02086nas a2200229   4500008004100000245010700041210006900148300001300217490000800230520136700238653002301605653001601628653001501644653001301659653001801672653002401690100001701714700001601731700002001747700002301767856006601790       2012                        eng d00aCommunity traitscape of foliar nitrogen isotopes reveals N availabiity patterns in a tallgrass prairie0 aCommunity traitscape of foliar nitrogen isotopes reveals N avail  a395 -4030 v3563 a<p>Background and aims Nutrients are important determinants of community assembly, yet the roles they play in structuring plant communities are still poorly understood. One inferential approach to understanding how environmental factors structure plant communities is examining the distribution of key functional traits among species of a community&mdash;a community traitscape. Methods To better understand how nitrogen (N) and water availability structure grasslands, we measured N concentrations and isotope ratios for 366 herbaceous species in a mesic N-limited temperate grassland, Konza Prairie. We also compared foliar N concentrations and N isotopes between Konza species and a global dataset. Results Species that had either high foliar N concentrations or high δ15NL were not necessarily more or less abundant on the landscape nor more or less likely to be found in uplands, grazed areas, or burned areas. Apparently there are unique hot spots of high N availability at Konza and the typical non-Fabaceae Konza species occupies sites with greater N availability than found globally. Conclusions Although nascent, the Konza traitscapes suggest that plant diversity in nutrient-limited communities might be strongly dependent on high-nutrient availability sites that enable high-fertility species to persist in a matrix of low nutrient availability.</p>10aCommunity assembly10adisturbance10aGrasslands10aIsotopes10aKonza Prairie10aResource limitation1 aCraine, J.M.1 aTowne, E.G.1 aOcheltree, T.W.1 aNippert, Jesse, B.  uhttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11104-012-1141-7