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179 results for “plant nutrients”

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edi40/100

Plant above and belowground biomass across an N fertilization gradient after 13 years of fertilization:Nutrient Network. A cross-site investigation of bottom-up control over herbaceous plant community dynamics and ecosystem function

This experiment is one implementation of a globally distributed experiment, known as the Nutrient Network. At Cedar Creek, as in over 70 other sites in grasslands around the world, the experiment aims to describe impacts of increased nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur and other metals) and decreased herbivory (removal of mammals by fencing). Two overarching questions are being explored with these manipulations: 1. To what extent are plant production and diversity co-limited by multiple nutrients in herbaceous-dominated communities? 2. Under what conditions do grazers or fertilization control plant biomass, diversity, and composition? By utilizing identical protocols at diverse grassland sites around the world, NutNet aims to uncover both the generalities in ecosystem functioning, and the contingencies or differences which can obscure those common mechanisms. In addition to the standard NutNet protocol, e247 includes an additional low Nitrogen gradient (1 gram Nitrogen per meter squared per year and 5 grams Nitrogen per meter squared per year in addition to the standard 10 grams Nitrogen per meter squared per year).

openCC0May 2022View details →

edi40/100

Net ecosystem exchange measurements throughout the 2020 growing season across an N fertilization gradient:Nutrient Network. A cross-site investigation of bottom-up control over herbaceous plant community dynamics and ecosystem function.

openCC0May 2022View details →

edi40/100

SGS-LTER Ecosystem Stress Area - Aboveground Biomass: Interactions between individual plant species and soil nutrient status in shortgrass steppe on the Central Plains Experimental Range in Nunn, Colorado, USA 1991

This data package was produced by researchers working on the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term Ecological Research (SGS-LTER) Project, administered at Colorado State University. Long-term datasets and background information (proposals, reports, photographs, etc.) on the SGS-LTER project are contained in a comprehensive project collection within the Digital Collections of Colorado (http://digitool.library.colostate.edu/R/?func=collections&collection_id=3429). The data table and associated metadata document, which is generated in Ecological Metadata Language, may be available through other repositories serving the ecological research community and represent components of the larger SGS-LTER project collection. The effect of plant community structure on nutrient cycling is fundamental to our understanding of ecosystem function. We examined the importance of plant species and plant cover (i.e. plant covered microsites vs bare soil) on nutrient cycling in shortgrass steppe of northeastern Colorado. We tested the effects of both plant species and cover on soils in an area of undisturbed shortgrass steppe and an area that had undergone nitrogen and water additions from 1971 to 1974, resulting in significant shifts in plant species composition.

openOpenJan 2020View details →

edi40/100

SGS-LTER Ecosystem Stress Area - Belowground Biomass: Interactions between individual plant species and soil nutrient status in shortgrass steppe on the Central Plains Experimental Range in Nunn, Colorado, USA 1991

openOpenJan 2020View details →

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Data for: Relatively rare root endophytic bacteria drive plant resource allocation patterns and tissue nutrient concentration in unpredictable ways

Premise of Study Plant endophytic bacterial strains can influence plant traits such as leaf area and root length. Yet, the influence of more complex bacterial communities in regulating overall plant phenotype is less explored. Here, we conducted two complementary experiments to test if we can predict plant phenotype response to changes in microbial community composition. Methods In the first study, we inoculated a single genotype of Populus deltoideswith individual root endophytic bacteria and measured plant phenotype. Next, single inoculation data were used to predict phenotypic traits in mixed three-member community inoculations, which we tested in the second experiment. Key Results When in isolation, each bacterial endophyte significantly but weakly altered plant phenotype relative to non-inoculated plants. In mixture, bacterial strain BurkholderiaBT03, constituted at least 98% of community relative abundance. Yet, plant resource allocation and tissue nutrient concentrationswere disproportionately influenced by Pseudomonas sp.GM17, GM30, and GM41. We found a 10% increase in leaf mass fraction and a 11% decrease in root mass fraction when replacingPseudomonas GM17 with GM41 in communities containing both Pseudomonas GM30 and BurkholderiaBT03. Conclusions Our results indicate that interactions among endophytic bacteria may drive plant phenotype over the contribution of each strain individually. Additionally, we have shown that low-abundant strains contribute to plant phenotype challenging the assumption that the dominant strains will drive plant function.

