Intraspecific more than interspecific diversity plays an important role on Inner Mongolia grassland ecosystem functions: A microcosm experiment

Biodiversity changes in terrestrial communities continue in the context of global changes. However, the interactive ef-fects of the changes in diversity at inter-and intraspecific levels as well as cascading effects from plant to soil microor-ganisms on ecosystem functioning under climate changes remains largely unexplored. Using grassland species in the semi-arid Inner Mongolia Steppe, we conducted a microcosm experiment to assess how drought treatment (non-drought and drought conditions), species diversity (2, 4, and 7 species) and genotypic diversity of the dominant species Leymus chinensis (1, 3, and 6 genotypes) affected ecosystem functions directly or indirectly via regulating plant commu-nity functional structure [community-weighted mean (CWM) and functional dispersion (FDis)] and soil microbial di-versity (Shannon-Wiener index). Drought treatment, species and genotypic diversity significantly and interactively affected soil N, P cycle and soil multifunctionality as well as soil microbial diversity. Drought treatment significantly affected biomass, soil C cycle, CWM and soil microbial diversity. Species diversity significantly affected soil N cycle, CWM and FDis, and genotypic diversity significantly affected all soil functions and soil microbial diversity. CWM reg-ulated the responses of all ecosystem functions except soil N cycle to the changes in soil moisture and species diversity, which supports the mass ratio hypothesis. The cascading effect from genotypic diversity to soil microbial diversity was significant on belowground biomass but not on any of the other ecosystem functions observed in this study. These find-ings highlight the importance of genotypic diversity of the dominant species L. chinensis in affecting belowground eco-system functioning as well as soil microbial diversity, which should not be ignored for grassland protection and management. This study provides further insights into biodiversity and ecosystem functioning mechanisms in semi -arid grasslands in the context of global climate changes.

Automated summary

This study examines the interactive effects of drought treatment, species diversity, and genotypic diversity on ecosystem functioning in grassland communities. The results demonstrate that these factors significantly impact soil nutrient cycling, soil multifunctionality, and soil microbial diversity. Genotypic diversity has a particularly important role in affecting belowground ecosystem functioning and soil microbial diversity.