Nitrogen effects on plant species richness in herbaceous communities are more widespread and stronger than those of phosphorus

作者：Merel B. Soons, Mariet Margaretha Hefting, Edu Dorland, Leon P. M. Lamers, Carmen Versteeg, Roland Bobbink · 发表于：Biological Conservation · 年份：2016 · DOI：10.1016/j.biocon.2016.12.006 · 被引用次数：169 · 研究领域：Peatlands and Wetlands Ecology、Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies、Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics

Both nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) enrichment are known to impact plant diversity globally. Recent studies suggest that P enrichment may be as important, or even more important, as a driver of terrestrial plant species loss as N enrichment. However, the generality and relative contribution of these critical nutrients to species losses remains unclear. Here, we quantitatively compared effects of N, P and combined NP enrichment on species richness of natural and semi-natural herbaceous ecosystems across the world in a meta-analysis of 189 long-term nutrient addition experiments in the field. Our experiment-based approach shows that, across terrestrial and wetland ecosystems, N and NP enrichment had widespread and strong negative effects on plant species richness. N reduced plant species richness across experiments by on average 16% (p < 0.001), while P did not (on average 3%, NS). Combined NP enrichment also reduced species richness, by on average 16% (p = 0.009), with the dominant effect statistically attributed to N. N enrichment effects were greater in China than in Europe and America, which may be explained by background atmospheric N deposition rates and earlier species losses in Europe and America. P enrichment reduced species numbers only in the most species-rich communities and even increased species numbers at high latitudes. All nutrient enrichment combinations (N, P, NP) stimulated aboveground biomass production, and biomass-mediated mechanisms are likely to have c...