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Science 1 May 2009:
Vol. 324. no. 5927, pp. 636 - 638
DOI: 10.1126/science.1169640
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Reports

Competition for Light Causes Plant Biodiversity Loss After Eutrophication

Yann Hautier,1,* Pascal A. Niklaus,1,2 Andy Hector1

Human activities have increased the availability of nutrients in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. In grasslands, this eutrophication causes loss of plant species diversity, but the mechanism of this loss has been difficult to determine. Using experimental grassland plant communities, we found that addition of light to the grassland understory prevented the loss of biodiversity caused by eutrophication. There was no detectable role for competition for soil resources in diversity loss. Thus, competition for light is a major mechanism of plant diversity loss after eutrophication and explains the particular threat of eutrophication to plant diversity. Our conclusions have implications for grassland management and conservation policy and underscore the need to control nutrient enrichment if plant diversity is to be preserved.

1 Institute of Environmental Sciences, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
2 Institute of Plant Sciences, ETH Zürich, Universitätstrasse 2, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: yhautier{at}uwinst.uzh.ch

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Biodiversity Under Global Change.
S. L. Collins (2009)
Science 326, 1353-1354
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Elevated CO2 Reduces Losses of Plant Diversity Caused by Nitrogen Deposition.
P. B. Reich (2009)
Science 326, 1399-1402
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