Dwarf shrubs are stronger competitors than graminoid species at high nutrient supply in peat bogs

Climate warming is likely to increase nutrient mineralization rates in bog ecosystems which may change the plant species composition. We examined the competitive relationships between two graminoid species, Eriophorum vaginatum and Rhynchospora alba, and two ericoid species, Calluna vulgaris and Vaccinium oxycoccus, at different nutrient supply rates. In a greenhouse, the plants were grown in monocultures and mixtures at four nutrient treatments: control, high N, high P, and high N + P. The results show that the ericoids responded more strongly to the nutrient treatments than the graminoids. The dwarf shrubs showed higher growth rates and reduced root:shoot ratio at high N + P supply. When grown in mixture the ericoids increased their growth, while graminoids decreased in biomass or showed signs of nutrient limitation compared to their monoculture plants. This suggests that under increased nutrient availability, bogs are more likely to turn into dwarf shrub dominated ecosystems and not grassland.     

Plant functional traits and soil microbial biomass in different vegetation zones on the Loess Plateau

Plant functional traits built the relationships between plant diversity, species composition, and physiology along with the environmental changes, thus influencing soil microbial community. As the sensitivity indicators, soil microbial biomass and plant functional traits responses soil micro-organism and plant characteristics in direct way. Ten plant functional traits of 149 species and soil microbial biomass (carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus) were analyzed across the different vegetation types (forest, forest-steppe, and steppe) that are divided by environmental gradient (temperature and precipitation), aimed to find the correlations among them. Our results confirmed the greatest values of plant functional traits (except the leaf density and the fine root density) that were distributed in the steppe zone, mainly due to the different mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation conditions. For different plant growth forms, the plant functional traits were significant differences among the vegetation zones. The advantages of higher rate nutrient cycling, plentiful biomass supplements, and favorite habit conditions lead to the forest-steppe zone with the highest C_mic and N_mic concentrations. The canonical correlation analysis indicated that leaf nitrogen, root nitrogen, and fine root densities were correlated with root exudate and tissue which affected the concentrations of soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (N), consequently impacting soil microbial biomass carbon (C_mic) and soil microbial biomass nitrogen (N_mic). Soil is the medium that connects micro-organism and plant root system that influenced leaf nitrogen, root nitrogen, and fine root density of plant functional traits, the concentrations of SOC and total N that plant feedback are consequently influencing C_mic and N_mic.     

Plant functional traits along environmental gradients in seasonally dry and fire‐prone ecosystem

Questions: How does the abundance and richness of plant assemblages with different functional (regeneration and nutrient acquisition) traits vary with fire regime, moisture availability and substrate fertility? What is the role of different functional traits in maintaining plant diversity under changing environmental conditions in seasonally dry and fire‐prone environments? Location: Southwest Western Australia. Methods: Plant species abundance and soil nutrients were determined at 16 forest sites with variable fire histories across an aridity gradient. All plant species were classified based on their functional traits as (1) perennial or annual, (2) ectomycorrhizal, arbuscular mycorrhizal, ericoid mycorrhizal, orchid mycorrhizal, proteoid or other non‐mycorrhizal, (3) resprouters or seeder, and (4) nitrogen fixer or non‐fixer. We used a multivariate (fourth‐corner) technique to simultaneously test the significance and direction of the relationship between each of these traits and fire frequency, fire interval length, aridity, and soil N, P and C fractions. Results: The functional response of the vegetation to fire regime was minor and restricted to annual species, which comprised only ～4% of taxa. Proteoid and ectomycorrhizal species dominated over species with arbuscular and orchid mycorrhizal roots, N‐fixers dominated over non‐fixers, and seeders dominated over resprouters when N fertility was low but organic labile P was high. Further, proteoid and ectomycorrhizal species richness increased with aridity, while arbuscular mycorrhizal species richness decreased. Conclusions: While the functional composition of southwest Australian vegetation is largely insensitive to changes in fire regime, nutrient acquisition and, to a lesser extent, regeneration traits provide mechanisms for the vegetation community to adjust to changes in resource availability. Thus, diversity responses to environmental change in seasonally dry and fire‐prone ecosystems are likely to be primarily mediated by the composition of nutrient acquisition traits in the vegetation community.     

