Diversity 2026, 18(2), 106; https://doi.org/10.3390/d18020106 (registering DOI) - 7 Feb 2026
Abstract
Although the central focus of ecology has long been the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, this relationship has rarely been explored in species-poor communities such as salt marshes, which have the potential to shed new light on this debate. We conducted two
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Although the central focus of ecology has long been the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, this relationship has rarely been explored in species-poor communities such as salt marshes, which have the potential to shed new light on this debate. We conducted two microcosm experiments, each testing a different environmental variable (salinity or disturbance) and its interaction with the plant community’s richness and species composition, using all possible combinations of the three sedge species found in the pioneer plant community in the Yangtze River Estuary. The relationships between diversity and productivity were weak and non-significant, possibly due to intense competition among the sedges. Species composition played a more important role in determining productivity. Moreover, biodiversity effects were found to be environment-dependent. Salinity stress increased the selection effect, while disturbance tended to increase both selection and complementarity effects. Interestingly, the correlation between biodiversity and stability was non-linear and presented different patterns in the salinity and disturbance experiments. Our results show that species-poor systems with low functional group diversity may exhibit weak relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning during the establishment phase under controlled experimental conditions. In this ecosystem, species richness rarely impacted biomass, which was instead primarily driven by species composition and environmental conditions.
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(This article belongs to the Section Plant Diversity)
