Abstract
Purpose
Nitrogen (N) deposition and increased precipitation were widely reported to promote plant productivity in terrestrial ecosystems. However, few studies have explored the effects of historical resource supplements on plant communities (legacy effects).
Methods
Based on a field experiment, we examined the legacy effects of N deposition and increased precipitation on plant productivity in a semi-arid steppe after the cessation of 13-year N and water addition.
Results
We found historical N and water addition generally had positive effects on plant productivity even after the treatments were ceased. However, such legacy effects showed strong inter-annual variation, and the positive effects of historical N and water addition on productivity were stronger in a wet year (i.e., 2019) than in an extreme drought year (i.e., 2018). Although N availability decreased rapidly, the positive effect of historical N input persisted after 2 years of cessation largely due to the maintenance of the enhanced community plant stature (CWMstature) through the increased stature of all functional groups. Moreover, the dominance of tall grasses persisted in water added plots largely contributed to the increased productivity after the historical N and water addition.
Conclusions
Our study highlights the importance of plant traits and community compositions in regulating the short-term legacy effects of historical N and water input on community productivity. The positive N and water legacy effects on productivity would both last for long given the substantially changed species compositions. Long-term observation is needed for further validation of these legacy effects because of their great year-to-year variability.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
Data sets can be obtained from the corresponding author.
References
Bai Y, Wu J, Clark CM, Naeem S, Pan Q, Huang J, Zhang L, Han X (2010) Tradeoffs and thresholds in the effects of nitrogen addition on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: evidence from inner Mongolia Grasslands. Global Change Biol 16:358–372. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.01950.x
Bastos A, Ciais P, Friedlingstein P, Sitch S, Pongratz J, Fan L, Wigneron JP, Weber U, Reichstein M, Fu Z, Anthoni P, Arneth A, Haverd V, Jain AK, Joetzjer E, Knauer J, Lienert S, Loughran T, McGuire PC, Tian H, Viovy N, Zaehle S (2020) Direct and seasonal legacy effects of the 2018 heat wave and drought on European ecosystem productivity. Sci Adv 6:eaba2724. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba2724
Bowman WD, Cleveland CC, Halada Ĺ, Hreško J, Baron JS (2008) Negative impact of nitrogen deposition on soil buffering capacity. Nat Geosci 1:767. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo339
Cai J, Luo W, Liu H, Feng X, Zhang Y, Wang R, Xu Z, Zhang Y, Jiang Y (2017) Precipitation-mediated responses of soil acid buffering capacity to long-term nitrogen addition in a semi-arid grassland. Atmos Environ 170:312–318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.09.054
Chalcraft DR, Williams JW, Smith MD, Willig MR (2004) Scale Dependence in the Species-Richness–Productivity Relationship: The role of species turnover. Ecology 85:2701–2708. https://doi.org/10.1890/03-0561
Craine JM (2009) Resource strategies of wild plants. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Craine JM, Ocheltree TW, Nippert JB, Towne EG, Skibbe AM, Kembel SW, Fargione JE (2012) Global diversity of drought tolerance and grassland climate-change resilience. Nat Clim Chang 3:63–67. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1634
DeMalach N, Kadmon R (2017) Light competition explains diversity decline better than niche dimensionality. Funct Ecol 31:1834–1838. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.12841
DeMalach N, Zaady E, Kadmon R (2017) Contrasting effects of water and nutrient additions on grassland communities: A global meta-analysis. Global Ecol Biogeogr 26:983–992. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12603
Du E (2016) Rise and fall of nitrogen deposition in the United States. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 113:E3594–E3595. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607543113
Dutta PS, Kooi BW, Feudel U (2014) Multiple resource limitation: nonequilibrium coexistence of species in a competition model using a synthesizing unit. Theor Ecol 7:407–421. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12080-014-0228-6
Engardt M, Simpson D, Schwikowski M, Granat L (2017) Deposition of sulphur and nitrogen in Europe 1900–2050. Model calculations and comparison to historical observations. Tellus Ser B-Chem Phys Meteorol 69:1328945. https://doi.org/10.1080/16000889.2017.1328945
Falster DS, Westoby M (2003) Plant height and evolutionary games. Trends Ecol Evol 18:337–343. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0169-5347(03)00061-2
Fowler D, Pyle JA, Raven JA, Sutton MA (2013) The global nitrogen cycle in the twenty-first century: introduction. Philos Trans R Soc B-Biol Sci 368:20130165. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0165
Hao T, Song L, Goulding K, Zhang F, Liu X (2018) Cumulative and partially recoverable impacts of nitrogen addition on a temperate steppe. Ecol Appl 28:237–248. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1647
Hardin G (1960) The competitive exclusion principle. Science 131:1292–1297. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.131.3409.1292