Responses of moist non-acidic arctic tundra to altered environment: productivity, biomass, and species richness

In arctic Alaska, researchers have manipulated air temperature, light availability, and soil nutrient availability in several tundra communities over the past two decades. These communities responded quite differently to the same manipulations, and species responded individualistically within communities and among sites. For example, moist acidic tundra is primarily nitrogen (N)‐limited, whereas wet sedge tundra is primarily phosphorus (P)‐limited, and the magnitude of growth responses varies across sites within communities. Here we report results of four years of manipulated nutrients (N and/or P) and/or air temperature in an understudied, diverse plant community, moist non‐acidic tussock tundra, in northern Alaska. Our goals were to determine which factors limit above‐ground net primary productivity (ANPP) and biomass, how community composition changes may affect ecosystem attributes, and to compare these results with those from other communities to determine their generality. Although relative abundance of functional groups shifted in several treatments, the only significant change in community‐level ANPP and biomass occurred in plots that received both N and P, driven by an increase in graminoid biomass and production resulting from a positive effect of adding N. There was no difference in community biomass among any other treatments; however, some growth forms and individual species did respond. After four years no one species has come to dominate the treatment plots and species richness has not changed. These results are similar to studies in dry heath, wet sedge, and moist acidic tundra where community biomass had the greatest response to both N and P and warming results were more subtle. Unlike in moist acidic tundra where shrub biomass increased markedly with fertilization, our results suggest that in non‐acidic tundra carbon sequestration in plant biomass will not increase substantially under increased soil nutrient conditions because of the lack of overstory shrub species.     

Environmental and plant community determinants of species loss following nitrogen enrichment

Global energy use and food production have increased nitrogen inputs to ecosystems worldwide, impacting plant community diversity, composition, and function. Previous studies show considerable variation across terrestrial herbaceous ecosystems in the magnitude of species loss following nitrogen (N) enrichment. What controls this variation remains unknown. We present results from 23 N-addition experiments across North America, representing a range of climatic, soil and plant community properties, to determine conditions that lead to greater diversity decline. Species loss in these communities ranged from 0 to 65% of control richness. Using hierarchical structural equation modelling, we found greater species loss in communities with a lower soil cation exchange capacity, colder regional temperature, and larger production increase following N addition, independent of initial species richness, plant productivity, and the relative abundance of most plant functional groups. Our results indicate sensitivity to N addition is co-determined by environmental conditions and production responsiveness, which overwhelm the effects of initial community structure and composition.     

The impact of long-term nitrogen addition on microbial community composition in three Hawaiian forest soils

We evaluated the microbial communities in three Hawaiian forest soils along a natural fertility gradient and compared their distinct responses to long-term nitrogen (N) additions. The sites studied have the same elevation, climate, and dominant vegetation, but vary in age of development, and thus in soil nutrient availability and nutrient limitation to plant growth. Fertilized plots at each site have received 100 kg ha year(-1) N addition for at least 8 years. Soil parameters, water content, pH, and ammonium and nitrate availability differed by site, but not between control and N-addition treatments within a site at the time of sampling. Microbial biomass also varied by site, but was not affected by N addition. In contrast, microbial community composition (measured by phospholipid analysis) varied among sites and between control and N-addition plots within a site. These data suggest that microbial community composition responds to N addition even when plant net primary productivity is limited by nutrients other than N. This may have implications for the behavior of forests impacted by atmospheric N deposition that are considered to be "nitrogen saturated," yet still retain N in the soil.     

