Plant biodiversity and the regeneration of soil fertility
Both plant biodiversity and soil fertility are in decline. We find that restoration of plant biodiversity on a nutrient-poor, unfertilized soil led to greater increases in soil fertility than occurred when these same plant species grew in monocultures. The plant species in this biodiversity experiment fell along a trade-off surface in their nutrient content traits, precluding any one species, or any one type of species, from markedly increasing soil fertility. Our results have implications for d...
United States Cedar Creek University Of Minnesota Troy Mielke University Of Minnesota Research Analytical Laboratory Laboratory Analysis Of Soil Samples
Source: pnas.org