opencc-zeroJul 2020View details →

dryad36/100

Data from: Plant trait response of tundra shrubs to permafrost and nutrient addition

Plants may alter their strategies, such as growth and resource acquisition, as a result of climate change, especially in areas like the Arctic. These changes might affect in turn ecosystem functions and vegetation-climate interactions. Plant traits reflect both strategies and plant trade-offs in response to environmental conditions. In combination with observational data, experiments mimicking future climate conditions and data involving multiple leaf and stem traits, can contribute to a better mechanistic understanding of feedbacks between shrub growth strategies, permafrost thaw and carbon and energy fluxes. This dataset contains both metadata and plant trait data measured in individuals of four arctic shrub species under experimental conditions. The permafrost thaw and fertilization experiment (Peng et al., 2017) ran for four years (2011-2014) in the nature reserve of Kytalyk, north-eastern Siberia (70°49'N, 147°28'E). The shrub species, dominant at the research site, were the deciduous species Betula nana ssp. exilis (Sukazcev) Hultén and Salix pulchra Cham., and the evergreen species Ledum palustre ssp. decumbens (Aiton) Hultén and Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.

opencc-zeroAug 2020View details →

dryad36/100

Data from: Herbivory and eutrophication mediate grassland plant nutrient responses across a global climatic gradient

Plant stoichiometry, the relative concentration of elements, is a key regulator of ecosystem functioning and is also being altered by human activities. In this paper we sought to understand the global drivers of plant stoichiometry and compare the relative contribution of climatic vs. anthropogenic effects. We addressed this goal by measuring plant elemental (C, N, P and K) responses to eutrophication and vertebrate herbivore exclusion at eighteen sites on six continents. Across sites, climate and atmospheric N deposition emerged as strong predictors of plot‐level tissue nutrients, mediated by biomass and plant chemistry. Within sites, fertilization increased total plant nutrient pools, but results were contingent on soil fertility and the proportion of grass biomass relative to other functional types. Total plant nutrient pools diverged strongly in response to herbivore exclusion when fertilized; responses were largest in ungrazed plots at low rainfall, whereas herbivore grazing dampened the plant community nutrient responses to fertilization. Our study highlights (1) the importance of climate in determining plant nutrient concentrations mediated through effects on plant biomass, (2) that eutrophication affects grassland nutrient pools via both soil and atmospheric pathways and (3) that interactions among soils, herbivores and eutrophication drive plant nutrient responses at small scales, especially at water‐limited sites.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

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Data from: Ecosystem nitrogen retention is regulated by plant community trait interactions with nutrient status in an alpine meadow

1.Biotic nitrogen (N) retention is an important ecosystem function in the context of ongoing land use intensification, N deposition and global warming. However, a paucity of experimental evidence limits understanding of how different plant community components influence N retention in terrestrial ecosystems. 2.In this investigation we conducted a 15N labelling experiment to test how plant community properties, including plant species richness/diversity, dominance and functional traits, influence plant N uptake and retention under different nutrient availabilities. A three-year experiment examined the effects of adding N (10 g N m−2 year−1) and phosphorus (P) (5 g P m−2 year−1) to an alpine meadow on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. 3.Results show that 15N retention increased with the addition of N and P; the addition of P produced the largest increase of 15N retention in plant and soil N pools. Changes in soil nutrient conditions also facilitated different plant community controls on ecosystem N retention. Ecosystem 15N retention was influenced by species richness and root biomass in the control plots; whereas the N addition treatment showed an important effect of community-weighted means (CWM) of specific leaf area (SLA), and plots with additional P recorded lower CWM of root nitrogen content (root N) and larger CWM root:shoot ratios (R/S) as important determinants. 4.Synthesis. Ecosystem N retention was influenced by conservative and exploitative plant species and/or their traits under N deficient and abundant conditions, respectively, whereas species richness and community plant biomass were most influential under control conditions. The discovery of an interaction between plant community traits and nutrient biogeochemistry as a mechanism for ecosystem N retention offers a means to predict how vegetation in alpine meadow ecosystems will respond to expected global change.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

