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81 results for “temperate grasslands”
Plant community legacy effects on nutrient cycling, fungal decomposer communities and decomposition in a temperate grassland
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Data from: Social-ecological landscape patterns predict woody encroachment from native tree plantings in a temperate grassland
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Decreasing effects of precipitation on grassland spring phenology in temperate China
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Mowing does not redress the negative effect of nutrient addition on alpha and beta diversity in a temperate grassland
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Data from: Mowing exacerbates the loss of ecosystem stability under nitrogen enrichment in a temperate grassland
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Data from: Prairie dogs, cattle subsidies, and alternative prey: Seasonal and spatial variation in coyote diet in a temperate grassland
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Data from: Spatiotemporal scaling of plant species richness and functional diversity in a temperate semi-natural grassland
The accumulation of biodiversity in space and time has been modelled extensively using the species-area relationship and the species-time relationship, respectively. Recently, these models have been combined into time-area curves in order to investigate spatiotemporal scaling of species richness. This study expands on previous research by applying these spatiotemporal models to functional diversity. Understanding spatiotemporal dynamics of ecological traits is important due to their crucial role in ecosystem functioning and mediating species responses to environmental change. We present a new function based on the semi-logarithmic species-area relationship, which was applied with a power function to vegetation survey data from Scottish machair grassland for both species richness and two measures of functional diversity. When taking a whole-study approach using non-linear mixed effects models, the semi-logarithmic function used here shows a positive time-area interaction for species richness, contrasting with the negative interaction of the power law found in previous investigations. Although there was a negative time-area interaction for functional diversity measures at the whole-study scale, parameter estimates were inconsistent at the individual site level. Overall, the results reveal differing spatiotemporal dynamics of species and their traits and suggest that the appropriate scale for space-for-time substitutions depends on the aspect of biodiversity being investigated. The new model developed in this study, and the novel application to functional diversity, opens up future possible research into spatiotemporal dynamics of biodiversity.
Data from: Relationships between plant traits, soil properties and carbon fluxes differ between monocultures and mixed communities in temperate grassland
1. The use of plant traits to predict ecosystem functions has been gaining growing attention. Aboveground plant traits, such as leaf nitrogen (N) content and specific leaf area (SLA), have been shown to strongly relate to ecosystem productivity, respiration, and nutrient cycling. Further, increasing plant functional trait diversity has been suggested as a possible mechanism to increase ecosystem carbon (C) storage. However, it is uncertain whether belowground plant traits can be predicted by aboveground traits, and if both above- and belowground traits can be used to predict soil properties and ecosystem-level functions. 2. Here, we used two adjacent field experiments in temperate grassland to investigate if above- and belowground plant traits are related, and whether relationships between plant traits, soil properties and ecosystem C fluxes (i.e., ecosystem respiration and net ecosystem exchange) measured in potted monocultures could be detected in mixed field communities. 3. We found that certain shoot traits (e.g., shoot N and C, and leaf dry matter content) were related to root traits (e.g., root N, root C:N, and root dry matter content) in monocultures, but such relationships were either weak or not detected in mixed communities. Some relationships between plant traits (i.e., shoot N, root N and/or shoot C:N) and soil properties (i.e., inorganic N availability and microbial community structure) were similar in monocultures and mixed communities, but they were more strongly linked to shoot traits in monocultures and root traits in mixed communities. Structural equation modelling showed that above- and belowground traits and soil properties improved predictions of ecosystem C fluxes in monocultures, but not in mixed communities on the basis of community-weighted mean traits. 4. Synthesis: Our results from a single grassland habitat detected relationships in monocultures between above- and belowground plant traits, and between plant traits, soil properties and ecosystem C fluxes. However, these relationships were generally weaker or different in mixed communities. Our results demonstrate that while plant traits can be used to predict certain soil properties and ecosystem functions in monocultures, they are less effective for predicting how changes in plant species composition influence ecosystem functions in mixed communities.
