Long-term effects of nutrient addition on yield, diversity, and nutritional quality in a Mediterranean grassland under variable rainfall

[EN]Global eutrophication and increased precipitation variability affect the dynamics of Mediterranean grasslands, with significant implications for their stability, conservation, and functions, such as providing livestock feed and preserving biodiversity. This study investigates the long-term effec...

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Autores: Fernández Habas, Jesús, Nogueira, Carla, Caldeira, Maria Conceição, Saro Higuera, Cristina, Carreira, Mariana, Bugalho, Miguel N.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad de León
Repositorio:BULERIA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de León
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:buleria_____::cd305fb7b2e13be0aa6362a3188016dc
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10612/28471
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Producción animal
Fertilisation
Grassland productivity
Grassland species composition
Forage quality
NutNet
3104 Producción Animal
3103.10 Pastos
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spelling Long-term effects of nutrient addition on yield, diversity, and nutritional quality in a Mediterranean grassland under variable rainfallFernández Habas, JesúsNogueira, CarlaCaldeira, Maria ConceiçãoSaro Higuera, CristinaCarreira, MarianaBugalho, Miguel N.Producción animalFertilisationGrassland productivityGrassland species compositionForage qualityNutNet3104 Producción Animal3103.10 Pastos[EN]Global eutrophication and increased precipitation variability affect the dynamics of Mediterranean grasslands, with significant implications for their stability, conservation, and functions, such as providing livestock feed and preserving biodiversity. This study investigates the long-term effects of multiple nutrient additions and the inter-annual precipitation variability on Mediterranean grassland productivity, diversity and nutritional quality. A long-term experiment was conducted using a randomised block design, where N, P, and K were applied in a full factorial combination. The study included two normal precipitation years (2016 and 2018, similar to the long-term average) and two dry years (2017 and 2019). We analysed the effects of nutrient addition and annual precipitation on yield, functional group composition, and plant diversity, while nutritional quality was analysed in 2019. The results reveal nutrient co-limitation effects on grassland productivity. The PK, NP and NPK treatments yielded 736.8 ± 38.1 g DM m−2, 2.6-fold higher than the remaining treatments (284.6 ± 15.7 g DM m−2). Grassland yield declined by 28 % in dry years, irrespective of nutrient addition. Annual precipitation significantly influenced plant species richness, which decreased from 18.4 species m−2 in normal precipitation years to 12.6 species m−2 in dry years. Nutrient addition, particularly NPK, provided grasses a competitive advantage, leading to lower plant species richness. The interaction between nutrient addition and annual precipitation influenced legume abundance, with a positive response observed under P and PK treatments, depending on water availability. The proportion of forbs, and the Shannon-Wiener index showed particularly low values in dry years under NPK treatment. Nutrient addition had no significant effect on grassland nutritional quality. These findings underline the long-term effects of multiple nutrient additions and reduced precipitation on Mediterranean grassland diversity and productivity, providing valuable insights for management and conservation policies to sustain these ecosystems under changing environmental conditions.SIJ.F.H received a grant from the University of Cordoba for a 3-month stay at the University of Lisbon to carry out this study during his PhD fellowship FPU (code FPU18/02876) awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. We also thank the Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) for funding the research units CEABN-InBIO (UID/BIA/50027/2020 and POCI-01–0145-FEDER-006821), and CEF (UIDB/00239/2024). MNB also acknowledges financial support of FCT and the European Union through the project BIOJUST/BIODIVERSA (DivProtect/0001/2021).ElsevierProducción AnimalFacultad de Veterinaria2025info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10612/28471reponame:BULERIA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Leóninstname:Universidad de LeónIngléshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:dnet:buleria_____::cd305fb7b2e13be0aa6362a3188016dc2026-06-24T12:43:27Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Long-term effects of nutrient addition on yield, diversity, and nutritional quality in a Mediterranean grassland under variable rainfall