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Data from: Plant community responses to stand-level nutrient fertilization in a secondary tropical dry forest

The size of the terrestrial carbon (C) sink is mediated by the availability of nutrients that limit plant growth. However, nutrient controls on primary productivity are poorly understood in the geographically extensive yet understudied tropical dry forest biome. To examine how nutrients influence above‐ and belowground biomass production in a secondary, seasonally dry tropical forest, we conducted a replicated, fully factorial nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilization experiment at the stand scale in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The production of leaves, wood, and fine roots was monitored through time; root colonization by mycorrhizal fungi and the abundance of N‐fixing root nodules were also quantified. In this seasonal forest, interannual variation in rainfall had the largest influence on stand‐level productivity, with lower biomass growth under drought. By contrast, aboveground productivity was generally not increased by nutrient addition, although fertilization enhanced growth of individual tree stems in a wet year. However, root growth increased markedly and consistently under P addition, significantly altering patterns of stand‐level biomass allocation to above‐ vs. belowground compartments. Although nutrients did not stimulate total biomass production at the community scale, N‐fixing legumes exhibited a twofold increase in woody growth in response to added P, accompanied by a dramatic increase in the abundance of root nodules. These data suggest that the relationship between nutrient availability and primary production in tropical dry forest is contingent on both water availability and plant functional diversity.

opencc-zeroDec 2018View details →

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Data from: Polyploid plants obtain greater fitness benefits from a nutrient acquisition mutualism

Polyploidy is a key driver of ecological and evolutionary processes in plants, yet little is known about its effects on biotic interactions. This gap in knowledge is especially profound for nutrient acquisition mutualisms, despite the fact that they regulate global nutrient cycles and structure ecosystems. Generalism in mutualistic interactions depends on the range of potential partners (niche breadth), the benefits obtained, and ability to maintain benefits across a variety of partners (fitness plasticity). Here, we determine how each of these is influenced by polyploidy in the legume-rhizobium mutualism. We inoculated a broad geographic sample of natural diploid and autotetraploid alfalfa (Medicago sativa) lineages with a diverse panel of Sinorhizobium bacterial symbionts. To analyze the extent and mechanism of generalism, we measured host growth benefits and functional traits. Autotetraploid plants obtained greater fitness enhancement from mutualistic interactions and were better able to maintain this across diverse rhizobial partners (i.e., low plasticity in fitness) relative to diploids. These benefits were not attributed to increases in niche breadth, but instead reflect increased rewards from investment in the mutualism. Polyploid plants displayed greater generalization in bacterial mutualisms relative to diploids illustrating another axis of advantage for polyploids over diploids.

opencc-zeroMar 2020View details →

dryad36/100

Data from: Acceleration or deceleration of litter decomposition by herbivory depends on nutrient availability through intraspecific differences in induced plant resistance traits