Data from: Fewer new species colonize at low frequency N addition in a temperate grassland
1. Biologically reactive nitrogen (Nr) enrichment threatens biodiversity in diverse ecosystems. Previous controlled N addition experiments may overestimate the effects of atmospheric Nr deposition on the rate of species loss, as it has been found that low frequency Nr additions, as used in traditional studies, lead to more rapid biodiversity loss. It remains unclear, however, whether the colonization of new species (gain) or extinction of old species (loss) is the cause of this difference. 2. By independently manipulating the frequency (twice vs. monthly additions yr–1) and the rate (from 0 to 50 g N m–2 yr–1) of NH4NO3 inputs for six years in a temperate grassland of northern China, we aimed to examine the contribution of gain and loss of species to the reduction in species richness under different regimes of Nr inputs. 3. Results showed that the gain of new species was higher at a high frequency of N addition than that at a low addition frequency, whilst loss of existing species was similar between the two frequencies of N addition. The number of new species gained decreased and old species lost increased with the increasing rate of Nr addition at both annual and five-year intervals. Cumulative gain of new species was negatively correlated with soil acidification, ammonium concentration and community biomass accumulation, whereas cumulative loss of old species was positively correlated with these variables. 4. Our results revealed lower new species colonization results in lower species richness at low frequency of Nr addition. Findings from this study highlight the important role of N addition frequency in regulating the effects of Nr addition on community dynamics. To assess the effects of atmospheric Nr deposition on ecosystem structure and functioning, it is necessary to assess not only the dose but also the frequency of N addition.
Soil conditions drive belowground trait space in temperate agricultural grasslands
<p>Plant belowground organs perform essential functions, including water and nutrient uptake, anchorage, vegetative reproduction and recruitment of mutualistic soil microbiota. Recently, multivariate analyses showed that root traits of species can largely be linked to a 'conservation' and a 'collaboration' gradient. Here, we tested whether this species-level bidimensional belowground trait space also exists at the community level in grasslands. Furthermore, we tested whether the position of grassland communities in belowground trait space relates to environmental variables.</p> <p>For a total of 313 species, we collected data on eight belowground traits in greenhouse and common garden experiments and supplemented it with data on bud-bank size and specific leaf area from databases. We calculated community weighted means (CWMs) of these ten traits for 150 temperate grassland plots to investigate belowground plant-trait dimensionality and its variation along ten soil and land-use parameters.</p> <p>Using PCA, we found that about 55% of variance in CWMs was explained by two main dimensions, corresponding to a mycorrhizal 'collaboration' and a resource 'conservation' gradient. Frequently overlooked traits such as rooting depth, bud-bank size and root branching intensity were largely integrated in this trait space. The two plant-strategy gradients were partially dependent on each other, with communities that do 'outsourcing' of resource uptake to mycorrhizal fungi along the collaboration gradient also being more 'slow' along the conservation gradient. (i.e. high root tissue density and high root weight ratio). 'Outsourcing' communities were also more often deep-rooting and associated with soil parameters, such as low moisture and sand content, high topsoil pH, high C:N and low δ15N. 'Slow' communities had large bud banks and were associated with low land-use intensity, high topsoil pH, and low nitrate but high ammonium concentration in the soil. Surprisingly, we did not find an association of phosphorus availability with the mycorrhizal 'collaboration' gradient.</p> <p>In conclusion, the 'collaboration' and 'conservation' gradients previously identified among species scale up to the community level in grasslands, encompass more traits than previously described, and vary with the environment.</p>
Large herbivores facilitate an insect herbivore by modifying plant community composition in a temperate grassland
<p>Large herbivores often co-occur and share plant resources with herbivorous insects in grassland ecosystems, yet how they interact with each other remains poorly understood. We conducted a series of field experiments to investigate whether and how large domestic herbivores (sheep; <i>O</i><i>vis</i><i> </i><i>aries</i>) may affect the abundance of a common herbivorous insect (aphid; <i>Hyalopterus</i><i> </i><i>pruni</i>) in a temperate grassland of northeast China. Our exclosure experiment showed that three years (2010-2012) of sheep grazing had led to 86% higher aphid abundance compared with ungrazed sites. Mechanistically, this facilitative effect was driven by grazing altering the plant community, rather than by changes in food availability and predator abundance for aphids. Sheep significantly altered plant community by reducing the abundance of unpalatable forbs for the aphids. Our small-scale forb removal experiment revealed an "associational plant defense" by forbs which protect the grass <i>Phragmites australis</i><i> </i>from being attacked by the aphids. However, selective grazing on forbs by sheep indirectly disrupted such associational plant defense, making <i>P</i><i>.</i><i> australis</i> more susceptible to aphids, consequentially increasing the density of aphids. These findings provide a novel mechanistic explanation for the effects of large herbivores on herbivorous insects by linking selective grazing to plant community composition and the responses of insect populations in grassland ecosystems. </p>
