New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research abstracts

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The importance of local processes to landscape patterns of grassland vegetation diversity

Todd A. White*
Kenneth J. Moore

Department of Agronomy
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011
USA

David J. Barker†

AgResearch Limited
Grasslands Research Centre
Private Bag 11 008
Palmerston North, New Zealand

*Present address: AgResearch Limited, Gerald St, P.O. Box 60, Lincoln, New Zealand.
Email: todd.white@agresearch.co.nz

†Present address: Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.

Abstract  This study aimed to determine the importance of local processes to variation in plant species diversity by comparing soil fertility/diversity relationships across and within different environments. Vegetation diversity and soil fertility were measured in four different grassland communities in southern North Island, New Zealand. Vegetation species richness, Shannon diversity (H´) and evenness (J´) were significantly negatively related to the concentration of most plant nutrients in the soil, only phosphorus being not significantly related. Across-environment diversity/fertility relationships generally agreed with within-environment relationships. We suggest that local-scale processes, influenced by the availability of nutrients, are the key determinants of landscape patterns of vegetation diversity in grassland communities.

Keywords  soil fertility; managed grasslands; scale; New Zealand

A03046; Received 9 August 2003; accepted 19 February 2004; Online publication date 27 May 2004
New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research, 2004, Vol. 47: 199-207
0028-8233/04/4702-0199 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2004

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