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 an old field that is burned every other year. Within the old field, there are 8 blocks, and within each block there are 6 treatments: foliar fungicide, soil drench fungicide, foliar insecticide, mammal exclosure, the combination of all enemy suppression tactics (pesticides and mammal exclosure), and a 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.本实验旨在探究包括植物病原真菌（plant pathogenic fungi）与昆虫害虫在内的天敌类群随时间推移对植物群落组成、生产力及多样性的影响。实验于每两年焚烧一次的弃耕农田中开展，该农田内共设置8个区组，每个区组包含6组处理：叶面杀菌剂（foliar fungicide）处理、灌根杀菌剂（soil drench fungicide）处理、叶面杀虫剂（foliar insecticide）处理、哺乳动物禁入（mammal exclosure）处理、全天敌抑制策略组合处理（农药施用与哺乳动物禁入）以及未处理对照组。实验人员在整个生长季内重复施用农药，并随时间推移对样地内的群落生产力、物种组成、盖度百分比及害虫危害程度进行定量测定。