Whose long-term ecosystem experiments using outdoor plots showed that plots with more species had less year-to-year variation in total biomass?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → David Tilman
For many years, ecologists believed that communities with more species tend to be more stable. David Tilman tested this with long-term experiments on outdoor plots. He found that plots with more species showed less year-to-year variation in total biomass, which means they were more stable. He also showed that greater diversity led to higher productivity.
NCERT Extract:
The Importance of Species Diversity to the Ecosystem – “… For many decades, ecologists believed that communities with more species, generally, tend to be more stable than those with less 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. He also showed that in his experiments, increased diversity contributed to higher productivity.”