title: Selection for niche differentiation in plant communities increases biodiversity effects.
abstract: In experimental plant communities, relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning have been found to strengthen over time, a fact often attributed to increased resource complementarity between species in mixtures and negative plant-soil feedbacks in monocultures. Here we show that selection for niche differentiation between species can drive this increasing biodiversity effect. Growing 12 grassland species in test monocultures and mixtures, we found character displacement between species and increased biodiversity effects when plants had been selected over 8 years in species mixtures rather than in monocultures. When grown in mixtures, relative differences in height and specific leaf area between plant species selected in mixtures (mixture types) were greater than between species selected in monocultures (monoculture types). Furthermore, net biodiversity and complementarity effects were greater in mixtures of mixture types than in mixtures of monoculture types. Our study demonstrates a novel mechanism for the increase in biodiversity effects: selection for increased niche differentiation through character displacement. Selection in diverse mixtures may therefore increase species coexistence and ecosystem functioning in natural communities and may also allow increased mixture yields in agriculture or forestry. However, loss of biodiversity and prolonged selection of crops in monoculture may compromise this potential for selection in the longer term.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies &Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zuppinger-Dingley
authors.affiliation: Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies &Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.affiliation: 1] Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3, 14195 Berlin, Germany [2] Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), 14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Jana S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Petermann
authors.affiliation: Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies &Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Varuna
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Yadav
authors.affiliation: Environmental Sciences, University of Wageningen, Droevendaalsesteeg 4, 6708PB Wageningen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Gerlinde B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: De Deyn
authors.affiliation: 1] Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies &Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland [2] Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02131, USA.
authors.forename: Dan F B
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Flynn
mesh_terms: D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D019659:Asteraceae / Q000502:physiology; D044822:Biodiversity; D005075:Biological Evolution; D018533:Biomass; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000502:physiology; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D006109:Poaceae / Q000502:physiology; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D013997:Time Factors