Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St Paul, United States
Anika Lehmann
Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Berlin, Germany
Mengyun Liu
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany; Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Alfred Lochner
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
Matthias C Rillig
Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research, Berlin, Germany
Anja Vogel
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany; Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany; Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
Kally Worm
Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St Paul, United States
Peter B Reich
Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St Paul, United States; Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia
Biodiversity increases ecosystem functions underpinning a suite of services valued by society, including services provided by soils. To test whether, and how, future environments alter the relationship between biodiversity and multiple ecosystem functions, we measured grassland plant diversity effects on single soil functions and ecosystem multifunctionality, and compared relationships in four environments: ambient conditions, elevated atmospheric CO2, enriched N supply, and elevated CO2 and N in combination. Our results showed that plant diversity increased three out of four soil functions and, consequently, ecosystem multifunctionality. Remarkably, biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships were similarly significant under current and future environmental conditions, yet weaker with enriched N supply. Structural equation models revealed that plant diversity enhanced ecosystem multifunctionality by increasing plant community functional diversity, and the even provision of multiple functions. Conserving local plant diversity is therefore a robust strategy to maintain multiple valuable ecosystem services in both present and future environmental conditions.
