Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Lu, Weiyu
• Zhang, Yuqiu
• Chen, Xu
• Ren, Zhengru
• Lu, Haining
• Liu, Ruoxuan
• Zhang, Yunhai

Titel

Similar effects of seasonal nitrogen enrichment on plant species–area relationship in a temperate grassland

Ist Teil von

• Ecological indicators, 2024-01, Vol.158, p.111430, Article 111430

Ort / Verlag

Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2024

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Access via ScienceDirect (Elsevier)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• •The effects of nitrogen (N) input on species–area relationships (SAR) were explored through fieldwork and meta-analysis.•N addition significantly reduced intercepts, not SAR slopes, across grasslands.•Both the SAR slopes and intercepts were similar among seasonal N treatments.•N addition had cumulative negative effects on the SAR intercepts.•Seasonal N addition weakened the positive correlation between the SAR intercepts and precipitation. 1. Nitrogen (N) enrichment often decreases plant species richness in local communities, thus altering plant species–area relationships (SAR). However, whether N enrichment affects the SAR across global grasslands has not yet been well explored. Additionally, whether and how seasonal N enrichment alters the SAR remains unknown. 2. This study employed data from global grasslands (meta-analysis) in combination with a seasonal field N addition experiment during the first 6 consecutive years (2014–2020) in a temperate grassland in northern China. 3. We found that N addition did not alter the SAR slopes across global grasslands and our experimental grassland, but significantly reduced the intercepts (plant species richness at the 1 m2 plot scale). There was no significant difference among seasonal N treatments. The SAR intercepts were negatively correlated with increasing experimental years in our temperate grassland, without significant differences among the three seasonal N addition treatments, indicating a cumulative effect on the reduction in plant species richness at 1 m2 with N-enriched conditions. 4. These results suggest that N enrichment affects the SAR in grassland ecosystems by reducing the SAR intercepts. Therefore, biodiversity conservation activities should be applied urgently in localities facing increasing atmospheric N deposition.