Root biomass data: Natural Enemies, Plant Diversity and Plant Community Composition

The purpose of this experiment is to determine the influences of natural enemies, including plant pathogenic fungi and insect pests, influence plant community composition, productivity, and diversity over time. The experiment is being conducted in a subset of plots within the Big Biodiversity field, including monoculture, 2-species, 4-species, 8-species, 16-species, and 32-species plots. There are 5 different treatments: foliar fungicide, soil drench fungicide, foliar insecticide, the combination of all pesticides, and nontreated control. The pesticides are applied repeatedly throughout the growing season. Within the plots, community productivity, species composition, percent cover, and pest damage are being quantified over time.

本实验旨在明确包括植物病原真菌与昆虫害虫在内的自然天敌如何随时间推移影响植物群落组成、生产力与多样性。实验在大生物多样性田（Big Biodiversity field）的部分样地中开展，样地类型涵盖单作样地、2物种组合样地、4物种组合样地、8物种组合样地、16物种组合样地及32物种组合样地。本实验共设置5种处理：叶面杀菌剂处理、土壤灌根杀菌剂处理、叶面杀虫剂处理、全农药联用处理以及未处理对照组。农药在整个生长季内重复施用。研究人员正随时间对各实验样地的群落生产力、物种组成、盖度百分比以及害虫危害程度进行量化测定。