How Biodiversity Keeps Earth Alive
Thursday, May 3, 2012 - 14:30
in Biology & Nature
In 1994 biologists seeded patches of grassland in Cedar Creek, Minn. Some plots got as many as 16 species of grasses and other plants--and some as few as one. In the first few years plots with eight or more species fared about as well as those with fewer species, suggesting that a complex mix of species--what is known as biodiversity--didn't affect the amount of a plot's leaf, blade, stem and root (or biomass, as scientists call it). But when measured over a longer span--more than a decade--those plots with the most species produced the greatest abundance of plant life. [More]