Species ecological strategy and soil phosphorus supply interactively affect plant biomass and phosphorus concentration
Excess soil phosphorus often constrains ecological restoration of degraded semi-natural grasslands in Western-Europe. Slow-growing species, often target of restoration (measures), are at a disadvantage because they are outcompeted by fast-growing species. Gaining insight into the responses of plant...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Basic and Applied Ecology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1439179122000342 |
| _version_ | 1797755096629510144 |
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| author | Iris Moeneclaey Stephanie Schelfhout Margot Vanhellemont Eva DeCock Frieke Van Coillie Kris Verheyen Lander Baeten |
| author_facet | Iris Moeneclaey Stephanie Schelfhout Margot Vanhellemont Eva DeCock Frieke Van Coillie Kris Verheyen Lander Baeten |
| author_sort | Iris Moeneclaey |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Excess soil phosphorus often constrains ecological restoration of degraded semi-natural grasslands in Western-Europe. Slow-growing species, often target of restoration (measures), are at a disadvantage because they are outcompeted by fast-growing species. Gaining insight into the responses of plant species and communities to soil phosphorus availability will help understanding restoration trajectories of grassland ecosystems. We set up two pot experiments using twenty grassland species with contrasting growth forms (i.e. grasses versus forbs) and nutrient use strategies (i.e. acquisitive versus conservative nutrient use). We quantified the nutrient use strategy of a species based on the stress-tolerance value of the CSR framework (StrateFy et al. 2017). We grew these species (1) as monocultures and (2) in mixtures along a soil phosphorus gradient and measured the aboveground biomass and plant phosphorus concentrations. Plant phosphorus concentration generally increased with soil phosphorus supply and biomass increased with soil phosphorus supply only in conservative communities. Forbs had higher plant phosphorus concentrations compared to grasses both in monocultures and mixtures. The species’ nutrient use strategy had contrasting effects on plant tissue phosphorus concentrations, depending on soil phosphorus supply (interaction effect) and vegetation biomass (dilution effect). Our findings contribute to the knowledge required for successful ecological restoration of species-rich grasslands. Our results suggest that under specific conditions (i.e. nitrogen limitation, no dispersal limitation, no light limitation), slow-growing species can survive and even thrive under excess soil phosphorus availability. In the field, competition by fast-growing species may be reduced by increased mowing or grazing management. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T17:41:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b80c7b03fb6a4b72b52c252d33d5f2a8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1439-1791 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T17:41:59Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Basic and Applied Ecology |
| spelling | doaj.art-b80c7b03fb6a4b72b52c252d33d5f2a82023-08-04T05:46:29ZengElsevierBasic and Applied Ecology1439-17912022-08-0162111Species ecological strategy and soil phosphorus supply interactively affect plant biomass and phosphorus concentrationIris Moeneclaey0Stephanie Schelfhout1Margot Vanhellemont2Eva DeCock3Frieke Van Coillie4Kris Verheyen5Lander Baeten6Forest and Nature Lab, Department Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Gontrode, Melle, Belgium; Corresponding author.Forest and Nature Lab, Department Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Gontrode, Melle, BelgiumResearch Centre AgroFoodNature, HOGENT University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Melle, BelgiumForest and Nature Lab, Department Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Gontrode, Melle, BelgiumRemote Sensing, Spatial Analysis Lab, Department Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, BelgiumForest and Nature Lab, Department Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Gontrode, Melle, BelgiumForest and Nature Lab, Department Environment, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Gontrode, Melle, BelgiumExcess soil phosphorus often constrains ecological restoration of degraded semi-natural grasslands in Western-Europe. Slow-growing species, often target of restoration (measures), are at a disadvantage because they are outcompeted by fast-growing species. Gaining insight into the responses of plant species and communities to soil phosphorus availability will help understanding restoration trajectories of grassland ecosystems. We set up two pot experiments using twenty grassland species with contrasting growth forms (i.e. grasses versus forbs) and nutrient use strategies (i.e. acquisitive versus conservative nutrient use). We quantified the nutrient use strategy of a species based on the stress-tolerance value of the CSR framework (StrateFy et al. 2017). We grew these species (1) as monocultures and (2) in mixtures along a soil phosphorus gradient and measured the aboveground biomass and plant phosphorus concentrations. Plant phosphorus concentration generally increased with soil phosphorus supply and biomass increased with soil phosphorus supply only in conservative communities. Forbs had higher plant phosphorus concentrations compared to grasses both in monocultures and mixtures. The species’ nutrient use strategy had contrasting effects on plant tissue phosphorus concentrations, depending on soil phosphorus supply (interaction effect) and vegetation biomass (dilution effect). Our findings contribute to the knowledge required for successful ecological restoration of species-rich grasslands. Our results suggest that under specific conditions (i.e. nitrogen limitation, no dispersal limitation, no light limitation), slow-growing species can survive and even thrive under excess soil phosphorus availability. In the field, competition by fast-growing species may be reduced by increased mowing or grazing management.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1439179122000342Semi-natural grasslandRestoration ecologyPhosphorusCSR theoryStrateFyLuxury consumption |
| spellingShingle | Iris Moeneclaey Stephanie Schelfhout Margot Vanhellemont Eva DeCock Frieke Van Coillie Kris Verheyen Lander Baeten Species ecological strategy and soil phosphorus supply interactively affect plant biomass and phosphorus concentration Basic and Applied Ecology Semi-natural grassland Restoration ecology Phosphorus CSR theory StrateFy Luxury consumption |
| title | Species ecological strategy and soil phosphorus supply interactively affect plant biomass and phosphorus concentration |
| title_full | Species ecological strategy and soil phosphorus supply interactively affect plant biomass and phosphorus concentration |
| title_fullStr | Species ecological strategy and soil phosphorus supply interactively affect plant biomass and phosphorus concentration |
| title_full_unstemmed | Species ecological strategy and soil phosphorus supply interactively affect plant biomass and phosphorus concentration |
| title_short | Species ecological strategy and soil phosphorus supply interactively affect plant biomass and phosphorus concentration |
| title_sort | species ecological strategy and soil phosphorus supply interactively affect plant biomass and phosphorus concentration |
| topic | Semi-natural grassland Restoration ecology Phosphorus CSR theory StrateFy Luxury consumption |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1439179122000342 |
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