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Soil phosphorus constrains biodiversity across European grasslands

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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Soil phosphorus constrains biodiversity across European grasslands. / Ceulemans, Tobias; Stevens, Carly J.; Duchateau, Luc et al.
In: Global Change Biology, Vol. 20, No. 12, 12.2014, p. 3814-3822.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Ceulemans, T, Stevens, CJ, Duchateau, L, Jacquemyn, H, Gowing, DJG, Merckx, R, Wallace, H, van Rooijen, N, Goethem, T, Bobbink, R, Dorland, E, Gaudnik, C, Alard, D, Corcket, E, Muller, S, Dise, NB, Dupre, C, Diekmann, M & Honnay, O 2014, 'Soil phosphorus constrains biodiversity across European grasslands', Global Change Biology, vol. 20, no. 12, pp. 3814-3822. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12650

APA

Ceulemans, T., Stevens, C. J., Duchateau, L., Jacquemyn, H., Gowing, D. J. G., Merckx, R., Wallace, H., van Rooijen, N., Goethem, T., Bobbink, R., Dorland, E., Gaudnik, C., Alard, D., Corcket, E., Muller, S., Dise, N. B., Dupre, C., Diekmann, M., & Honnay, O. (2014). Soil phosphorus constrains biodiversity across European grasslands. Global Change Biology, 20(12), 3814-3822. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12650

Vancouver

Ceulemans T, Stevens CJ, Duchateau L, Jacquemyn H, Gowing DJG, Merckx R et al. Soil phosphorus constrains biodiversity across European grasslands. Global Change Biology. 2014 Dec;20(12):3814-3822. Epub 2014 Jul 20. doi: 10.1111/gcb.12650

Author

Ceulemans, Tobias ; Stevens, Carly J. ; Duchateau, Luc et al. / Soil phosphorus constrains biodiversity across European grasslands. In: Global Change Biology. 2014 ; Vol. 20, No. 12. pp. 3814-3822.

Bibtex

@article{4c211eff120243b9b89a3381d0ccd65f,
title = "Soil phosphorus constrains biodiversity across European grasslands",
abstract = "Nutrient pollution presents a serious threat to biodiversity conservation. In terrestrial ecosystems, the deleterious effects of nitrogen pollution are increasingly understood and several mitigating environmental policies have been developed. Compared to nitrogen, the effects of increased phosphorus have received far less attention, although some studies have indicated that phosphorus pollution may be detrimental for biodiversity as well. On the basis of a dataset covering 501 grassland plots throughout Europe, we demonstrate that, independent of the level of atmospheric nitrogen deposition and soil acidity, plant species richness was consistently negatively related to soil phosphorus. We also identified thresholds in soil phosphorus above which biodiversity appears to remain at a constant low level. Our results indicate that nutrient management policies biased toward reducing nitrogen pollution will fail to preserve biodiversity. As soil phosphorus is known to be extremely persistent and we found no evidence for a critical threshold below which no environmental harm is expected, we suggest that agro-environmental schemes should include grasslands that are permanently free from phosphorus fertilization.",
keywords = "atmospheric nitrogen deposition, environmental policy, grassland, nutrient enrichment, phosphorus, PLANT-SPECIES RICHNESS, ATMOSPHERIC NITROGEN DEPOSITION, AGRICULTURAL LAND, EUTROPHICATION, LIMITATION, DIVERSITY, TRENDS, ACIDIFICATION, COMMUNITIES, ENRICHMENT",
author = "Tobias Ceulemans and Stevens, {Carly J.} and Luc Duchateau and Hans Jacquemyn and Gowing, {David J. G.} and Roel Merckx and Hilary Wallace and {van Rooijen}, Nils and Thomas Goethem and Roland Bobbink and Edu Dorland and Cassandre Gaudnik and Didier Alard and Emmanuel Corcket and Serge Muller and Dise, {Nancy B.} and Cecilia Dupre and Martin Diekmann and Olivier Honnay",
year = "2014",
month = dec,
doi = "10.1111/gcb.12650",
language = "English",
volume = "20",
pages = "3814--3822",
journal = "Global Change Biology",
issn = "1354-1013",
publisher = "Blackwell Publishing Ltd",
number = "12",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Soil phosphorus constrains biodiversity across European grasslands

AU - Ceulemans, Tobias

AU - Stevens, Carly J.

AU - Duchateau, Luc

AU - Jacquemyn, Hans

AU - Gowing, David J. G.

AU - Merckx, Roel

AU - Wallace, Hilary

AU - van Rooijen, Nils

AU - Goethem, Thomas

AU - Bobbink, Roland

AU - Dorland, Edu

AU - Gaudnik, Cassandre

AU - Alard, Didier

AU - Corcket, Emmanuel

AU - Muller, Serge

AU - Dise, Nancy B.

AU - Dupre, Cecilia

AU - Diekmann, Martin

AU - Honnay, Olivier

PY - 2014/12

Y1 - 2014/12

N2 - Nutrient pollution presents a serious threat to biodiversity conservation. In terrestrial ecosystems, the deleterious effects of nitrogen pollution are increasingly understood and several mitigating environmental policies have been developed. Compared to nitrogen, the effects of increased phosphorus have received far less attention, although some studies have indicated that phosphorus pollution may be detrimental for biodiversity as well. On the basis of a dataset covering 501 grassland plots throughout Europe, we demonstrate that, independent of the level of atmospheric nitrogen deposition and soil acidity, plant species richness was consistently negatively related to soil phosphorus. We also identified thresholds in soil phosphorus above which biodiversity appears to remain at a constant low level. Our results indicate that nutrient management policies biased toward reducing nitrogen pollution will fail to preserve biodiversity. As soil phosphorus is known to be extremely persistent and we found no evidence for a critical threshold below which no environmental harm is expected, we suggest that agro-environmental schemes should include grasslands that are permanently free from phosphorus fertilization.

AB - Nutrient pollution presents a serious threat to biodiversity conservation. In terrestrial ecosystems, the deleterious effects of nitrogen pollution are increasingly understood and several mitigating environmental policies have been developed. Compared to nitrogen, the effects of increased phosphorus have received far less attention, although some studies have indicated that phosphorus pollution may be detrimental for biodiversity as well. On the basis of a dataset covering 501 grassland plots throughout Europe, we demonstrate that, independent of the level of atmospheric nitrogen deposition and soil acidity, plant species richness was consistently negatively related to soil phosphorus. We also identified thresholds in soil phosphorus above which biodiversity appears to remain at a constant low level. Our results indicate that nutrient management policies biased toward reducing nitrogen pollution will fail to preserve biodiversity. As soil phosphorus is known to be extremely persistent and we found no evidence for a critical threshold below which no environmental harm is expected, we suggest that agro-environmental schemes should include grasslands that are permanently free from phosphorus fertilization.

KW - atmospheric nitrogen deposition

KW - environmental policy

KW - grassland

KW - nutrient enrichment

KW - phosphorus

KW - PLANT-SPECIES RICHNESS

KW - ATMOSPHERIC NITROGEN DEPOSITION

KW - AGRICULTURAL LAND

KW - EUTROPHICATION

KW - LIMITATION

KW - DIVERSITY

KW - TRENDS

KW - ACIDIFICATION

KW - COMMUNITIES

KW - ENRICHMENT

U2 - 10.1111/gcb.12650

DO - 10.1111/gcb.12650

M3 - Journal article

VL - 20

SP - 3814

EP - 3822

JO - Global Change Biology

JF - Global Change Biology

SN - 1354-1013

IS - 12

ER -