1. Herbivores often induce changes in plant defensive chemistry or nutrient content that may respectively inhibit or promote microbial decomposition of senesced litter. Often the directional impact of herbivores on decomposition is considered to be a property of a species or ecosystem. While rarely explored, intraspecific plasticity in the induction of defensive strategies across environmental gradients may also result in divergent impacts of herbivores on decomposition (deceleration vs. acceleration). 2. Here, we examined how soil nutrient conditions determine after-life effects of herbivory, using nine goldenrod (Solidago altissima) genotypes grown across four levels of nutrient supply and with or without grasshopper herbivory. In this species, herbivory induces defensive traits in genotypes grown in high soil nutrient conditions but induces tolerance (compensatory growth) in low nutrient conditions. We combined senesced litter from each treatment with a common soil inoculum in experimental microcosms and measured soil respiration and litter mass loss over 100 days as estimates of decomposition. 3. Plant genotype, nutrient environment, and herbivory all had significant effects on decomposition. The legacy effect of herbivory overwhelmed the positive effects of high soil nutrient supply on decomposition. This significant herbivory nutrient environment interaction meant that herbivore-induced plants grown in high nutrient environments produced litter that was more resistant to microbial breakdown than litter from the same genotype not exposed to herbivory. But the opposite occurred at low nutrient levels where litter from herbivore-induced plants was most readily decomposed. Further we mechanistically tie nutrient and herbivory legacy treatments to decomposition rates through predictable changes in leaf trait expression. Lastly, we demonstrate a significant correlation among herbivore growth rates on the living tissue and decomposition efficiencies by the microbial community of the senesced tissue, suggesting that herbivores and microbes perceive the "quality" of the induced substrate similarly. 4. Synthesis: Herbivore-induced changes in leaf palatability and trait expression due to defense induction or compensatory growth can cascade through to either promote or inhibit the decomposability of leaf litter within a single species. These findings offer mechanistic understanding of how spatial heterogeneity in ecosystem process rates can be generated by spatial variation in herbivory and nutrient availability.

opencc-zeroDec 2017View details →

dryad36/100

Artificial night-time lighting and nutrient enrichment synergistically favour the growth of alien ornamental plant species over co-occurring native plant species

<ol> <li>Insights into ecological drivers of alien plant invasions can be gained through comparative studies of growth and fecundity of invasive alien plants versus those of co-occurring non-invasive alien plants and native plants across environmental conditions in common garden settings. Habitats that harbour alien plant species in many ecosystems globally are presently experiencing light pollution resulting from artificial light at night (ALAN) and increased rates of nutrient enrichment of the soil. However, the potential interactive effects of ALAN and nutrient enrichment on invasiveness of alien plant species remain unknown.</li> <li>Here, we performed a common-garden experiment to test the interactive effects of ALAN and soil nutrient enrichment on the growth of a random set of 10 alien (five invasive and five naturalized) and seven co-occurring native ornamental plant species that are commonly cultivated within urban and peri-urban areas of Nairobi city in Kenya. We predicted that a simultaneous increase in photoperiod via ALAN and nutrient enrichment will favor growth of invasive alien plant species over that of non-invasive alien and native plant species. We grew the 17 plant species under natural daylight (ALAN-) vs natural daylight followed by ALAN (ALAN+) and fully crossed with two levels of nutrient enrichment (low vs high) and competition (competition vs no-competition against a native plant Ocimum gratissimum) treatments.</li> <li>Under simultaneous high-nutrient and no-competition treatments, ALAN enhanced mean total biomass of invasive and naturalized alien species by 61.1% and 131.4%, respectively but decreased that of native plant species by 34%. In contrast, under simultaneous high-nutrient and competition treatments, ALAN enhanced mean total biomass of invasive alien plant species by 68.6% and that of naturalized alien species by 51.9% and native species by 35.4%. High-nutrient treatment enhanced flower formation more strongly in invasive and naturalized alien plants than in native plants. The invasive and naturalized alien species grew taller than native species across the light, nutrient, and competition treatments.</li> <li> Synthesis: The present findings suggest that light pollution and nutrient enrichment may jointly confer growth advantage to invasive alien plant species over that of co-occurring native plant species and enhance invasiveness of alien plant species.</li> </ol>

opencc-zeroNov 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Soil toxicity and species dominance rather than nutrient availability drive plant species richness in swamp forests of Central Europe

