TY - JOUR
T1 - Biodiversity effects on soil processes explained by interspecific functional dissimilarity.
AU - Heemsbergen, D.A.
AU - Berg, M.P.
AU - Loreau, M.
AU - van Hal, J.R.
AU - Faber, J.H.
AU - Verhoef, H.A.
PY - 2004
Y1 - 2004
N2 - The loss of biodiversity can have significant impacts on ecosystem functioning, but the mechanisms involved lack empirical confirmation. Using soil microcosms, we show experimentally that functional dissimilarity among detritivorous species, not species number, drives community compositional effects on leaf litter mass loss and soil respiration, two key soil ecosystem processes. These experiments confirm theoretical predictions that biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning can be predicted by the degree of functional differences among species.
AB - The loss of biodiversity can have significant impacts on ecosystem functioning, but the mechanisms involved lack empirical confirmation. Using soil microcosms, we show experimentally that functional dissimilarity among detritivorous species, not species number, drives community compositional effects on leaf litter mass loss and soil respiration, two key soil ecosystem processes. These experiments confirm theoretical predictions that biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning can be predicted by the degree of functional differences among species.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/8344221256
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=8344221256&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1126/science.1101865
DO - 10.1126/science.1101865
M3 - Article
SN - 0036-8075
VL - 306
SP - 1019
EP - 1020
JO - Science
JF - Science
ER -
