Title | Nutrient identity modifies the destabilising effects of eutrophication in grasslands |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2022 |
Authors | Carroll, O, Batzer, E, Bharath, S, Borer, ET, Campana, ía, Esch, E, Hautier, Y, Ohlert, T, Seabloom, EW, Adler, PB, Bakker, JD, Biederman, L, Bugalho, MN, Caldeira, M, Chen, Q, Davies, KF, Fay, PA, Knops, JMH, Komatsu, KJ, Martina, JP, McCann, KS, Moore, JL, Morgan, JW, Muraina, TO, Osborne, B, Risch, AC, Stevens, C, Wilfahrt, PA, Yahdjian, L, MacDougall, AS |
Secondary Authors | Peñuelas, J |
Journal | Ecology Letters |
Volume | 259 |
Issue | 4 |
Pagination | 754 - 765 |
ISSN | 1461-023X |
Abstract | Nutrient enrichment can simultaneously increase and destabilise plant biomass production, with co-limitation by multiple nutrients potentially intensifying these effects. Here, we test how factorial additions of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium with essential nutrients (K+) affect the stability (mean/standard deviation) of aboveground biomass in 34 grasslands over 7 years. Destabilisation with fertilisation was prevalent but was driven by single nutrients, not synergistic nutrient interactions. On average, N-based treatments increased mean biomass production by 21–51% but increased its standard deviation by 40–68% and so consistently reduced stability. Adding P increased interannual variability and reduced stability without altering mean biomass, while K+ had no general effects. Declines in stability were largest in the most nutrient-limited grasslands, or where nutrients reduced species richness or intensified species synchrony. We show that nutrients can differentially impact the stability of biomass production, with N and P in particular disproportionately increasing its interannual variability. |
URL | https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ele.13946 |
DOI | 10.1111/ele.v25.410.1111/ele.13946 |