Ecological mechanisms associated with the positive diversity-productivity relationship in an N-limited grassland.

In a 13-year grassland biodiversity experiment in Minnesota, USA, we addressed two main questions: What set of ecological mechanisms caused aboveground productivity to become approximately 340% greater in highly diverse plant mixtures than in the average monoculture? Why did the effect of diversity on productivity become so much stronger through time? Because our grassland system is N limited, we simultaneously measured critical variables associated with the storage and cycling of this element, such as plant and soil N pools, soil N availability, soil N mineralization rates, and plant N-use efficiency, as well as the initial soil N concentration of each diversity plot when the experiment was established in 1994. We used linear and multiple regression analyses to test for potential effects of these variables on aboveground productivity and to address whether and how such variables were in turn affected by plant species diversity and functional composition across years and also at different time intervals within the same year. We found that seven variables simultaneously controlled productivity: (1) initial total soil nitrogen (N) of each plot, (2) diversity-dependent increases in total soil N through time, (3) soil N mineralization rates, (4) soil nitrate (NO3-) utilization, (5) increases in plant N-use efficiency at greater plant diversity, (6) legume presence, and (7) higher species numbers. The surprising continued significance of higher plant diversity may occur because of its effects on seasonal capture of soil NO3- and moisture and on the accumulation of root-N pools, all of which may have also increased productivity through time at higher species numbers.

Liming impacts on soils, crops and biodiversity in the UK: A review.

Fertile soil is fundamental to our ability to achieve food security, but problems with soil degradation (such as acidification) are exacerbated by poor management. Consequently, there is a need to better understand management approaches that deliver multiple ecosystem services from agricultural land. There is global interest in sustainable soil management including the re-evaluation of existing management practices. Liming is a long established practice to ameliorate acidic soils and many liming-induced changes are well understood. For instance, short-term liming impacts are detected on soil biota and in soil biological processes (such as in N cycling where liming can increase N availability for plant uptake). The impacts of liming on soil carbon storage are variable and strongly relate to soil type, land use, climate and multiple management factors. Liming influences all elements in soils and as such there are numerous simultaneous changes to soil processes which in turn affect the plant nutrient uptake; two examples of positive impact for crops are increased P availability and decreased uptake of toxic heavy metals. Soil physical conditions are at least maintained or improved by liming, but the time taken to detect change varies significantly. Arable crops differ in their sensitivity to soil pH and for most crops there is a positive yield response. Liming also introduces implications for the development of different crop diseases and liming management is adjusted according to crop type within a given rotation. Repeated lime applications tend to improve grassland biomass production, although grassland response is variable and indirect as it relates to changes in nutrient availability. Other indicators of liming response in grassland are detected in mineral content and herbage quality which have implications for livestock-based production systems. Ecological studies have shown positive impacts of liming on biodiversity; such as increased earthworm abundance that provides habitat for wading birds in upland grasslands. Finally, understanding of liming impacts on soil and crop processes are explored together with functional aspects (in terms of ecosystems services) in a new qualitative framework that includes consideration of how liming impacts change with time. This holistic approach provides insights into the far-reaching impacts that liming has on ecosystems and the potential for liming to enhance the multiple benefits from agriculturally managed land. Recommendations are given for future research on the impact of liming and the implications for ecosystem services.

Browsing lawns? Responses of Acacia nigrescens to ungulate browsing in an African savanna.

We measured browsing-induced responses of Acacia trees to investigate "browsing lawns" as an analogy to grazing lawns in a semiarid eutrophic African savanna. During the two-year field study, we measured plant tolerance, resistance, and phenological traits, while comparing variation in leaf nitrogen and specific leaf area (SLA) across stands of Acacia nigrescens, Miller, that had experienced markedly different histories of attack from large herbivores. Trees in heavily browsed stands developed (1) tolerance traits such as high regrowth abilities in shoots and leaves, high annual branch growth rates, extensive tree branching and evidence of internal N translocation, and (2) resistance traits such as close thorn spacing. However, phenological "escape" responses were weak even in heavily browsed stands. Overall, browsing strongly affected plant morpho-functional traits and decreased both the number of trees carrying pods and the number of pods per tree in heavily browsed stands. Hence, there is experimental evidence that tolerance and resistance traits may occur simultaneously at heavily browsed sites, but this comes at the expense of reproductive success. Such tolerance and resistance traits may coexist if browsers trigger and maintain a positive feedback loop in which trees are continually investing in regrowth (tolerance), and if the plant's physical defenses (resistance) are not nutritionally costly and are long-lived. Our results confirm that chronic browsing by ungulates can maintain A. nigrescens trees in a hedged state that is analogous to a grazing lawn. Further research is needed to fully understand the long-term effects of chronic browsing on reproduction within such tree populations, as well as the overall effects on nutrient cycling at the ecosystem level.