title Long-term effects of nutrient addition on yield, diversity, and nutritional quality in a Mediterranean grassland under variable rainfall
spellingShingle Long-term effects of nutrient addition on yield, diversity, and nutritional quality in a Mediterranean grassland under variable rainfall
Fernández Habas, Jesús
Producción animal
Fertilisation
Grassland productivity
Grassland species composition
Forage quality
NutNet
3104 Producción Animal
3103.10 Pastos
title_short Long-term effects of nutrient addition on yield, diversity, and nutritional quality in a Mediterranean grassland under variable rainfall
title_full Long-term effects of nutrient addition on yield, diversity, and nutritional quality in a Mediterranean grassland under variable rainfall
title_fullStr Long-term effects of nutrient addition on yield, diversity, and nutritional quality in a Mediterranean grassland under variable rainfall
title_full_unstemmed Long-term effects of nutrient addition on yield, diversity, and nutritional quality in a Mediterranean grassland under variable rainfall
title_sort Long-term effects of nutrient addition on yield, diversity, and nutritional quality in a Mediterranean grassland under variable rainfall
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Fernández Habas, Jesús
Nogueira, Carla
Caldeira, Maria Conceição
Saro Higuera, Cristina
Carreira, Mariana
Bugalho, Miguel N.
author Fernández Habas, Jesús
author_facet Fernández Habas, Jesús
Nogueira, Carla
Caldeira, Maria Conceição
Saro Higuera, Cristina
Carreira, Mariana
Bugalho, Miguel N.
author_role author
author2 Nogueira, Carla
Caldeira, Maria Conceição
Saro Higuera, Cristina
Carreira, Mariana
Bugalho, Miguel N.
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Producción Animal
Facultad de Veterinaria
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Producción animal
Fertilisation
Grassland productivity
Grassland species composition
Forage quality
NutNet
3104 Producción Animal
3103.10 Pastos
topic Producción animal
Fertilisation
Grassland productivity
Grassland species composition
Forage quality
NutNet
3104 Producción Animal
3103.10 Pastos
description [EN]Global eutrophication and increased precipitation variability affect the dynamics of Mediterranean grasslands, with significant implications for their stability, conservation, and functions, such as providing livestock feed and preserving biodiversity. This study investigates the long-term effects of multiple nutrient additions and the inter-annual precipitation variability on Mediterranean grassland productivity, diversity and nutritional quality. A long-term experiment was conducted using a randomised block design, where N, P, and K were applied in a full factorial combination. The study included two normal precipitation years (2016 and 2018, similar to the long-term average) and two dry years (2017 and 2019). We analysed the effects of nutrient addition and annual precipitation on yield, functional group composition, and plant diversity, while nutritional quality was analysed in 2019. The results reveal nutrient co-limitation effects on grassland productivity. The PK, NP and NPK treatments yielded 736.8 ± 38.1 g DM m−2, 2.6-fold higher than the remaining treatments (284.6 ± 15.7 g DM m−2). Grassland yield declined by 28 % in dry years, irrespective of nutrient addition. Annual precipitation significantly influenced plant species richness, which decreased from 18.4 species m−2 in normal precipitation years to 12.6 species m−2 in dry years. Nutrient addition, particularly NPK, provided grasses a competitive advantage, leading to lower plant species richness. The interaction between nutrient addition and annual precipitation influenced legume abundance, with a positive response observed under P and PK treatments, depending on water availability. The proportion of forbs, and the Shannon-Wiener index showed particularly low values in dry years under NPK treatment. Nutrient addition had no significant effect on grassland nutritional quality. These findings underline the long-term effects of multiple nutrient additions and reduced precipitation on Mediterranean grassland diversity and productivity, providing valuable insights for management and conservation policies to sustain these ecosystems under changing environmental conditions.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://hdl.handle.net/10612/28471
url https://hdl.handle.net/10612/28471
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:BULERIA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de León
instname:Universidad de León
instname_str Universidad de León
reponame_str BULERIA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de León
collection BULERIA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de León
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,811543

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