The Paradox of Enrichment in Plant Assemblages: Tests of Three Prominent Hypotheses

9903912Carson生态组合中最引人注目的模式之一是物种丰富度随着资源可用性的增加而下降。这种无处不在的浓缩悖论至少在世纪就已被注意到，但至今仍未得到解释。三个突出的假设，空间资源异质性，殖民限制，组合水平稀疏提供独立的解释富集植物组合的悖论。本研究将使用多年生主导的老田间植物组合中的实验肥力梯度同时测试这三个假设。这三个假说包括三个主要的概念主题，在生态学，以前已经整理来解释多样性和共存的模式。它们并不是相互排斥的，这项研究将能够提供一个完整的解释富集的悖论。目前，实验肥力梯度正在产生富集悖论，随着肥力的提高，光通量和光异质性急剧下降。这项研究现在准备测试这三个假设中的每一个在多大程度上有助于丰富的悖论。

9903912CarsonOne of the most striking patterns within ecological assemblages is the decline in species richness with increasing resource availability. This ubiquitous paradox of enrichment has been noted for at least a century but remains unexplained. Three prominent hypotheses, spatial resource heterogeneity, colonization limitation, and assemblage level thinning offer independent explanations to the paradox of enrichment in plant assemblages. This research will test these three hypotheses simultaneously using an experimental fertility gradient in a perennial dominated old field plant assemblage. These three hypotheses comprise three major conceptual themes in ecology that have previously been marshaled to explain patterns of diversity and coexistence. They are not mutually exclusive, and this research will be able to offer an integrated explanation of the paradox of enrichment. Currently, the experimental fertility gradient is generating the paradox of enrichment, and light quantity and light heterogeneity decline sharply as fertility rises. This research is now poised to test the extent to which each of these three hypotheses contributes to the paradox of enrichment.