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Project properties |
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| Title | Plant biodiversity and ecosystem functioning |
| Group | Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group |
| Project type | thesis |
| Credits | 36 |
| Supervisor(s) | |
| Examiner(s) | Fons van der Plas |
| Contact info | fons.vanderplas@wur.nl |
| Begin date | 2023/01/01 |
| End date | 2026/12/31 |
| Description | Various studies have shown that local losses in plant diversity (also called alpha diversity loss) can decrease the functioning of ecosystems, including their ability to produce biomass. What is less known, is whether another common form of biodiversity loss, whereby plant communities become increasingly similar to each other over time (also called beta diversity loss) also affects ecosystem functioning.
In this project, you will use a field experiment to investigate whether beta diversity loss in grassland plant communities causes a loss in biomass production. Specifically, you will test the hypothesis that due to species sorting, whereby different species grow best in abiotically different environments, a high beta diversity is required in heterogeneous environments to maximize biomass production. |
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