Fertilized graminoids intensify negative drought effects on grassland productivity

Kevin Van Sundert¹, Mohammed A S Arfin Khan^{2

3}, Siddharth Bharath⁴, Yvonne M Buckley⁵, Maria C Caldeira⁶, Ian Donohue⁵, Maren Dubbert^{7

8}, Anne Ebeling⁹, Nico Eisenhauer^{10

11}, Anu Eskelinen^{12

13

14}, Alain Finn⁵, Tobias Gebauer¹⁵, Sylvia Haider^{16

17}, Amandine Hansart¹⁸, Anke Jentsch³, Angelika Kübert⁷, Ivan Nijs¹, Charles A Nock^{15

19}, Carla Nogueira⁶, Anita J Porath-Krause⁴, Dajana Radujković¹, Xavier Raynaud²⁰, Anita C Risch²¹, Christiane Roscher^{12

13}, Michael Scherer-Lorenzen¹⁵, Max A Schuchardt³, Martin Schütz²¹, Julia Siebert^{10

11}, Judith Sitters²², Marie Spohn²³, Risto Virtanen²⁴, Christiane Werner⁷, Peter Wilfahrt^{3

4}, Sara Vicca¹

Affiliations

¹ Research Group PLECO (Plants and Ecosystems), Global Change Ecology Centre of Excellence, Biology Department, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
² Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh.
³ Department of Disturbance Ecology, BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.
⁴ Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
⁵ Department of Zoology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
⁶ Forest Research Centre, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
⁷ Ecosystem Physiology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
⁸ Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Isotope Biogeochemistry and Gas Fluxes, Müncheberg, Germany.
⁹ Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University Jena, Jena, Germany.
¹⁰ Department of Experimental Interaction Ecology, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
¹¹ Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
¹² Department of Physiological Diversity, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
¹³ Department of Physiological Diversity, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany.
¹⁴ Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
¹⁵ Geobotany, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
¹⁶ Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
¹⁷ Department of Geobotany, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
¹⁸ Département de biologie, CNRS, Centre de recherche en écologie expérimentale et prédictive (CEREEP-Ecotron IleDeFrance), Ecole normale supérieure, PSL University, Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours, France.
¹⁹ Renewable Resources, Faculty of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
²⁰ Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris, UPEC, IRD, CNRS, INRA, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, iEES Paris, Paris, France.
²¹ Community Ecology Research Unit, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland.
²² Ecology and Biodiversity, Biology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
²³ Department of Soil and Environment, Sveriges Landbruksuniversitet (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden.
²⁴ Ecology & Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.

PMID: 33675118
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15583

Fertilized graminoids intensify negative drought effects on grassland productivity

Kevin Van Sundert et al. Glob Chang Biol. 2021 Jun.

. 2021 Jun;27(11):2441-2457.

doi: 10.1111/gcb.15583. Epub 2021 Mar 21.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Research Group PLECO (Plants and Ecosystems), Global Change Ecology Centre of Excellence, Biology Department, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
² Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh.
³ Department of Disturbance Ecology, BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.
⁴ Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
⁵ Department of Zoology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
⁶ Forest Research Centre, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
⁷ Ecosystem Physiology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
⁸ Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Isotope Biogeochemistry and Gas Fluxes, Müncheberg, Germany.
⁹ Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University Jena, Jena, Germany.
¹⁰ Department of Experimental Interaction Ecology, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
¹¹ Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
¹² Department of Physiological Diversity, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
¹³ Department of Physiological Diversity, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany.
¹⁴ Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
¹⁵ Geobotany, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
¹⁶ Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
¹⁷ Department of Geobotany, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
¹⁸ Département de biologie, CNRS, Centre de recherche en écologie expérimentale et prédictive (CEREEP-Ecotron IleDeFrance), Ecole normale supérieure, PSL University, Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours, France.
¹⁹ Renewable Resources, Faculty of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
²⁰ Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris, UPEC, IRD, CNRS, INRA, Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, iEES Paris, Paris, France.
²¹ Community Ecology Research Unit, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland.
²² Ecology and Biodiversity, Biology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
²³ Department of Soil and Environment, Sveriges Landbruksuniversitet (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden.
²⁴ Ecology & Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.

PMID: 33675118
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15583

Abstract

Droughts can strongly affect grassland productivity and biodiversity, but responses differ widely. Nutrient availability may be a critical factor explaining this variation, but is often ignored in analyses of drought responses. Here, we used a standardized nutrient addition experiment covering 10 European grasslands to test if full-factorial nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium addition affected plant community responses to inter-annual variation in drought stress and to the extreme summer drought of 2018 in Europe. We found that nutrient addition amplified detrimental drought effects on community aboveground biomass production. Drought effects also differed between functional groups, with a negative effect on graminoid but not forb biomass production. Our results imply that eutrophication in grasslands, which promotes dominance of drought-sensitive graminoids over forbs, amplifies detrimental drought effects. In terms of climate change adaptation, agricultural management would benefit from taking into account differential drought impacts on fertilized versus unfertilized grasslands, which differ in ecosystem services they provide to society.

Keywords: Nutrient Network (NutNet); drought; ecosystem; functional group; grassland; nutrient.

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Fertilized graminoids intensify negative drought effects on grassland productivity

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Fertilized graminoids intensify negative drought effects on grassland productivity

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