Diverse functional responses to drought in a Mediterranean-type shrubland in South Africa

? Mediterranean-type ecosystems contain 20% of all vascular plant diversity on Earth and have been identified as being particularly threatened by future increases in drought. Of particular concern is the Cape Floral Region of South Africa, a global biodiversity hotspot, yet there are limited experimental data to validate predicted impacts on the flora. In a field rainout experiment, we tested whether rooting depth and degree of isohydry or anisohydry could aid in the functional classification of drought responses across diverse growth forms. ? We imposed a 6-month summer drought, for 2?yr, in a mountain fynbos shrubland. We monitored a suite of parameters, from physiological traits to morphological outcomes, in seven species comprising the three dominant growth forms (deep-rooted proteoid shrubs, shallow-rooted ericoid shrubs and graminoid restioids). ? There was considerable variation in drought response both between and within the growth forms. The shallow-rooted, anisohydric ericoid shrubs all suffered considerable reductions in growth and flowering and increased mortality. By contrast, the shallow-rooted, isohydric restioids and deep-rooted, isohydric proteoid shrubs were largely unaffected by the drought. ? Rooting depth and degree of iso/anisohydry allow a first-order functional classification of drought response pathways in this flora. Consideration of additional traits would further refine this approach.     

Variation in nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations of wetland plants

The use of nutrient concentrations in plant biomass as easily measured indicators of nutrient availability and limitation has been the subject of a controversial debate. In particular, it has been questioned whether nutrient concentrations are mainly species' traits or mainly determined by nutrient availability, and whether plant species have similar or different relative nutrient requirements. This review examines how nitrogen and phosphorus concentration and the N:P ratio in wetland plants vary among species and sites, and how they are related to nutrient availability and limitation. We analyse data from field studies in European non-forested wetlands, from fertilisation experiments in these communities and from growth experiments with wetland plants. Overall, the P concentration was more variable than the N concentration, while variation in N:P ratios was intermediate. Field data showed that the N concentration varies more among species than among sites, whereas the N:P ratio varies more among sites than among species, and the P concentration varies similarly among both. Similar patterns of variation were found in fertilisation experiments and in growth experiments under controlled nutrient supply. Nutrient concentrations and N:P ratios in the vegetation were poorly correlated with various measures of nutrient availability in soil, but they clearly responded to fertilisation in the field and to nutrient supply in growth experiments. In these experiments, biomass N:P ratios ranged from 3 to 40 and primarily reflected the relative availabilities of N and P, although N:P ratios of plants grown at the same nutrient supply could vary three-fold among species. The effects of fertilisation with N or P on the biomass production of wetland vegetation were well related to the N:P ratios of the vegetation in unfertilised plots, but not to N or P concentrations, which supports the idea that N:P ratios, rather than N or P concentrations, indicate the type of nutrient limitation. However, other limiting or stressing factors may influence N:P ratios, and the responses of individual plant species to fertilisation cannot be predicted from their N:P ratios. Therefore, N:P ratios should only be used to assess which nutrient limits the biomass production at the vegetation level and only when factors other than N or P are unlikely to be limiting.     

大兴安岭典型森林沼泽植物叶片和细根碳氮磷化学计量特征

探究大兴安岭典型森林沼泽不同植物叶片和细根生态化学计量特征,能够为进一步认识高纬度气候敏感生态系统养分利用策略和物质循环过程提供依据。对大兴安岭地区兴安落叶松-苔草、兴安落叶松-笃斯越桔-藓类和兴安落叶松-杜香-泥炭藓3种典型森林沼泽19种优势和亚优势维管植物叶片和细根碳氮磷计量特征(C∶N∶P)进行比较,分析不同森林沼泽类型、植物生长型和菌根类型叶片和细根C∶N∶P差异,通过标准化主轴回归分析叶片与细根C∶N∶P的关系。结果表明: 叶片C∶N∶P在种间水平具有最大的变异(42.5%～84.6%),且叶片和细根种间变异大小均为N∶P>C∶N>C∶P。土壤养分和水分含量较高的兴安落叶松-苔草沼泽叶片与细根C∶N和C∶P值较低,且3种森林沼泽植物叶片和细根N∶P均小于10,受N限制。草本植物叶片C∶P和细根C∶N、C∶P显著低于木本植物。外生菌根和杜鹃花类菌根植物叶片和细根C∶N和C∶P高于丛枝菌根和无菌根植物,且杜鹃花类菌根植物叶片和细根C∶P显著高于外生菌根植物。不同森林沼泽、生长型、菌根类型植物叶片和细根C∶N和C∶P差异明显,而N∶P相对稳定。森林沼泽植物叶片与细根C∶N、C∶P和N∶P呈线性正相关,植物地上与地下部分在生态化学计量特征上存在协同。     

