THE EFFECTS OF PLANT COMPOSITION AND DIVERSITY ON ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES

The relative effects of plant richness (the number of plant functional groups) and composition (the identity of the plant functional groups) on primary productivity and soil nitrogen pools were tested experimen tally, Differences in plant composition explained more of the variatio n in production and nitrogen dynamics than did the number of functiona l groups present. Thus, it is possible to identify and differentiate a mong potential mechanisms underlying patterns of ecosystem response to variation in plant diversity, with implications for resource manageme nt.