Harpole WS, Ngai JT, Cleland EE, Seabloom EW, Borer ET, Bracken ME, Elser JJ, Gruner DS, Hillebrand H, Shurin JB, Smith JE (2011) Nutrient co-limitation of primary producer communities. Ecol Lett 14:852–862. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01651.x
Hrevušová Z, Hejcman M, Pavlů VV, Hakl J, Klaudisová M, Mrkvička J (2009) Long-term dynamics of biomass production, soil chemical properties and plant species composition of alluvial grassland after the cessation of fertilizer application in the Czech Republic. Agric Ecosyst Environ 130:123–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2008.12.008
Hu Y-Y, Sistla S, Wei H-W, Zhang Z-W, Hou S-L, Yang J-J, Wang Z-W, Wang J-F, Lü X-T (2020) Legacy effects of nitrogen deposition on plant nutrient stoichiometry in a temperate grassland. Plant Soil 446:503–513. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04357-7
Hutchison JS, Henry HAL (2010) Additive Effects of Warming and Increased Nitrogen Deposition in a Temperate Old Field: Plant Productivity and the Importance of Winter. Ecosystems 13:661–672. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-010-9344-3
IPCC (2013) Climate change 2013: The physical science basis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
IPCC (2014) Climate Change 2014: Synthesis report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II 698 and III to the Fifth Assessment. IPCC, Geneva, p 151
IUSS Working Group WRB (2015) World Reference Base forsoil resources 2014, update 2015 international soil classifcation system for naming soils and creating legends forsoil maps. FAO, Rome
Jentsch A, Kreyling J, Elmer M, Gellesch E, Glaser B, Grant K, Hein R, Lara M, Mirzae H, Nadler SE, Nagy L, Otieno D, Pritsch K, Rascher U, Schädler M, Schloter M, Singh BK, Stadler J, Walter J, Wellstein C, Wöllecke J, Beierkuhnlein C (2011) Climate extremes initiate ecosystem-regulating functions while maintaining productivity. J Ecol 99:689–702. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01817.x
Lepš J, de Bello F, Šmilauer P, Doležal J (2011) Community trait response to environment: disentangling species turnover vs intraspecific trait variability effects. Ecography 34:856–863. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.2010.06904.x
Lim H, Oren R, Palmroth S, Tor-ngern P, Mörling T, Näsholm T, Lundmark T, Helmisaari H-S, Leppälammi-Kujansuu J, Linder S (2015) Inter-annual variability of precipitation constrains the production response of boreal Pinus sylvestris to nitrogen fertilization. For Ecol Manage 348:31–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2015.03.029
Liu N, Michelsen A, Rinnan R (2020) Vegetation and soil responses to added carbon and nutrients remain six years after discontinuation of long-term treatments. Sci Total Environ 722:137885. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137885
Lü X-T, Dijkstra FA, Kong D-L, Wang Z-W, Han X-G (2014) Plant nitrogen uptake drives responses of productivity to nitrogen and water addition in a grassland. Sci Rep 4:4817. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep04817
Lü X-T, Liu Z-Y, Hu Y-Y, Zhang H-Y (2018) Testing nitrogen and water co-limitation of primary productivity in a temperate steppe. Plant Soil 432:119–127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-018-3791-6
Min S-K, Zhang X, Zwiers FW, Hegerl GC (2011) Human contribution to more-intense precipitation extremes. Nature 470:378–381. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09763
Moles AT, Warton DI, Warman L, Swenson NG, Laffan SW, Zanne AE, Pitman A, Hemmings FA, Leishman MR (2009) Global patterns in plant height. J Ecol 97:923–932. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01526.x
Nippert JB, Knapp AK (2007) Linking water uptake with rooting patterns in grassland species. Oecologia 153:261–272. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-007-0745-8
Oksanen J, Blanchet FG, Friendly M, Kindt R, Legendre P, McGlinn D, Minchin PR, O’Hara RB, Simpson GL, Solymos P, Stevens MHH, Szoecs E, Wagner H (2020) vegan: Community Ecology Package. R package version 2.5-7. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=vegan
O’Sullivan OS, Horswill P, Phoenix GK, Lee JA, Leake JR (2011) Recovery of soil nitrogen pools in species-rich grasslands after 12 years of simulated pollutant nitrogen deposition: a 6-year experimental analysis. Global Change Biol 17:2615–2628. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02403.x
Pallett DW, Pescott OL, Schäfer SM (2016) Changes in plant species richness and productivity in response to decreased nitrogen inputs in grassland in southern England. Ecol Indic 68:73–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.12.024
Peters DPC, Yao J, Sala OE, Anderson JP (2012) Directional climate change and potential reversal of desertification in arid and semiarid ecosystems. Global Change Biol 18:151–163. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02498.x
Power JF, Alessi J (1971) Nitrogen fertilization of semiarid grasslands: Plant growth and soil mineral N levels1. Agron J 63:277–280. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj1971.00021962006300020024x
R Core Team (2021) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna
Sala OE, Gherardi LA, Reichmann L, Jobbagy E, Peters D (2012) Legacies of precipitation fluctuations on primary production: theory and data synthesis. Philos Trans R Soc B-Biol Sci 367:3135–3144. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0347
Scheffer M, Carpenter S, Foley JA, Folke C, Walker B (2001) Catastrophic shifts in ecosystems. Nature 413:591–596. https://doi.org/10.1038/35098000
