The Response of Grassland Ecosystem to Nutrient Additions

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Grassland and Pasture Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 May 2024) | Viewed by 2739

Special Issue Editor

State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Interests: grassland ecology; global change and grassland ecology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is an indisputable fact that nitrogen deposition and climate warming lead to increased nutrient availability in grassland soils. However, there is still a lack of systematic understanding of the ecological consequences of increased nutrient availability in grassland soils. This topic aims to explore the ecological consequences of nutrient changes from the perspectives of biodiversity, species composition, productivity and stability, and soil microbial changes.

In this topic, our aim is to explore the impact of soil nutrient changes on ecosystem structure and function. We are interested in, but not limited to, the following aspects: biodiversity, species composition, soil carbon and nitrogen stocks, ecosystem nutrient cycling, soil microbial diversity and structure, aboveground and belowground interactions, ecosystem stability, etc. Review papers and research papers are invited.

Dr. Lili Jiang
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • soil nutrition
  • N enrich (addition)
  • P enrich (addition)
  • S enrich (addition)
  • grassland

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 5430 KiB  
Article
Eastern Gamagrass Responds Inconsistently to Nitrogen Application in Long-Established Stands and within Diverse Ecotypes
by James R. Kiniry, Amber S. Williams, Jacqueline Jacot, Sumin Kim and Merilynn C. Schantz
Agronomy 2024, 14(5), 907; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14050907 - 26 Apr 2024
Viewed by 1039
Abstract
Eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides) is a highly productive, highly palatable native grass tolerant to both drought and flooding. It has frequently shown great response to nitrogen (N) applications, but the responses of southern native ecotypes in upland and bottomland sites have [...] Read more.
Eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides) is a highly productive, highly palatable native grass tolerant to both drought and flooding. It has frequently shown great response to nitrogen (N) applications, but the responses of southern native ecotypes in upland and bottomland sites have yet to be reported. The objectives were to measure the responses of long-established eastern gamagrass with different N application rates in two bottomland hay pastures and two upland grazed sites, and to measure the N responses for six diverse ecotypes in a common garden. A randomized block design was used with ecotype as the main block and fertilizer rate as the subplot. In the long-established sites, 75 N peak yields were not statistically different to those of 0 N, while upland yields across the season were consistently higher for 150 N but varied for the bottomland. The common garden ecotypes had no significant difference in yield between treatments when averaged across years. Roaring Springs showed the most consistent and greatest benefit to additional N, more than doubling the dry weight of the control. All remaining ecotypes, however, had more modest responses. Eastern gamagrass responds inconsistently to applications of 75 N, whereas most applications of 150 N generally result in higher yield, though significant increases are not guaranteed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Response of Grassland Ecosystem to Nutrient Additions)
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17 pages, 3591 KiB  
Article
Soil Microorganisms Mediated the Responses of the Plant–Soil Systems of Neotrinia splendens to Nitrogen Addition and Warming in a Desert Ecosystem
by Zhuxin Mao, Ming Yue, Yuchao Wang, Lijuan Li and Yang Li
Agronomy 2024, 14(1), 132; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14010132 - 4 Jan 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1370
Abstract
Covering about 30% of the global total land area, desert ecosystems have been influenced by warming and nitrogen deposition. However, it remains unclear how desert ecosystems respond to warming and nitrogen deposition. Therefore, we conducted a greenhouse experiment to examine the impacts of [...] Read more.
Covering about 30% of the global total land area, desert ecosystems have been influenced by warming and nitrogen deposition. However, it remains unclear how desert ecosystems respond to warming and nitrogen deposition. Therefore, we conducted a greenhouse experiment to examine the impacts of N addition and warming on the plant–soil system of Neotrinia splendens, the dominant plant in the desert ecosystem in Northern China. Our findings revealed that low-N dose (N1) and high-N dose additions (N2) increased the biomass by 22.83% and 54.23%, respectively; meanwhile, moderate warming (T2) and severe warming (T3) decreased the biomass by 39.07% and 45.47%, respectively. N addition did not significantly affect the C:N:P stoichiometry in the plant–soil system. T2 and T3 decreased the leaf N content by 17.50% and 16.20%, respectively, and decreased the leaf P content by 10.61% and 45.29%, respectively. This resulted in the plant C:N ratio, C:P ratio, and N:P ratio increasing with warming. Furthermore, warming or N addition not only decreased soil microbial diversity, but also inhibited microbial genera associated with nutrient cycling, such as that of Tumebacillus spp., Bacillus spp., and Mortierella spp.; it additionally influenced important bacterial functions, such as nitrate reduction and ureolysis. Moreover, warming and N addition induced P limitation in the plant–soil system by inhibiting soil microorganisms, such as Mortierella spp. and Bacillus spp., which are associated with P transformation; this was also brought about by increasing the effects of leaf P content on leaf N:P. In conclusion, our results showed that warming and N addition had significant effects on the C:N:P stoichiometry of the plant–soil system through microbial mediation and led to P limitation in the system, regardless of how they affected biomass. Soil microorganisms could mediate the impacts of environmental changes on the plant–soil system. Our findings may provide valuable insights for adjusting vegetation restoration strategies in desert ecosystems under environmental changes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Response of Grassland Ecosystem to Nutrient Additions)
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