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Genotypic diversity of an invasive plant species promotes litter decomposition and associated processes

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Abstract

Following studies that showed negative effects of species loss on ecosystem functioning, newer studies have started to investigate if similar consequences could result from reductions of genetic diversity within species. We tested the influence of genotypic richness and dissimilarity (plots containing one, three, six or 12 genotypes) in stands of the invasive plant Solidago canadensis in China on the decomposition of its leaf litter and associated soil animals over five monthly time intervals. We found that the logarithm of genotypic richness was positively linearly related to mass loss of C, N and P from the litter and to richness and abundance of soil animals on the litter samples. The mixing proportion of litter from two sites, but not genotypic dissimilarity of mixtures, had additional effects on measured variables. The litter diversity effects on soil animals were particularly strong under the most stressful conditions of hot weather in July: at this time richness and abundance of soil animals were higher in 12-genotype litter mixtures than even in the highest corresponding one-genotype litter. The litter diversity effects on decomposition were in part mediated by soil animals: the abundance of Acarina, when used as covariate in the analysis, fully explained the litter diversity effects on mass loss of N and P. Overall, our study shows that high genotypic richness of S. canadensis leaf litter positively affects richness and abundance of soil animals, which in turn accelerate litter decomposition and P release from litter.

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Acknowledgments

The experiments comply with the current laws of the country (China) in which the experiments were performed. We thank Xiaogang Wang for nutrient determination, Yaobin Song and Zhiheng Wang for valuable suggestions, Pascal A. Niklaus for help with data analysis and Minyan Cui and Bangquan Gao for help in the field. We also thank the associate editor and two anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. This study was supported by the Agricultural Commission of Shanghai (2003-15-3), the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai (10dz1200703, 2010BAK69B14-2), and the 211 Project of East China Normal University. B. S. was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant no. 130720).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanghai Key Laboratory for Ecological Processes and Restoration in Urban Areas, Department of Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China

    Xiao-Yan Wang, Yuan Miao, Shuo Yu & Xiao-Yong Chen

  2. School of Life Science, Taizhou University, Taizhou, 318000, Zhejiang, China

    Xiao-Yan Wang

  3. Shanghai FocusArray Bio Technology Company Limited, 953 North Qinzhou Road, Shanghai, 200233, China

    Yuan Miao

  4. Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland

    Bernhard Schmid

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  1. Xiao-Yan Wang
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  2. Yuan Miao
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  5. Bernhard Schmid
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Correspondence to Bernhard Schmid.

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Wang, XY., Miao, Y., Yu, S. et al. Genotypic diversity of an invasive plant species promotes litter decomposition and associated processes. Oecologia 174, 993–1005 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2816-3

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