Exclusion of grass roots from soil organic layers by Calluna: the role of ericoid mycorrhizas

The role of ericoid mycorrhizal colonization in competition between the dwarf shrub Calluna vulgaris and coarse grass Nardus stricta was investigated. Nardus was grown alone, or in competition with Calluna, in a layered organic/sand substrate with and without inoculation with the ericoid mycorrhizal endophyte Hymenoscyphus ericae, and with and without the addition of nitrogen. Root length and allocation between different substrate layers was assessed along with plant biomass, nutrient uptake and mycorrhizal colonization. Calluna was the superior competitor for nutrients, probably because of its ability to concentrate root growth in the upper organic layer. In the presence of Calluna both the absolute amount and proportion of Nardus root length in the organic layer were reduced, and this reduction was greatest when Calluna was mycorrhizal. The presence of ericoid mycorrhizal colonization did not reduce Nardus shoot nutrient content or concentration, suggesting that ericoid mycorrhizal suppression of Nardus growth was not due to nutrient competition: alternative mechanisms of interference are discussed.     

Plant responsiveness to variation in precipitation and nitrogen is consistent across the compositional diversity of a California annual grassland

Question: How does responsiveness to water and Nitrogen (N) availability vary across the compositional and functional diversity that exists in a mesic California annual grassland plant community? Location: Northern California annual grassland. Methods: A mesocosm system was used to simulate average annual precipitation totals and dry and wet year extremes observed in northern California mesic grasslands. The effects of precipitation and N availability on biomass and fecundity were measured on three different vegetation types, a mixed grass forb community, and a forb and a grass monoculture. The treatment effects on plant community composition were examined in the mixed species community. Results: While growth and seed production of the three vegetation types was inherently different, their responses to variation in precipitation and N were statistically similar. Plant density, shoot biomass, and seed production tended to increase with greater water availability in all vegetation types, with the exception of a consistent growth reduction in high precipitation (1245 mm) plots in the first year of the study. Shoot biomass responded positively to N addition, an effect that increased with greater water availability. Nitrogen addition had little effect on plant density or seed production. In the mixed grass‐forb community, biomass responsiveness to water and N treatments were consistently driven by the shoot growth of Avena barbata, the dominant grass species. Conclusions: Vegetation responses to changes in precipitation and N availability were consistent across a range of composition and structural diversity in this study. Plant growth and seed production were sensitive to both increased and decreased precipitation totals, and the magnitude of these responses to N availability varied depending on soil moisture conditions. Our results suggest the impacts of changing precipitation regimes and N deposition on annual productivity of California grasslands may be predictable under different climate scenarios across a range of plant communities.     

Nutrient effect on maximum photosynthesis in arctic plants

The effect of a 1976 nitrogen, phosphorus, and nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium fertilization at Eagle Creek, Alaska, on photosynthetic rates was investigated in 1978 in eight vascular and three nonvascular plant species. While NPK fertilization increased the growth rate of shoots of most vascular plant species, this treatment depressed photosynthetic rates in all vascular species. Therefore, it appears that nutrient limitation of growth is a direct limitation and not mediated through nutrient effect on carbon uptake rates and levels of available photosynthate. The reason for the reduction in photosynthetic rates with fertilization is not known. It is speculated that increases in growth with fertilization causes a dilution of other nutrients or factors, the effect of which is to depress photosynthesis.
Moss photosynthesis is stimulated with fertilization, High NPK fertilizer levels stimulate photosynthesis more than low NPK fertilizer levels. This may indicate basic differences in the ecology or physiology of the two growth forms. It is not yet known if the growth of mosses in this area is stimulated by NPK fertilization.     

