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Response of alpine grassland to elevated nitrogen deposition and water supply in China

  • Special Topic: Nitrogen Deposition Reassessed
  • Published:
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Abstract

Species composition and productivity are influenced by water and N availability in semi-arid grasslands. To assess the effects of increased N deposition and water supply on plant species composition and productivity, two field experiments with four N addition treatments, and three N and water combination treatments were conducted in alpine grassland in the mid Tianshan mountains, northwest China. When considering N addition alone, aboveground biomass (AGB) of forbs (FAGB) responded less to N addition than AGB of grasses (GAGB). GAGB increased as an effect of N combined with water addition but FAGB did not show such an effect, reflecting a stronger response of grasses to the interaction of water availability and N than forbs. Under all treatments, N allocation to the aboveground tissue did not change for either forbs or grasses. N deposition and water addition did not alter species richness in the present study. These results suggest that N addition generally promoted AGB but had little effect on species richness in wet years. Snowfall in winter combined with rainfall in the early growing season likely plays a critical role in regulating plant growth of the subsequent year in the alpine grassland.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the Chinese National Basic Research Program (2014CB954202), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41340041), the Distinguished Talent Program of NSFC, the One-hundred Talents Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and an Innovative Group Grant (31121062). We gratefully acknowledge Dr Arvin Mosier and Dr Daniela Famulari for linguistic corrections and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on earlier versions of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China

    Kaihui Li, Xuejun Liu, Yanming Gong, Ping Yue & Changyan Tian

  2. College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China

    Xuejun Liu, Ling Song & Fusuo Zhang

  3. Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Ling Song

  4. Key Laboratory of Chemistry of Plant Resources in Arid Regions, Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, 830011, China

    Chunfang Lu

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  1. Kaihui Li
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Correspondence to Xuejun Liu.

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Communicated by Hormoz BassiriRad.

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Li, K., Liu, X., Song, L. et al. Response of alpine grassland to elevated nitrogen deposition and water supply in China. Oecologia 177, 65–72 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-014-3122-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-014-3122-4

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