TY - JOUR

T1 - Nitrogen uptake by grassland communities

T2 - Contribution of N2 fixation, facilitation, complementarity, and species dominance

AU - Bessler, Holger

AU - Oelmann, Yvonne

AU - Roscher, Christiane

AU - Buchmann, Nina

AU - Scherer-Lorenzen, Michael

AU - Schulze, Ernst Detlef

AU - Temperton, Victoria Martine

AU - Wilcke, Wolfgang

AU - Engels, Christof

PY - 2012/9

Y1 - 2012/9

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Biodiversity

KW - Complementarity

KW - Facilitation

KW - Grassland

KW - Jena experiment

KW - Legumes

KW - Nitrogen uptake

KW - Selection

KW - Biodiversität

KW - Komplementarität

KW - Grasland

KW - Jena Experiment

KW - Hülsenfrüchte

KW - Nitrogen uptake

KW - Auswahlverfahren

KW - Biology

KW - Ecosystems Research

KW - Sustainability Science

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84865780791&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/45e1dd98-0088-3e60-aa2f-87c3ad568ff7/

U2 - 10.1007/s11104-012-1181-z

DO - 10.1007/s11104-012-1181-z

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:84865780791

VL - 358

SP - 301

EP - 322

JO - Plant and Soil

JF - Plant and Soil

SN - 0032-079X

IS - 1-2

ER -