Aim: A resource-based conceptual model of plant diversity (RBCM) assumes direct relationships between resource supply and the diversity of a local plant assembly. However, the RBCM largely ignores variation imposed by soil toxicity due to climatic effects. Both soil-limiting resources and soil toxicity vary along climatic gradients but their net and interactive effects on plant species diversity remain unknown. We asked how climatic gradients shape resource availability, soil toxicity and dominance of herb-layer graminoids, and how these predictors control local species diversity of herbs and bryophytes. Location: Swamp forests, Central Europe Taxon: Vascular plants, bryophytes Methods: Alpha taxonomic diversity of vascular plants and bryophytes was counted for 101 vegetation plots sampled in temperate swamp forests distributed along an 800-km geographical gradient across the Continental, Alpine and Pannonian biogeographical regions. Path analysis (structural equation modelling) was used to quantify the direct and indirect effects of climatic variables (potential evapotranspiration; PET), limiting resources (soil N/P, Ca, C/N, proxies for light and water availability), and soil toxicity (Mn) on graminoid dominance and community diversity. Results: PET negatively influenced species richness of both groups analysed either directly or indirectly through its positive effect on the cover of graminoid species. Alpha diversity of herbs was additionally reduced by soil toxicity (Mn). Limiting resources correlated either with species dominance (canopy shading, soil Ca) or with PET (soil N/P ratio), but they did not control species richness pattern. Main Conclusions: Climate, soil toxicity and species dominance determined alpha diversity instead of the expected importance of soil limiting resources. These results are key to advancing the theoretical framework of the RBCM. Increased soil toxicity (Mn) in well-watered regions favours the dominance of plant competitors at the expense of less tolerant species. This implies a potential threat to wetland diversity under ongoing climate change.

opencc-zeroDec 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Abandoned pastures and restored savannahs have distinct patterns of plant-soil feedback and nutrient cycling compared with native Brazilian savannahs.

Around 40% of the original Brazilian savannah territory is occupied by pastures dominated by fast-growing exotic C4 grasses, which impact ecosystem nutrient cycling. The restoration of these areas depends on the re-establishment of soil processes. We assessed how restoration of abandoned pastures through direct seeding of native species and land-management practices (burning and ploughing) affect soil nutrient cycling dynamics compared to native savannahs. We compared the activity of soil enzymes related to carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycling, as well as soil microbial biomass and soil chemical properties, such as pH and the concentration of N, P, potassium (K) and soil organic matter, among abandoned pastures, native savannah and restored areas. Abandoned pastures had faster nutrient turnover than native savannah, dominated by slow-growing native species. This pattern was evident from the overall higher biomass-specific enzyme activity in abandoned pastures than in native savannah. Compared with native savannah, restored areas had similar levels of soil enzyme activity, but lower microbial biomass and soil organic matter. Synthesis and application: The low enzyme activity in restored areas was likely related to a reduced soil organic carbon concentration due to practices such as burning and ploughing, rather than plant-soil feedback. The lower immobilization of nutrients in microbial biomass and lower retention of nutrients in restored areas, compared with native savannah, is expected to favour the re-establishment of fast-growing exotic species. Furthermore, the modifications of soil chemical and microbial properties related to abandonment of pastures did not influence restoration outcomes, because land-management practices applied prior to direct seedling had a major impact on the soil microbial community and soil fertility. Therefore, restoration of abandoned pastures should consider a greater focus on restoring soil carbon and nutrient cycling.

opencc-zeroApr 2022View details →

dryad36/100

Effect of drought and nutrient availability on invaded plant communities in a semi-arid ecosystem

Ecosystem functions are heavily dependent on the functional composition of the plant community, i.e., the functional traits of plants forming the community. This, on the one hand, depends on plant occurrence, but on the other hand depends on the intraspecific variability of functional traits of the species, which are influenced by climate and nutrient availability and affected by plant-plant interactions. To illustrate that, we studied the effects of drought and nitrogen addition (+ N), two important abiotic variables which are changing with ongoing global change, as well as their combined effect on the functional responses of grassland communities in semi-arid environments of Northern Africa comprising of natural and invasive species. We conducted a plot plant experiment where we planted three native species and one invasive plant species in artificial communities as of 5 individuals per species per plot. We exposed these communities to four different treatments: a drought treatment, a N-addition treatment, the combination between drought and N-addition as well as a control. To assess the performance of plants within treatments, we measured selected plant functional traits (plant height, specific leaf area (SLA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC), N content of the leaves (Nmass), specific root length (SRL) and root diameter) for all individuals occurring in our plots, and additionally assessed the above and belowground biomass for each plant individual. We found that the invasive species showed a higher performance (higher biomass accumulation, taller plants, higher SLA, Nmass, SRL and root diameter as well as lower LDMC) than the native species under drought conditions. The invasive species was especially successful with the combined impact of drought + N, which is a likely scenario in ongoing global change for our research area. Thus, plant functional traits might be a key factor for invasion success of plant species which will be even more pronounced under ongoing global change.

