Decoupled responses of above- and below-ground beta-diversity to nitrogen enrichment in a typical steppe.
Ecol Lett
; 27(1): e14339, 2024 Jan.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38037734
ABSTRACT
Increased atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition affects biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems. However, we do not know whether the effects of N on above-ground plant ß-diversity are coupled with changes occurring in the soil seed bank. We conducted a long-term N-addition experiment in a typical steppe and found that above-ground ß-diversity increased and then decreased with increasing N addition, whereas below-ground ß-diversity decreased linearly. This suggests decoupled dynamics of plant communities and their soil seed bank under N enrichment. Species substitution determined above- and below-ground ß-diversity change via an increasing role of deterministic processes with N addition. These effects were mostly driven by differential responses of the above-ground vegetation and the soil seed bank ß-diversities to N-induced changes in environmental heterogeneity, increased soil inorganic N concentrations and soil acidification. Our findings highlight the importance of considering above- and below-ground processes simultaneously for effectively conserving grassland ecosystems under N enrichment.
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MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Ecossistema
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Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article