Journal Number 1: JPL

JPL is the least disturbed park because there was relatively little human activity that disrupted the natural ecosystem of the park. The area was full of plants in comparison to all the other sites. This is reflected in the native trees working together to create a healthier ecosystem because it comes with several benefits from other phyla. For instance, it also recorded that JPL had the most biodiversity across the board in all phyla. In iNaturalist, it was concluded that there was a high abundance of a few particular native species and very little non-native species. Based on the evidence, JPL was concluded to be the healthiest site. According to the article “Increasing Native, but Not Exotic, Biodiversity Increases Aboveground Productivity in Ungrazed and Intensely Grazed Grasslands”, the study showed the increasing the quantity of native plants help increase productivity by 42% and light interception by 44%. This is reflected in the appearance of the JPL because of the large biomass of native plants and the vibrancy of the plants. It was also noted that the root system in between plants seems heavily connected across the site; this can indicate the increased productivity. It is also able to adapt to sudden changes in the experiment conducted at different temperatures. JPL showed little change in its biodiversity when it was exposed to different temperatures. In the article “Context-dependency and the effects of species diversity on ecosystem function” demonstrate that effects of native diversity assist in community productivity and resistance to exotic invasion. This explains why there is little nonnative plant dominance because of the ecosystem resistance to its presence. It was found that “species-independent complementarity effect was the main contributor to the diversity effect on native plant cover, which increased as species richness in polycultures increased”. This describes the conditions at JPL with its richness in biodiversity because of the native plants as the major contributor. Based on the evidence, JPL was the healthiest site we have visited.

References:
Isbell, Forest I.1,2, forest.isbell@mail.mcgill.ca and Brian J.1, bwilsey@iastate.edu Wilsey.
"Increasing Native, but Not Exotic, Biodiversity Increases Aboveground Productivity in Ungrazed and Intensely Grazed Grasslands." Oecologia, vol. 165, no. 3, Mar. 2011, pp.
771-781. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s00442-010-1877-9.

Liao, Huixuan, et al. "Context-Dependency and the Effects of Species Diversity on Ecosystem Function." Biological Invasions, vol. 18, no. 10, 2016, pp. 3063-3079, Biology Database,https://login.ezp.pasadena.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1816295721?accountid=28371, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10530-016-1202-6.

Publicado el 10 de diciembre de 2017 a las 10:09 PM por lili11