Biodiv Sci ›› 2006, Vol. 14 ›› Issue (1): 21-28.  DOI: 10.1360/biodiv.050146

Special Issue: 青藏高原生物多样性与生态安全

• 论文 • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The relationship between species richness and productivity in four typical grasslands of northern China

Wenhong Ma*,Jingyun Fang   

  1. Department of Ecology, College of Environmental Sciences, Center for Ecological Research & Education, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University, Beijing 100871
  • Received:2005-07-01 Revised:2005-12-21 Online:2006-01-20 Published:2006-01-20
  • Contact: Wenhong Ma

Abstract: The relationship between plant species diversity and primary productivity has long been a hot topic in biodiversity research. We examined the relationship between species richness and productivity in four typical grasslands of northern China at different spatial scales. At the community scale, a positive correlation was found for six of seven communities, and a unimodal pattern was found only for one community (Stipa glareosa community). At large scale (vegetation type or landscape/region), a significant positive relationship was found. Species richness ranged from 4 to 35 species, and community above-ground productivity from 13 to 368 g·m–2·yr–1. The highest species richness and above-ground productivity were found in the alpine meadow community, followed by meadow steppe, typical steppe and desert steppe.