Herbaria century record of increasing eutrophication in Spanish terrestrial ecosystems
Additional biological evidence is presented for the alteration of biogeochemical cycles by human activities. The leaf δ15N and the concentrations of nutrients in herbarium specimens of 24 species of vascular plants and 3 species of bryophytes collected in northern and eastern regions of Spain have s...
| Autor: | |
|---|---|
| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2001 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
| Repositorio: | Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ddd.uab.cat:80980 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://ddd.uab.cat/record/80980 https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1046/j.1365-2486.2001.00421.x |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Bryophytes δ15N Nitrogen Nutrients Vascular plants Briofitos Nitrógeno Nutrientes Plantas vasculares Briòfits Plantes vasculars |
| Sumario: | Additional biological evidence is presented for the alteration of biogeochemical cycles by human activities. The leaf δ15N and the concentrations of nutrients in herbarium specimens of 24 species of vascular plants and 3 species of bryophytes collected in northern and eastern regions of Spain have substantially changed throughout the XX century. In the second half of the century, when anthropogenic nitrogen fixation and mobilization started to increase rapidly, leaf δ15N values started to decrease strongly, indicating that additional anthropogenic nitrogen is being retained in Spanish terrestrial ecosystems. The concentration of nutrients in vascular plants did not present any clear pattern, but there were increasing concentrations of N and other nutrients (P, K, and S) in the last decades in bryophytes, which are usually better biomonitors of airborne chemicals than vascular plants. Important consequences for ecosystem structure and functioning such as enhancement of the carbon sink or changes in community biodiversity and species distribution may be expected from this increase in eutrophication. |
|---|