Communities with more species could have a greater variety of species＇ characteristics, leading to more effective use of limiting resources through niche partitioning （complementarity） and therefore greater product...Communities with more species could have a greater variety of species＇ characteristics, leading to more effective use of limiting resources through niche partitioning （complementarity） and therefore greater production. The effect of phenologlcal complementarity （PC） on ecosystem production has not been fully Investigated. The seasonal responses of all vascular plant species were tracked to test the effect of phenologlcal complementarity on ecosystem production within a natural stable steppe community. Although a significant phenologlcal pattern was observed, PC had no significant correlation with community production. The value of PC varied with years, but was observed only In a relatively narrow range during the experimental period. Species diversity （richness and evenness） had no correlation with the ecosystem production. The results suggest that the effect of PC may be saturated and has no contribution to the improvement of ecosystem production In a stable natural grassland community with abundant species.展开更多
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation （90102011） and National key Basic Research Special Funds （2002CB111505） of China.We thank Mr Wei-Dong Liu, Mr Guang-Li He, Ms Wen-Jing Liu, and Mr Bao-Hui Zhang for practical assistance. Thanks also to Dr Guang-Lian QIN for helpful advice on data analysis and to Drs Sa Xiao, Hui-Min Yang, Xin Luan, Ying Deng and You-Cai Xiong for helpful suggestions on an early version of the manuscript.
文摘Communities with more species could have a greater variety of species＇ characteristics, leading to more effective use of limiting resources through niche partitioning （complementarity） and therefore greater production. The effect of phenologlcal complementarity （PC） on ecosystem production has not been fully Investigated. The seasonal responses of all vascular plant species were tracked to test the effect of phenologlcal complementarity on ecosystem production within a natural stable steppe community. Although a significant phenologlcal pattern was observed, PC had no significant correlation with community production. The value of PC varied with years, but was observed only In a relatively narrow range during the experimental period. Species diversity （richness and evenness） had no correlation with the ecosystem production. The results suggest that the effect of PC may be saturated and has no contribution to the improvement of ecosystem production In a stable natural grassland community with abundant species.
