change in diversity-productivity relationship along vegetative succession

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Diversity-productivity hypothesis predicts that community productivity increases with increasing species richness in a plant community. Many studies demonstrated this relationship under artificially synthesized, plant communities. In contrast, natural plant communities often showed no patterns or negative patterns. Mechanisms reconciling this contradiction between artificial and natural communities remain unclear. This study hypothesized that diversity-productivity relationship would change with the progress of vegetative succession. To test this hypothesis, a field experiment with manipulation of successional stages was conducted in a semi-natural grassland. The result demonstrated that in the treatment of early successional stage, species richness was positively correlated with biomass, but not in the treatment of late successional stage. This finding indicates ecosystem functioning of biodiversity will change with time, such as vegetation dynamics, succession, and disturbance.