Long-term effects of drainage and hay-removal on nutrient dynamics and limitation in the Biebrza mires,Poland |
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Authors: | Harry Olde Venterink Ignacy Kardel Wiktor Kotowski Wilma Peeters Martin J Wassen |
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Institution: | (1) Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland;(2) Department of Hydraulic Engineering and Environmental Restoration, Warsaw University of Life Sciences SGGW, Ul. Nowoursynowska 166, 02787 Warsaw, Poland;(3) Department of Plant Ecology and Environmental Conservation, Institute of Botany, University of Warsaw, Al. Ujazdowskie 4, 00478 Warsaw, Poland;(4) Environmental Sciences, Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development and Innovation, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80115, 3508, TC, Utrecht, The Netherlands |
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Abstract: | To provide a reference for wetlands elsewhere we analysed soil nutrients and the vegetation of floodplains and fens in the
relatively undisturbed Biebrza-valley, Poland. Additionally, by studying sites along a water-table gradient, and by comparing
pairs of mown and unmown sites, we aimed with exploring long-term effects of drainage and annual hay-removal on nutrient availabilities
and vegetation response. In undrained fens and floodplains, N mineralization went slowly (0–30 kg N ha−1 year−1) but it increased strongly with decreasing water table (up to 120 kg N ha−1 year−1). Soil N, P and K pools were small in the undisturbed mires. Drainage had caused a shift from fen to meadow species and the
disappearance of bryophytes. Biomass of vascular plants increased with increasing N mineralization and soil P. Annual hay-removal
tended to have reduced N mineralization and soil K pools, but it had increased soil P. Moreover, N concentrations in vascular
plants were not affected, but P and K concentrations and therefore N:P and N:K ratios tended to be changed. Annual hay-removal
had induced a shift from P to K limitation in the severely drained fen, and from P to N limitation in the floodplain. The
low nutrient availabilities and productivity of the undisturbed Biebrza mires illustrate the vulnerability of such mires to
eutrophication in Poland and elsewhere. In nutrient-enriched areas, hay removal may prevent productivity increase of the vegetation,
but also may severely alter N:P:K stoichiometry, induce K-limitation at drained sites, and alter vegetation structure and
composition. |
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Keywords: | Ecological stoichiometry Fen Floodplain Nitrogen mineralization Nutrient limitation Phosphorus Potassium Wetland |
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