Nitrogen uptake by grassland communities: Contribution of N2 fixation, facilitation, complementarity, and species dominance

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Holger Bessler
  • Yvonne Oelmann
  • Christiane Roscher
  • Nina Buchmann
  • Michael Scherer-Lorenzen
  • Ernst Detlef Schulze
  • Victoria Martine Temperton
  • Wolfgang Wilcke
  • Christof Engels

Aims: This study aimed to measure the effect of plant diversity on N uptake in grasslands and to assess the mechanisms contributing to diversity effects. Methods: Annual N uptake into above- and belowground organs and soil nitrate pools were measured in the Jena experiment on a floodplain soil with mixtures of 2-16 species and 1-4 functional groups, and monocultures. In mixtures, the deviation of measured data from data expected from monoculture performance was calculated to assess the contribution of complementarity/facilitation and selection. Results: N uptake varied from <1 to 45 g N m-2 yr-1, and was higher in grasslands with than without legumes. On average, N uptake was higher in mixtures (21 ± 1 g N m-2 yr-1) than monocultures (13 ± 1 g N m-2 yr-1), and increased with species richness in mixtures. However, compared to N uptake expected from biomass proportions of species in mixtures, N uptake of mixtures was only slightly higher and a significant surplus N uptake was confined to mixtures containing legumes and non-legumes. Conclusions: In our study, high N uptake of species rich mixtures was mainly due to dominance of productive species and facilitation by legumes whereas complementarity among non-legumes was of minor relevance.

Original languageEnglish
JournalPlant and Soil
Volume358
Issue number1-2
Pages (from-to)301-322
Number of pages22
ISSN0032-079X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 09.2012
Externally publishedYes

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