Trait‐abundance relation in response to nutrient addition in a Tibetan alpine meadow: The importance of species trade‐off in resource conservation and acquisition

In competition‐dominated communities, traits promoting resource conservation and competitive ability are expected to have an important influence on species relative abundance (SRA). Yet, few studies have tested the trait‐abundance relations in the line of species trade‐off in resource conservation versus acquisition, indicating by multiple traits coordination. We measured SRA and key functional traits involving leaf economic spectrum (SLA, specific leaf area; LDMC, leaf dry matter content; LCC, leaf carbon concentration; LNC, leaf nitrogen concentration; LPC, leaf phosphorus concentration; Hs, mature height) for ten common species in all plots subjected to addition of nitrogen fertilizer (N), phosphorus fertilizer (P), or both of them (NP) in a Tibetan alpine meadow. We test whether SRA is positively related with traits promoting plant resource conservation, while negatively correlated with traits promoting plant growth and resource acquisition. We found that species were primarily differentiated along a trade‐off axis involving traits promoting nutrient acquisition and fast growth (e.g., LPC and SLA) versus traits promoting resource conservation and competition ability (e.g., large LDMC). We further found that SRA was positively correlated with plant height, LDMC, and LCC, but negatively associated with SLA and leaf nutrient concentration irrespective of fertilization. A stronger positive height‐SRA was found in NP‐fertilized plots than in other plots, while negative correlations between SRA and SLA and LPC were found in N or P fertilized plots. The results indicate that species trade‐off in nutrient acquisition and resource conservation was a key driver of SRA in competition‐dominated communities following fertilization, with the linkage between SRA and traits depending on plant competition for specific soil nutrient and/or light availability. The results highlight the importance of competitive exclusion in plant community assembly following fertilization and suggest that abundant species in local communities become dominated at expense of growth while infrequent species hold an advantage in fast growth and dispersals to neighbor meta‐communities.     

Possible Mechanism for Spontaneous Establishment of Calluna vulgaris in a Recently Abandoned Agricultural Field

In Western Europe, arable lands have been abandoned to increase the area of nature, such as Calluna vulgaris –dominated heathlands. However, the growth conditions, e.g., nutrient availability and lack of a phenolics-rich organic layer, on ex-arable sandy soils differ markedly from those of heathland and will favor fast-growing plant species. Succession toward Calluna -dominated heathland is expected to take decades unless intensive restoration management is applied. Here, we report a possible mechanism to explain the occurrence of Calluna patches (0.7–2.0 m diameter) in a 10-year abandoned agricultural field within a dominant vegetation of grasses and forbs. All roots sampled from the Calluna patches were colonized by ericoid mycorrhizal (ERM) and other endomycorrhizal fungi. Both nitrogen mineralization of soil organic N and potential nitrogen mineralization (arginine ammonification) were much lower in soil under Calluna patches than in the rest of the ex-arable soil, although other soil characteristics did not differ. The nitrogen to phosphorus ratio in Calluna shoots was much greater than that in shoots of grasses and forbs, indicating that the latter were more N limited. The results indicate that the association with ERM fungi is probably providing the host competitive superiority for nitrogen even in a soil with low organic matter content. Our results suggest that the conversion from arable land into heathland may be accomplished by the immediate establishment of Calluna seedlings and ERM inoculum when agricultural activities are stopped. This needs to be tested in controlled experiments.     