Data from: Fewer new species colonize at low frequency N addition in a temperate grassland
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Soil conditions drive belowground trait space in temperate agricultural grasslands
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Data from: Relationships between plant traits, soil properties and carbon fluxes differ between monocultures and mixed communities in temperate grassland
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Large herbivores facilitate an insect herbivore by modifying plant community composition in a temperate grassland
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Data from: Interactions between plant genome size, nutrients and herbivory by rabbits, molluscs and insects on a temperate grassland
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Data from: Spatiotemporal scaling of plant species richness and functional diversity in a temperate semi-natural grassland
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Data from: Limited evidence for spatial resource partitioning across temperate grassland biodiversity experiments
Locally, plant species richness supports many ecosystem functions. Yet, the mechanisms driving these often-positive biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships are not well understood. Spatial resource partitioning across vertical resource gradients is one of the main hypothesized causes for enhanced ecosystem functioning in more biodiverse grasslands. Spatial resource partitioning occurs if species differ in where they acquire resources and can happen both above- and belowground. However, studies investigating spatial resource partitioning in grasslands provide inconsistent evidence. We present the results of a meta-analysis of 21 datasets from experimental species-richness gradients in grasslands. We test the hypothesis that increasing spatial resource partitioning along vertical resource gradients enhances ecosystem functioning in diverse grassland plant communities above- and belowground. To test this hypothesis, we asked three questions: 1. Does species richness enhance biomass production or community resource uptake across sites? 2. Is there evidence of spatial resource partitioning as indicated by resource tracer uptake and biomass allocation above- and belowground? 3. Is evidence of spatial resource partitioning correlated with increased biomass production or community resource uptake? Although plant species richness enhanced community nitrogen and potassium uptake and biomass production above- and belowground, we found that plant communities did not meet our criteria for spatial resource partitioning, though they did invest in significantly more aboveground biomass in higher canopy layers in mixture relative to monoculture. Furthermore, the extent of spatial resource partitioning across studies was not positively correlated with either biomass production or community resource uptake. Our results suggest that spatial resource partitioning across vertical resource gradients alone does not offer a general explanation for enhanced ecosystem functioning in more diverse temperate grasslands.
Symbiotic moss-cyanobacteria associations as a novel source of biological N2-fixation in temperate grasslands
<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><b>Aims. </b>Terrestrial mosses contribute significantly to nitrogen budgets in boreal forests through symbiotic associations with N<sub>2</sub>-fixing cyanobacteria, but few studies have considered these interactions in temperate systems. We investigated how N<sub>2</sub>-fixation by moss-cyanobacterial associations contribute spatio-temporally to site-level N dynamics in a western North American prairie ecosystem.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><b>Methods. </b>We first tested for the presence of N<sub>2</sub>-fixing cyanobacteria on six moss species using epi-fluorescence light microscopy. We then used an acetylene reduction assay to estimate monthly N<sub>2</sub>-fixation rates in moss-cyanobacteria associations across three prairies located in the Puget Sound, Washington State, USA. We evaluated temperature and precipitation effects on N<sub>2</sub>-fixation activity. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><b>Results. </b>We confirmed the presence of N<sub>2</sub>-fixing cyanobacteria on three moss species (<i>Pleurozium schreberi </i>(Brid.) Mitt.<i>, Racomitrium elongatum </i>Frisvoll<i>, Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus </i>(Hedw) Warnst.) and found species, site and seasonal variation in N<sub>2</sub>-fixation rates. <i>Racomitrium elongatum</i> exhibited the highest N<sub>2</sub>-fixation rates, with peaks in April and August. We found that temperature and precipitation were strongly correlated with N<sub>2</sub>-fixation rates and likelihood of activity. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><b>Conclusions. </b>Our results highlight a previously undescribed source of biological N<sub>2</sub>-fixation in temperate grasslands. Changes in the distribution and activity of these species due to climate change and management practices could impact stand-level nitrogen dynamics. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
Data from: Limited evidence for spatial resource partitioning across temperate grassland biodiversity experiments
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Allen Brain Atlas
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DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
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International Brain Laboratory public data
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OpenNeuro
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