Study: Biodiversity Supports Plant Species

U.S. scientists say ecosystems containing many different plant species are more productive and can cope with various threats, including climate extremes.

The researchers said such ecosystems can better handle weather conditions, pests and diseases over long periods. The study is the first to gather enough data — during a sufficient time and in a controlled environment — to confirm a 50-year scientific debate about whether biodiversity stabilizes ecosystems.

The findings are the result of 12 years of experiments conducted by University of Minnesota ecologists David Tilman and Peter Reich, along with Johannes Knops of the University of Nebraska. The research was conducted at the Cedar Creek Long-Term Ecological Research site, one of 26 such National Science Foundation sites.

This study clearly demonstrates that stability of a plant community through time increases as species richness goes up, said Martyn Caldwell, program director in NSF’s Division of Environmental Biology, which funded the research.

Biodiversity of global ecosystems has decreased as global population has increased, said Tilman, because diverse ecosystems such as forests and prairies have been cleared to make way for development.

The research is detailed in this week’s issue of the journal Nature.