opencc-zeroAug 2022View details →

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Niche partitioning overrides interspecific competition to determine plant species distributions along a nutrient gradient

Changes in some combination of niche availability, niche overlap and the strength of interspecific interactions are thought to drive changes in plant composition along resource gradients. However, because these processes are difficult to measure in the field, their relative importance in driving compositional change in plant communities remains unclear. In an Australian temperate grassland, we added seeds of three native and three exotic grasses to 1,875 experimental plots in a way that allowed us to simultaneously estimate niche availability, niche overlap and the strength of pairwise interspecific interactions along a gradient of nutrient availability, obtained by adding 0, 5 or 20 g/m2 each of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium jointly to plots. Niche availability (the proportion of microsites suitable for establishment and growth) was generally low and did not vary in response to nutrient addition. Most species co-occurred along the nutrient gradient by partitioning the available niche space. Where species interacted due to niche overlap, the abundance of one species, the native Chloris truncata, was usually facilitated by other species, with each of the five other species increasing the niche availability to C. truncata under at least one nutrient treatment. Chloris truncata also competitively excluded two species from some but not all sites they could otherwise have occupied. These outcomes did not clearly differ across nutrient treatments. Our results show that fine-scale spatial heterogeneity in establishment microsites can enable species to co-occur via niche partitioning, and competitive exclusion is rare. This finding contributes to an emerging picture that niche partitioning is common and frequently a stronger influence on recruitment outcomes than interspecific competition. The importance of competition in structuring plant communities may be overestimated if recruitment processes are overlooked.

opencc-zeroOct 2022View details →

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Data for: Light competition drives herbivore and nutrient effects on plant diversity

Nutrient enrichment and loss of herbivores are assumed to cause plant diversity loss in grassland ecosystems because they increase plant cover that decreases understory light. Empirical tests of the role of competition for light in natural systems are based on indirect evidence and have contributed to strong debates over the last 40 years. Using illumination by LED-lamps, we demonstrate that experimentally restoring light to understory plants in a natural grassland mitigated the loss of plant diversity caused either by nutrient enrichment or the absence of mammalian herbivores. The initial effect of light addition on restoring diversity under fertilization was transitory and outweighed by the greater effect of herbivory on light levels, highlighting herbivory as a major factor controlling diversity, partly via light. Our results provide the first direct experimental demonstration in a natural system that competition for light is a major mechanism contributing to biodiversity loss under cessation of mammalian herbivory. Our results also demonstrate that herbivore effects can outpace fertilization effects on competition for light. Management practices that target maintaining grazing by native or domestic herbivores may have applied utility for protecting biodiversity in grassland ecosystems because they alleviate competition for light in the understory.

opencc-zeroOct 2022View details →

zenodo36/100

Nitrogen trade between plants that differ in their temporal demand of nutrients

Primary data and to reproduce the analyses reported in the publication:  Data S1 to S12 [Land_sp_feno2_18, Land_sp_feno2_19, Mypatches, Res2, PhenoWC2, INtran, INenrich, Npheno, Temp_var_pheno_N, land, phenoind, avgWC]. A description of each item is provided in the file Metadata_Readme.doc included in the zip.file deposited

opencc-by-4.0May 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Nutrient supply and accessibility in plants: Effect of protein and carbohydrates on Australian plague locust (Chortoicetes terminifera) preference and performance

