SynthesisNature ecology & evolution2022
Meta-analysis shows that plant mixtures increase soil phosphorus availability and plant productivity in diverse ecosystems.
Synthesis in Nature ecology & evolution, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 196 citations in OpenAlex.
- Species mixing promotes plant biomass accumulation and nutrient cycling in forest plantations.Communications biology · 2026Pooled it
- Crop rotation differentially increases soil bacterial and fungal diversities in global croplands: a meta-analysis.Nature communications · 2025Pooled it
- Accelerated polyethylene biodegradation in soil through carbon nanomaterial-primed rhizospheres.Environmental science and ecotechnology · 2026Article
- The Plant-to-Plant Circular Strategy: Coupling Photodegradation and Phytoremediation With Plant-Based Nanomaterials for Plastic Degradation.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Fertility-Associated Soil Chemistry Predominantly Influence Gut Microbiota Diversity in Goitered Gazelles of the Qaidam Basin, China.Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Divergent Successional Patterns ofMicroorganisms · 2026Article
- Effect of reduced phosphorus fertilizer application on the physical properties and chemical composition of 15 roasted tobacco leaves.Open life sciences · 2026Article
- Concentration-Dependent N-P Interactions Cause Organ-Specific Responses and Nutrient Allocation in Poplar Seedlings.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Contrasting Trends in Plant Diversity and Soil Carbon Mineralization Under Precipitation-Driven Vegetation and Soil Carbon Dynamics in the Mongolian Plateau.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Un(der)explored links between plant diversity and particulate and mineral-associated organic matter in soil.Nature communications · 2025Review
- Global evidence for a positive relationship between tree species richness and ecosystem photosynthesis.Nature plants · 2025Article
- Understory shrub diversity: equally vital as overstory tree diversity to promote forest productivity.National science review · 2025Article
- Early Response of Rhizosphere Microbial Community Network Characteristics to Thinning Intensity inMicroorganisms · 2025Article
- Rhythmic radial oxygen loss enhances soil phosphorus bioavailability.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Soil aggregates regulate microbial drivers of phosphorus fractions under mowing and phosphorus addition.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- Long-term stability of productivity increases with tree diversity in Canadian forests.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Assessment of rice rhizosphere-isolated bacteria for their ability to stimulate plant growth and their antagonistic effects against3 Biotech · 2024Article
- Soil pH enhancement and alterations in nutrient and Bacterial Community profiles following Pleioblastus amarus expansion in tea plantations.BMC plant biology · 2024Article
- Impact of Intercropping Five Medicinal Plants on Soil Nutrients, Enzyme Activity, and Microbial Community Structure inMicroorganisms · 2024Article
- Biodegradation of mixed litter-derived dissolved organic matter with varying evenness in a temperate freshwater wetland.Oecologia · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Soil phosphorus (P) availability is critical to plant productivity in many terrestrial ecosystems. How soil P availability responds to changes in plant diversity remains uncertain, despite the global crisis of rapid biodiversity loss. Our meta-analysis based on 180 studies across various ecosystems (croplands, grasslands, forests and pot experiments) shows that, on average, soil total P, phosphatase activity and available P are 6.8%, 8.5% and 4.6%, respectively, higher in species mixtures than in monocultures. The mixture effect on phosphatase activity becomes more positive with increasing species and functional group richness, with more pronounced increases in the rhizosphere than in the bulk soil. The mixture effects on soil-available P in the bulk soil do not change, but with increasing species or functional group richness these effects in the rhizosphere soil shift from positive to negative. Nonetheless, enhanced soil phosphatase activity stimulated available P in diverse species mixtures, offsetting increased plant uptake effects that decrease soil-available P. Moreover, the enhancement effects of species richness on soil phosphatase activity are positively associated with increased plant productivity. Our findings highlight that preserving plant diversity could increase soil phosphatase activity and P availability, which sustain the current and future productivity of terrestrial ecosystems.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.