Increasing effects of chronic nutrient enrichment on plant diversity loss and ecosystem productivity over time

Human activities are enriching many of Earth’s ecosystems with biologically limiting mineral nutrients such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). In grasslands, this enrichment generally reduces plant diversity and increases productivity. The widely demonstrated positive effect of diversity on product...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Seabloom, Eric, Adler, Peter, Alberti, Juan, Biederman, Lori, Buckley, Yvonne M., Cadotte, Marc W., Collins, Scott L., Dee, Laura, Fay, Philip A., Firn, Jennifer, Hagenah, Nicole, Harpole, W. Stanley, Hautier, Yann, Hector, Andy, Hobbie, Sarah E., Isbell, Forest, Knops, Johannes M. H., Komatsu, Kimberly J., Laungani, Ramesh, MacDougall, Andrew, McCulley, Rebecca L., Moore, Joslin L., Morgan, John W., Ohlert, Timothy, Prober, Suzanne M., Risch, Anita C., Schuetz, Martin, Stevens, Carly J., Borer, Elizabeth
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/168109
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/168109
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:BIODIVERSITY
COMMUNITY ECOLOGY
ECOSYSTEM ECOLOGY, GRASSLANDS
NUTNET
NUTRIENT NETWORK
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
Descripción
Sumario:Human activities are enriching many of Earth’s ecosystems with biologically limiting mineral nutrients such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). In grasslands, this enrichment generally reduces plant diversity and increases productivity. The widely demonstrated positive effect of diversity on productivity suggests a potential negative feedback, whereby nutrient-induced declines in diversity reduce the initial gains in productivity arising from nutrient enrichment. In addition, plant productivity and diversity can be inhibited by accumulations of dead biomass, which may be altered by nutrient enrichment. Over longer time frames, nutrient addition may increase soil fertility by increasing soil organic matter and nutrient pools. We examined the effects of 5–11 yr of nutrient addition at 47 grasslands in 12 countries. Nutrient enrichment increased aboveground live biomass and reduced plant diversity at nearly all sites, and these effects became stronger over time. We did not find evidence that nutrient-induced losses of diversity reduced the positive effects of nutrients on biomass; however, nutrient effects on live biomass increased more slowly at sites where litter was also increasing, regardless of plant diversity. This work suggests that short-term experiments may underestimate the long-term nutrient enrichment effects on global grassland ecosystems.