Long-term persistence of a positive plant diversity-productivity relationship in the absence of legumes

摘要: Most studies investigating the relationship between plant diversity and ecosystem functioning lasted only a few years. These generally showed positive productivity that strengthened with time. This pattern suggests experimental communities have not yet reached maturity, which raises question whether will remain if approach equilibrium conditions. Here, we analyze eight years of data from experiment without legumes. A arose in second year increased until fifth year. persisted throughout remainder experiment, but slope remained constant at approximately 50 g/m2/log2[richness]. The was caused by strong complementarity effects, initially after fourth experiment. Our results show is long-term phenomenon, driven complementary interactions.