title: Aboveground overyielding in grassland mixtures is associated with reduced biomass partitioning to belowground organs.
abstract: We investigated effects of plant species richness in experimental grassland plots on annual above- and belowground biomass production estimated from repeated harvests and ingrowth cores, respectively. Aboveground and total biomass production increased with increasing plant species richness while belowground production remained constant. Root to shoot biomass production ratios (R/S) in mixtures were lower than expected from monoculture performance of the species present in the mixtures, showing that interactions among species led to reduced biomass partitioning to belowground organs. This change in partitioning to belowground organs was not confined to mixtures with legumes, but also measured in mixtures without legumes, and correlated with aboveground overyielding in mixtures. It is suggested that species-rich communities invest less in belowground biomass than do monocultures to extract soil resources, thus leading to increased investment into aboveground organs and overyielding.
authors: Institute of Plant Nutrition, Humboldt-University zu Berlin, Landwirtschaftlich-Gärtnerische Fakultät, FG Pflanzenernährung und Düngung, Unter den Linden 6, D-10099 Berlin, Germany.
authors: Holger
authors: H
authors: Bessler
authors: Vicky M
authors: VM
authors: Temperton
authors: Christiane
authors: C
authors: Roscher
authors: Nina
authors: N
authors: Buchmann
authors: Bernhard
authors: B
authors: Schmid
authors: Ernst-Detlef
authors: ED
authors: Schulze
authors: Wolfgang W
authors: WW
authors: Weisser
authors: Christof
authors: C
authors: Engels
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D018533:Biomass; D063245:Plant Development; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000254:growth & development*; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000254:growth & development; D011156:Population Density; D011157:Population Dynamics