黑河河岸植被与环境因子间的相互作用

2009-2010年,对黑河流域河岸植被分季节进行了详细调查,并实地测定各样点环境因子数据,采用PC-ORD和Canoco软件对数据进行分类排序与环境因子的指示种分析:(1)黑河河岸带植被分为4个植被型和6个群系,位于黑河上游的高山苔草+矮嵩草群系植被种类和数量最为丰富,草本层盖度最大,也是唯一没有乔木分布的群系;金露梅+沙棘+膜荚黄芪+针茅群系是灌木层密度和盖度最大的群系,草本植物种类相对较丰富;位于湿地的沙枣+水柏枝+芦苇+香蒲群系,土壤养分含量最高;(2)影响黑河河岸带植被分布的主要环境因子是海拔、降水、温度、土壤有机质、含水率以及全氮含量,其中,海拔、降水和温度为最重要的影响因子,土壤影响因子中土壤含水率>有机质>全氮,而全磷和速效氮没有显著影响;(3)在黑河河岸带共有20种植物是环境因子指示种,柽柳和苦豆子是温度、降水指示种,胡杨对海拔和降水有很强的指示作用,草本植物中没有土壤含水率和海拔指示种,而在乔灌木中没有土壤有机质指示种,这为气候、土壤条件的变化提供了很好的参考价值。     

Vernal nitrogen and phosphorus retention by forest understory vegetation and soil microbes

Northern hardwood forests experience annual maximal loss of nutrients during spring. The vernal dam hypothesis predicts that spring ephemeral herbs in northern hardwood forests serve as sinks for nutrients during this season and reduce the loss of nutrients from the terrestrial ecosystem. Soil microbes of northern hardwood forests also sequester nutrients during spring. We compared the vernal nutrient acquisition ability of a soil microbial community and an understory plant community with species of mixed leaf phenology. We monitored nitrogen and phosphorus pool sizes in understory vegetation and soil microbes during spring from 1999 through 2001 in a northern hardwood forest in the Catskill Mountains, New York. Vegetation nutrient content increased during two spring seasons by an average of 3.07 g N m^–2 and 0.19 g P m^–2 and decreased during one spring by 0.81 g N m^–2 and 0.10 g P m^–2. Evergreen, wintergreen, and deciduous plant species were able to sequester nutrients during spring. Soil microbial nutrient content decreased during one spring by 1.29 g N m^–2 and remained constant during the other two springs. Streamwater nitrogen losses were not correlated with biotic nutrient uptake suggesting a temporal disconnect between the two processes. We conclude that understory vegetation is a larger potential sink for vernal nutrients than are soil microbes in this northern hardwood forest and understory and species representing multiple phenologies are capable of vernal nutrient uptake.     

Marine‐derived Nutrients from Green Turtle Nests Subsidize Terrestrial Beach Ecosystems

Spatially separated ecosystems are often linked by nutrient fluxes. Nutrient inputs may be transferred by physical vectors (i.e., wind and water) or by biotic vectors. In this study, we examine the role of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) as biotic transporters of nutrients from marine to terrestrial ecosystems, where they deposit eggs. We compare low and high nest density sites at Tortuguero, Costa Rica, the largest green turtle rookery in the western hemisphere. Four plant species (Costus woodsonii, Hibiscus pernanbucensis, Hymenocallis littoralis, Ipomoea pes‐caprae) were analyzed at both nest density sites for ¹⁵N, total carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus, and vegetation cover. Sand was analyzed for ¹⁵N and total nitrogen. Vegetation at high nest density sites had higher total nitrogen, which was correlated with higher δ¹⁵N values, suggesting nutrient input from a marine source. The dominant plant species changed between low and high nest density sites, indicating that turtle‐derived nutrients may alter the plant community composition. The trend in δ¹⁵N values of sand was similar, although less pronounced than that of the vegetation. Sand may be a poor integrator of nutrient input due to low nutrient adsorption and high rate of leaching. Sea turtles have previously been shown to deposit considerable amounts of nutrients and energy on nesting beaches. In this study, we estimate annual nitrogen and phosphorus contributions at Tortuguero are 507 and 45 kg/km, respectively, and we demonstrate that beach vegetation likely assimilates a portion of these marine‐derived nutrients.     

