow communitiesfunction? communities function? AKA Doesbiodiversitymatter? Does biodiversity matter?

NOTE:FORTOMORROW,READBIOSKILLS7(p.B9)IN ADDITIONTOTHEPAGESINTHESYLLABUS ADDITION TO THE PAGES IN THE SYLLABUS NOTE2:BRINGACALCUTORTOCLASSFROMNOWON

Firstquestion:Doesplantspeciesrichnessaffect productivity? Primaryproductivity: Pi d ti it

Total energy captured by photosynthesis.

Netprimaryproductivity(NPP):
Total energy in organic material, measured as biomass.

WhyisNPPsoimportant?
It is the primary source of energy for an ecosystem. - It is what everybody else eats.

ExperimentswithNorthAmericanprairies 32speciesin5functionalgroups(differentfunctional groupsuseorallocateresourcesindifferentways) 1.Coolseasongrasses:growinspringandfall 2.Warmseasongrasses:growinsummer g g y 3.Legumes:fixnitrogenviasymbioticbacteria 4.Woodyplants:allocationtowoodystems 5.Forbs:allocationtoseeds,flowers

3mx3mplotsinfield,eachplantedwith032randomly selectedspecies,representing0 5functionalgroups. selected species representing 05 functional groups 2yearsofgrowth;harvestabovegroundtissues

Biomass (g/m2)

Speciesrichness

#functionalgroups

Samplingeffect:
- Some species produce a much higher amount of biomass than others, so it is a matter of sampling to whether we get that species use or not. - Assume existence that a key species exist.

Resourceuseefficiency: Resource use efficiency:

- Different species might use resource in different way, they don't compete, so overall biomass will increase. - More species use might mean more total resources used.

Facilitation:
- Different species "help" another. - Can be mutualistic, can be commensalism. - More species added can be more competition though.

B.Doesplantspeciesrichnessaffectacommunity s B Does plant species richness affect a communitys responsetoadditionofCO2 and/orN?

Interested in those two because we want to see what is the influence of what we are adding to the environment (global warming). - We're adding so much nitrogen it has become a pollutant even though it's "natural".

Experiment: 16speciesin4functionalgroups Random draw: plant 1 4 9 or 16 species in plots Randomdraw:plant1,4,9,or16speciesinplots SupplementwithCO2,N,orCO2+N Wait for growth; harvest and measure aboveground Waitforgrowth;harvestandmeasureaboveground biomass

Ambient="natural" unmanipulated conditions.

C.Doesplantspeciesrichnessaffectresistanceto disturbance? disturbance? Naturalexperiment:Comparebiomassofexperimental plotsbeforedroughtandduringpeakofdrought. plots before drought and during peak of drought Interpretthis p graph.

D.Doesplantspeciesrichnessaffectresilience?(recovery fromdisturbance) from disturbance) Naturalexperiment:Comparebiomassofexperimental plotsbeforedroughtto4yearsafterthedrought. plots before drought to 4 years after the drought Interpretthis graph. graph
Highly unplanned experiment, so error bars are high.

E.Doesplantspeciesrichnessaffectresistancetoinvasion byexotic(nonnative)species? b ti ( ti ) i ? Designanexperimenttoaddressthisquestion.

You can have different groups of plot (say 10 for each condition) with varying species diversity (say 5, 10, 15, 20, 25) and measure biomass of invasive species in each condition. Alternate Experiment: Treatment Group: No invasive (control) with invasive (with low, medium, and high species richness). Control: Sunlight, soil, herbivore, randomizing the field. Outcome Variable: Biomass or survival of invasive species.