Schmitz A, Sanders TG, Bolte A, Bussotti F, Dirnböck T, Johnson J, Penuelas J, Pollastrini M, Prescher A-K, Sardans J (2019) Responses of forest ecosystems in Europe to decreasing nitrogen deposition. Environ Pollut 244:980–994. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.09.101
Song J, Wan S, Piao S, Knapp AK, Classen AT, Vicca S, Ciais P, Hovenden MJ, Leuzinger S, Beier C (2019) A meta-analysis of 1,119 manipulative experiments on terrestrial carbon-cycling responses to global change. Nat Ecol Evol 3:1309–1320. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0958-3
Spasojevic MJ, Suding KN (2012) Inferring community assembly mechanisms from functional diversity patterns: the importance of multiple assembly processes. J Ecol 100:652–661. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01945.x
Stevens CJ (2016) How long do ecosystems take to recover from atmospheric nitrogen deposition? Biol Conserv 200:160–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.06.005
Stevens CJ, Mountford JO, Gowing DJG, Bardgett RD (2012) Differences in yield, Ellenberg N value, tissue chemistry and soil chemistry 15 years after the cessation of nitrogen addition. Plant Soil 357:309–319. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1160-4
Stevens CJ, Lind EM, Hautier Y, Harpole WS, Borer ET, Hobbie S, Seabloom EW, Ladwig L, Bakker JD, Chu C (2015) Anthropogenic nitrogen deposition predicts local grassland primary production worldwide. Ecology 96:1459–1465. https://doi.org/10.1890/14-1902.1
Vinton MA, Burke IC (1995) Interactions between individual plant species and soil nutrient status in shortgrass steppe. Ecology 76:1116–1133. https://doi.org/10.2307/1940920
Wiegand T, Snyman HA, Kellner K, Paruelo JM (2004) Do grasslands have a memory: modeling phytomass production of a semiarid South African grassland. Ecosystems 7:243–258. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-003-0235-8
Xu Z, Ren H, Cai J, Wang R, Li M-H, Wan S, Han X, Lewis BJ, Jiang Y (2014) Effects of experimentally-enhanced precipitation and nitrogen on resistance, recovery and resilience of a semi-arid grassland after drought. Oecologia 176:1187–1197. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-014-3081-9
Xu Z, Ren H, Li M-H, Brunner I, Yin J, Liu H, Kong D, Lü X-T, Sun T, Cai J (2017) Experimentally increased water and nitrogen affect root production and vertical allocation of an old-field grassland. Plant Soil 412:369–380. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-3071-2
Xu Z, Li MH, Zimmermann NE, Li SP, Li H, Ren H, Sun H, Han X, Jiang Y, Jiang L (2018) Plant functional diversity modulates global environmental change effects on grassland productivity. J Ecol 106:1941–1951. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12951
Yahdjian L, Sala OE (2006) Vegetation structure constrains primary production response to water availability in the patagonian steppe. Ecology 87:952–962. https://doi.org/10.1890/0012-9658(2006)87[952:VSCPPR]2.0.CO;2
Yang H, Li Y, Wu M, Zhang Z, Li L, Wan S (2011) Plant community responses to nitrogen addition and increased precipitation: the importance of water availability and species traits. Global Change Biol 17:2936–2944. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02423.x
Yang H, Wu M, Liu W, Zhang ZHE, Zhang N, Wan S (2011) Community structure and composition in response to climate change in a temperate steppe. Global Change Biol 17:452–465. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02253.x
Yu G, Jia Y, He N, Jianxing Z, Chen Z, Wang Q-F, Piao S, Liu X, he H, Guo X, Wen Z, Li P, Ding G, Goulding K (2019) Stabilization of atmospheric nitrogen deposition in China over the past decade. Nat Geosci 12:1–6. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0352-4
Zhang X, Zwiers FW, Hegerl GC, Lambert FH, Gillett NP, Solomon S, Stott PA, Nozawa T (2007) Detection of human influence on twentieth-century precipitation trends. Nature 448:461–465. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06025
Zhao H, Li T, Li L, Hao Y (2017) A stable CH4 sink responding to extreme precipitation events in a fenced semiarid steppe. J Soils Sed 17:2731–2741. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-017-1798-x
Acknowledgements
We thank the Duolun Restoration Ecology Research Station for permission to access to the study site. This work was financially supported by the Major Science and Technology Projects of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (2020ZD0009), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32060284), the Inner Mongolia Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (2019JQ04), the West Light Foundation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2020ZY0027), and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA23080402).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Z.X. and Y.J. conceived the project. Y.N.M., T.L. and H.L. performed nitrogen and water addition, plant community survey, soil sampling and analyses every year. T.L. and Y.N.M. performed statistical analyses and graphs. Y.N.M. and T.L. prepared the manuscript with suggestions from all the co-authors. Z.W. and S.P.L. contributed to the interpretation and discussion of the results.
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Wen-Hao Zhang.
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
ESM 1
(DOCX 2.63 MB)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Meng, Yn., Li, T., Liu, H. et al. Legacy effects of nitrogen deposition and increased precipitation on plant productivity in a semi-arid grassland. Plant Soil 491, 69–84 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05550-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05550-x