Non-neutral patterns of species abundance in grassland communities

Although the distribution of plant species abundance in a Minnesota grassland was consistent with neutral theory, niche but not neutral mechanisms were supported by the ability of species traits to predict species abundances in three experimental grassland communities. In particular, data from 27 species grown in monoculture showed that species differed in a trait, R *, which is the level to which each species reduced the concentration of soil nitrate, the limiting soil nutrient and which is predicted to be inversely associated with competitive ability for nitrogen (N). In these N-limited habitats, species abundance ranks correlated with their predicted competitive ranks: low R * species, on average dominated. These correlations were significantly different than expected for neutral theory, which assumes the exchangeability of species traits. Additionally, we found that changes in relative abundance after environmental change (N-addition or disturbance) were not neutral but also were significantly associated with R *.     

Dynamics of Nutrient Contents (Phosphorus,Nitrogen) in Water,Sediment and Plants After Restoration of Connectivity in Side‐Channels of the River Rhine

During the last century, canalization of the Rhine river led to disconnection of side‐arms, over‐sedimentation of these channels, loss of the fluvial dynamics, and aquatic vegetation change or disappearance. Recent restoration projects aim to reconnect disconnected arms to the main channel. The objective of this study was to assess the nutrient dynamics in restored channels during the vegetation colonization process. In spring, summer, and autumn 2009, the phosphorus and nitrogen contents were measured in water, sediment, and plants, sampled in six channels, two reference sites and four restored ones at different dates. Aquatic vegetation was monitored during the same period. Sites were mesotrophic related to the water nutrient concentrations. However, vegetation communities indicated a eutrophic level, as they were dominated by species like Elodea nuttallii, Myriophyllum spicatum, and Potamogeton perfoliatus. Sites were discriminated by P content and mineral nitrogen in the sediment. We showed an effect of species and season on the plant nutrient content, but there was no relationship between plant nutrient content and nutrients in water and sediment. A negative correlation between mean N plant content and the cover of each species was found. Vegetation characteristics (species richness and cover) and bioavailable phosphorus in the sediment were also correlated. In the restored side‐arms of the river Rhine, phosphorus‐rich sediment seems to be important in the recolonization dynamics, as it was linked to higher species richness, whereas nitrogen played a role in the colonization patterns as a growth limiting factor.     

Plant–herbivore interactions in Alaskan arctic tundra change with soil nutrient availability

Herbivores in nutrient‐limited systems such as arctic tundra have been suggested to play a minor role in controlling plant growth simply because they are relatively few in number. However, theory predicts that as net primary productivity (NPP) increases because of greater inputs of nutrients or energy, herbivores may have greater effects on plant growth. This prediction has not been tested in the context of climate warming in arctic tundra, which may increase soil nutrient availability and thus NPP. We examined a long‐term experiment that excluded small and large mammalian herbivores and increased soil nutrients in two arctic Alaskan tundra communities: dry heath (DH) and moist acidic tussock (MAT). In the ninth year of manipulations, we measured weekly growth of three plant species of three growth forms: tussock‐forming graminoid, rhizomatous graminoid, and dwarf deciduous shrub, in each community. All species grew better when fertilized. In DH, this increase in growth was exaggerated when plants were protected from herbivores, confirming that herbivory had a negative effect on plant growth under increased nutrient conditions, but was unimportant under ambient soil conditions. However, in MAT, the importance of herbivory differed among species with fertilization. The tussock‐forming sedge at MAT, Eriophorum vaginatum, grew better and flowered more when fenced under both ambient and amended nutrients compared to plants exposed to herbivores. This species decreases in abundance in long‐term fertilized plots when mammals are present, and our results suggest that herbivory may be accounting for at least some of that loss, in addition to shifts in competitive relationships. Although we only focused on individual plants here rather than the entire community, our results suggest that under the increased soil nutrient conditions expected with continued climate warming in the Arctic, herbivores may become more important in affecting several abundant tundra plant populations, and should not be ignored.