In contrast to predictions from nitrogen limitation theory, recent studies have shown that herbivorous migratory insects tend to be carbohydrate (not protein) limited, likely due to increased energy demands, leading them to preferentially feed on high carbohydrate plants. However, additional factors such as mechanical and chemical defenses can also influence host plant choice and nutrient accessibility. In this study, we investigated the effects of plant protein and carbohydrate availability on plant selection and performance for a migratory generalist herbivore, the Australian plague locust, Chortoicetes terminifera. We manipulated the protein and carbohydrate content of seedling wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) by two means: 1) we increased the protein:carbohydrate ratio using nitrogen (N) fertilizer, 2) we sought to increase carbohydrate accessibility by grinding cell walls after drying the plants. Using a full factorial design, we ran both choice and no-choice experiments to measure preference and performance. We confirmed locust preference for plants with a lower protein-carbohydrate ratio (unfertilized plants). Unlike previous studies with mature wild grass species, we found that intact plants supported better performance than dried and ground plants, suggesting that cell wall removal may only improve performance for tougher or more carbohydrate-rich plants. These results add to the growing body of evidence suggesting that several migratory herbivorous species perform better on plants with a lower protein:carbohydrate ratio.

opencc-zeroMay 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Fitness and niche differences are both important in explaining responses of plant diversity to nutrient addition

Plant species loss due to eutrophication is a common phenomenon in temperate perennial grasslands. It occurs in a non-random fashion and is usually explained by increased competitive size asymmetry between co-occurring winner (tall species with optima in productive habitats) and loser species (small-statured plants typical for unproductive habitats). It remains unclear why nutrient addition decreases diversity in communities consisting of losers only, whereas it has little effect on winner-only communities. Here, I used the framework of modern coexistence theory to explore fertilization-driven changes in fitness and niche differences between different combinations of field-identified winner (W) and loser (L) species. I experimentally estimated competition parameters for plant species pairs constructed from a pool of eight species, including pairs of species from the same (WW, LL) and different species categories (LW) grown for approximately two years in control and fertilized conditions. Concurrently, I also followed plant species diversity in mesocosm communities constructed from the same species pool (four-species communities including winners, losers, or both) exposed to control and nutrient addition. I found that nutrient addition can reduce but, unexpectedly, also promote species coexistence depending on the type of species pairs. Whereas nutrient addition eroded coexistence of losers with winners, but also with other losers, treatment had the opposite effect on the persistence of winner species. Fertilization induced large fitness differences between species in loser-winner and loser-loser combinations, but had little effect on the fitness differences of species within the winner-winner combination. In addition, the persistence of winner pairs was promoted by larger niche differences compared to loser species, irrespective of soil nutrients. The differences in how nutrient addition modified coexistence at the pairwise level were reflected by differences in evenness of multispecies communities assembled from the corresponding species categories. These results suggest that the effect of eutrophication on plant species richness cannot simply be explained by an increased competitive asymmetry. To fully understand the effect of fertilization on the diversity of temperate grasslands, interspecific and intraspecific interactions should be explored while considering differences in species' ecological optima.

opencc-zeroJun 2023View details →

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Allen Brain Atlas

Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.

allen-brain-atlas

neuroscienceopenDocumentation, web resources, and API references are available online.

Last verified 2026-04-30Open record

Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)

ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.

abode-home-cage

behavioral-neuroscienceopenThe DataShare record exposes download links for annotations, documentation, license text, and the zipped per-snippet data directory.

Last verified 2026-04-30Open record

DANDI Archive for NWB datasets

DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.

dandi-nwb

electrophysiologyopenPublished Dandiset metadata and archive endpoints are available through the production DANDI API.

Last verified 2026-04-30Open record

International Brain Laboratory public data

The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.

ibl

behavioral-neuroscienceopenPublic sessions can be searched and loaded from the IBL public data server through ONE.

Last verified 2026-04-29Open record

OpenNeuro

OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.

openneuro

neuroscienceopenPublished datasets are available on demand over the internet.

Last verified 2026-04-29Open record