Functional Redundancy Instead of Species Redundancy Determines Community Stability in a Typical Steppe of Inner Mongolia.
Functional Redundancy Instead of Species Redundancy Determines Community Stability in a Typical Steppe of Inner Mongolia.
复制标题
内蒙古典型草原群落稳定性由功能冗余而非物种冗余决定
DOI:
10.1371/journal.pone.0145605
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发表时间:
2015
期刊:
影响因子:
3.7
通讯作者:
Sun X
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
Kang S;Ma W;Li FY;Zhang Q;Niu J;Ding Y;Han F;Sun X
Background The redundancy hypothesis predicts that the species redundancy in a plant community enhances community stability. However, numerous studies in recent years questioned the positive correlation between redundancy and stability. Methodology We explored the relationship between the species redundancy, functional redundancy and community stability in typical steppe grassland in Northern China by sampling grassland vegetation along a gradient of resource availability caused by micro-topography. We aimed to test whether community redundancy enhanced community stability, and to quantify the relative importance of species redundancy and functional redundancy in maintaining community stability. Results Our results showed that the spatial stability of plant community production increases with increased supply of soil resources, and the functional redundancy instead of species diversity or species redundancy is correlated with the community stability. Our results supported the redundancy hypothesis and have implications for sustainable grassland management.