NEETBotanyBiodiversity and its Conservation
How does species richness affect year:to:year variation in total biomass according to Tilman's long:term ecosystem experiments?
Options
- APlots with more species showed more year:to:year variation in total biomass
- BPlots with more species showed less year:to:year variation in total biomass
- CThere was no relationship between species richness and year:to:year variation in total biomass
- DThe relationship between species richness and year:to:year variation in total biomass was not determined
Correct answer
B. Plots with more species showed less year:to:year variation in total biomass
Step-by-step solution
A stable community should not show too much variation in productivity from year to year; it must be either resistant or resilient to occasional disturbances (natural or man-made), and it must also be resistant to invasions by alien species. We don’t know how these attributes are linked to species richness in a community, but David Tilman’s long-term ecosystem experiments using outdoor plots provide some tentative answers. Tilman found that plots with more species showed less year-to-year variation in total biomass.