Abstract
Effects of annual additions of mineral N and P (100 kg ha−1) on plant species composition and annual aboveground net primary production (ANPP) were investigated during the first three years following disturbance in a semi-arid ecosystem. Additions of N reduced richness of perennial plant species during years 2 and 3, while P reduced the number of perennial species only in year 3. From year 1 to year 2, annual and biennial species richness declined in all treatments while ANPP of annual species increased greatly. Added N increased ANPP of annual species while it decreased ANPP of most perennial species relative to the unfertilized control treatment. Community similarities were higher for the control and native vegetation than for other pairs of treatments using both species presence and plant production data. Nitrogen additions have retarded but not completely arrested secondary succession in this system.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bakelaar R G and Odum E P 1978 Community and population level responses to fertilization in an old-field ecosystem. Ecology 59, 660–665.
Biondini M E, Bonham C D and Redente E F 1985 Secondary successional patterns in a sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) community as they relate to soil disturbance and soil biological activity. Vegetatio 60, 25–36.
Biondini M E and Redente E F 1986 Interactive effect of stimulus and stress on plant community diversity in reclaimed lands. Recl. Reveg. Res. 4, 221–222.
Bradley J V 1968 Distribution-free Statistical Tests. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Carson W P and Barrett G W 1988 Succession in old-field plant communities: Effects of contrasting types of nutrient enrichment. Ecology 69, 984–994.
Friedlander J E 1987 Response of Early and Late Successional Species to a Nitrogen and Phosphorus Gradient. M.S. Thesis, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, CO.
Harcombe P A 1977 The influence of fertilization on some aspects of succession in a humld tropical forest. Ecology 58, 1375–1383.
Hull C H and Nie N H 1981 SPSS update 7–9-New Procedures and Facilities for Release 7–9. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York.
Inouye R S, Huntly N J, Tilman D, Tester J R, Stillwell M and Zinnel K C 1987 Old-field succession on a Minnesota sand plain. Ecology 68, 12–26.
Kirchner T B 1977 The effects of resource enrichment on the diversity of plants and arthropods in a shortgrass prairie. Ecology 58, 1334–1344.
Lauenroth W K, Dodd J L and Sims P L 1978 The effects of water- and nitrogen-induced stresses on plant community structure in a semi-arid grassland. Oecologia 36, 211–222.
Lauenroth W K, Hunt H W, Swift D M and Singh J S 1987 Estimating aboveground net primary production in grasslands: A simulation approach. Ecol. Model. 33, 297–314.
Maly M S and Barrett G W 1984 Effects of two types of nutrient enrichment on the structure and function of contrasting old-field communities. Am. Midl. Nat. 111, 342–357.
Mellinger M V and McNaughton S J 1975 Structure and function of successional vascular plant communities in central New York. Ecol. Monogr. 45, 161–182.
Montgomery D C 1984 Design and analysis of experiments. Second edition. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Mueller-Dombois D and Ellenberg H 1974 Aims and methods of vegetation ecology. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Odum E P 1969 The strategy of ecosystem development. Science 164, 262–270.
Parrish J A D and Bazzaz F A 1982 Competitive interactions in plant communities of different successional ages. Ecology 63, 314–320.
Pratt C R Jr 1984 The response of Solidago graminifolia and S. juncea to nitrogen fertilizer application: Changes in biomass allocation and implications for community structure. Bull. Torr. Bot. Club 111, 469–478.
Rauzi F 1978 High rates of nitrogen change composition of shortgrass rangeland in southeastern Wyoming. J. Range Manage. 31, 366–370.
Reed F C P III 1977 Plant species number, biomass accumulation and productivity of a differentially fertilized Michigan old-field. Oecologia 30, 43–53.
Shannon C E and Weaver W 1964 The mathematical Theory of Communication. Tenth Printing. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL.
Silvertown J 1980 The dynamics of a grassland ecosystem: Botanical equilibrium in the Park Grass experiment. J. Appl. Ecol. 17, 491–504.
Stark J M 1983 Soil Plant Diversity Relationships on Disturbed Site in the Piceance Basin. M.S. Thesis. Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, CO.
Stark J M and Redente E F 1985 Soil-plant diversity relationships on a disturbed site in northwestern Colorado. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 49, 1028–1034.
Tilman D 1982 Resource competition and community structure. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 296 p.
Tilman D 1984 Plant dominance along an experimental nutrient gradient. Ecology 65, 1445–1453.
Tilman D 1985 The resource-ratio hypothesis of plant succession. Am. Nat. 125, 827–85.
Tilman D 1986 Nitrogen-limited growth in plants from different successional stages. Ecology 67, 555–563.
Tilman D 1987 Secondary succession and the pattern of plant dominance along an experimental nitrogen gradient. Ecol. Monogr. 57, 189–214.
Tramer E J 1975 The regulation of plant species diversity on an early successional old-field. Ecology 56, 905–914.
Vitousek P M, Matson P A and Van Cleve K 1989 Nitrogen availability and nitrification during succession: Primary, secondary and old-field seres. Plant and Soil 115, 229–239.
Willis A J 1963 Braunton Burrows: the effects on the vegetation of the addition of mineral nutrients to the dune soils. J. Ecol. 51, 353–374.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Carpenter, A.T., Moore, J.C., Redente, E.F. et al. Plant community dynamics in a semi-arid ecosystem in relation to nutrient addition following a major disturbance. Plant Soil 126, 91–99 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00041373
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00041373