Rights statement: The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10021-019-00350-4
Accepted author manuscript, 1.04 MB, PDF document
Available under license: CC BY-NC: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Belowground biomass response to nutrient enrichment depends on light limitation across globally distributed grasslands
AU - Cleland, Elsa E.
AU - Lind, Eric M.
AU - Decrappeo, Nicole M.
AU - DeLorenze, Elizabeth
AU - Wilkins, R.A.
AU - Adler, Peter B.
AU - Bakker, J.
AU - Brown, Cini
AU - Davies, K
AU - Esch, E.
AU - Firn, Jennifer
AU - Gressard, S.
AU - Gruner, Daniel S.
AU - Hagenah, Nicole
AU - Harpole, W. Stanley
AU - Hautier, Yann
AU - Hobbie, Sarah E.
AU - Hofmockel, Kirsten S.
AU - Kirkman, Kevin P.
AU - Knops, Johannes M. H.
AU - Kopp, C.W.
AU - La Pierre, K.J.
AU - MacDougall, Andrew S.
AU - McCulley, Rebecca L.
AU - Melbourne, Brett A.
AU - Moore, J.
AU - Prober, Suzanne M.
AU - Riggs, C.W.
AU - Risch, Anita C.
AU - Schuetz, Martin
AU - Stevens, Carly Joanne
AU - Wragg, Peter D.
AU - Wright, J
AU - Borer, Elizabeth T.
AU - Seabloom, Eric W.
N1 - The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10021-019-00350-4
PY - 2019/11/1
Y1 - 2019/11/1
N2 - Anthropogenic activities are increasing nutrient inputs to ecosystems worldwide, with consequences for global carbon and nutrient cycles. Recent meta-analyses show that aboveground primary production is often co-limited by multiple nutrients; however, little is known about how root production responds to changes in nutrient availability. At twenty-nine grassland sites on four continents, we quantified shallow root biomass responses to nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium plus micronutrient enrichment and compared below- and aboveground responses. We hypothesized that optimal allocation theory would predict context dependence in root biomass responses to nutrient enrichment, given variation among sites in the resources limiting to plant growth (specifically light versus nutrients). Consistent with the predictions of optimal allocation theory, the proportion of total biomass belowground declined with N or P addition, due to increased biomass aboveground (for N and P) and decreased biomass belowground (N, particularly in sites with low canopy light penetration). Absolute root biomass increased with N addition where light was abundant at the soil surface, but declined in sites where the grassland canopy intercepted a large proportion of incoming light. These results demonstrate that belowground responses to changes in resource supply can differ strongly from aboveground responses, which could significantly modify predictions of future rates of nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration. Our results also highlight how optimal allocation theory developed for individual plants may help predict belowground biomass responses to nutrient enrichment at the ecosystem scale across wide climatic and environmental gradients.
AB - Anthropogenic activities are increasing nutrient inputs to ecosystems worldwide, with consequences for global carbon and nutrient cycles. Recent meta-analyses show that aboveground primary production is often co-limited by multiple nutrients; however, little is known about how root production responds to changes in nutrient availability. At twenty-nine grassland sites on four continents, we quantified shallow root biomass responses to nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium plus micronutrient enrichment and compared below- and aboveground responses. We hypothesized that optimal allocation theory would predict context dependence in root biomass responses to nutrient enrichment, given variation among sites in the resources limiting to plant growth (specifically light versus nutrients). Consistent with the predictions of optimal allocation theory, the proportion of total biomass belowground declined with N or P addition, due to increased biomass aboveground (for N and P) and decreased biomass belowground (N, particularly in sites with low canopy light penetration). Absolute root biomass increased with N addition where light was abundant at the soil surface, but declined in sites where the grassland canopy intercepted a large proportion of incoming light. These results demonstrate that belowground responses to changes in resource supply can differ strongly from aboveground responses, which could significantly modify predictions of future rates of nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration. Our results also highlight how optimal allocation theory developed for individual plants may help predict belowground biomass responses to nutrient enrichment at the ecosystem scale across wide climatic and environmental gradients.
U2 - 10.1007/s10021-019-00350-4
DO - 10.1007/s10021-019-00350-4
M3 - Journal article
VL - 22
SP - 1466
EP - 1477
JO - Ecosystems
JF - Ecosystems
SN - 1432-9840
IS - 7
ER -