Multispectral Radiometry percent reflectance: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.