Negative effects of nitrogen override positive effects of phosphorus on grassland legumes worldwide

P.M. Tognetti; S.M. Prober; S. Báez; E.J. Chaneton; J. Firn; A.C. Risch; M. Schuetz; A.K. Simonsen; L. Yahdjian; E.T. Borer; E.W. Seabloom; C.A. Arnillas; J.D. Bakker; C.S. Brown; M.W. Cadotte; M.C. Caldeira; P. Daleo; J.M. Dwyer; P.A. Fay; L.A. Gherardi; N. Hagenah; Y. Hautier; K.J. Komatsu; R.L. McCulley; J.N. Price; R.J. Standish; C.J. Stevens; P.D. Wragg; M. Sankaran

doi:10.1073/pnas.2023718118

Back

Negative effects of nitrogen override positive effects of phosphorus on grassland legumes worldwide

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Negative effects of nitrogen override positive effects of phosphorus on grassland legumes worldwide

P.M. Tognetti, S.M. Prober, S. Báez, E.J. Chaneton, J. Firn, A.C. Risch, M. Schuetz, A.K. Simonsen, L. Yahdjian, E.T. Borer, …

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol.118(28), e2023718118

2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2023718118

Files and links (1)

url

Link to Published Version *Subscription may be requiredView

Abstract

Anthropogenic nutrient enrichment is driving global biodiversity decline and modifying ecosystem functions. Theory suggests that plant functional types that fix atmospheric nitrogen have a competitive advantage in nitrogen-poor soils, but lose this advantage with increasing nitrogen supply. By contrast, the addition of phosphorus, potassium, and other nutrients may benefit such species in low-nutrient environments by enhancing their nitrogen-fixing capacity. We present a global-scale experiment confirming these predictions for nitrogen-fixing legumes (Fabaceae) across 45 grasslands on six continents. Nitrogen addition reduced legume cover, richness, and biomass, particularly in nitrogen-poor soils, while cover of non–nitrogen-fixing plants increased. The addition of phosphorous, potassium, and other nutrients enhanced legume abundance, but did not mitigate the negative effects of nitrogen addition. Increasing nitrogen supply thus has the potential to decrease the diversity and abundance of grassland legumes worldwide regardless of the availability of other nutrients, with consequences for biodiversity, food webs, ecosystem resilience, and genetic improvement of protein-rich agricultural plant species.

Details

Title: Negative effects of nitrogen override positive effects of phosphorus on grassland legumes worldwide
Authors/Creators: P.M. Tognetti (Author/Creator) - Universidad de Buenos Aires
S.M. Prober (Author/Creator) - CSIRO Land and Water
S. Báez (Author/Creator) - Department of Biology, Escuela Politécnica Nacional del Ecuador, 17-01-2759 Quito, Ecuador.
E.J. Chaneton (Author/Creator) - Universidad de Buenos Aires
J. Firn (Author/Creator) - Queensland University of Technology
A.C. Risch (Author/Creator) - Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
M. Schuetz (Author/Creator) - Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
A.K. Simonsen (Author/Creator) - Australian National University
L. Yahdjian (Author/Creator) - Universidad de Buenos Aires
E.T. Borer (Author/Creator) - University of Minnesota
E.W. Seabloom (Author/Creator) - University of Minnesota
C.A. Arnillas (Author/Creator) - University of Toronto
J.D. Bakker (Author/Creator) - University of Washington
C.S. Brown (Author/Creator) - Colorado State University
M.W. Cadotte (Author/Creator) - University of Toronto
M.C. Caldeira (Author/Creator) - Instituto Superior de Agronomia
P. Daleo (Author/Creator) - National University of Mar del Plata
J.M. Dwyer (Author/Creator) - The University of Queensland
P.A. Fay (Author/Creator) - Grassland, Soil and Water Research Laboratory
L.A. Gherardi (Author/Creator) - Arizona State University
N. Hagenah (Author/Creator) - University of Pretoria
Y. Hautier (Author/Creator) - University College Utrecht
K.J. Komatsu (Author/Creator)
R.L. McCulley (Author/Creator) - University of Kentucky
J.N. Price (Author/Creator) - Charles Sturt University
R.J. Standish (Author/Creator) - Murdoch University
C.J. Stevens (Author/Creator) - Lancaster University
P.D. Wragg (Author/Creator) - University of Minnesota
M. Sankaran (Author/Creator) - Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Publication Details: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol.118(28), e2023718118
Publisher: National Academy of Sciences
Identifiers: 991005541628307891
Copyright: © 2021 National Academy of Sciences
Murdoch Affiliation: School of Environmental and Conservation Sciences
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

Source: InCites

Metrics

78 Record Views

80 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Citation topics: 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology; 3.40 Forestry; 3.40.86 Plant Communities
Web Of Science research areas: Ecology
ESI research areas: Environment/Ecology