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Native and alien herbaceous plants in the Brazilian Cerrado are (co-)limited by different nutrients

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Abstract

Background and aims

The diverse flora of the Brazilian Cerrado is threatened by agricultural expansion, nutrient enrichment and invasion of alien plants. We performed a fertilization experiment to investigate the nature of nutrient limitation in Cerrado vegetation, and evaluate whether native and alien invasive species are limited by the same or different nutrients.

Methods

We applied various combinations of nutrients (phosphorus (P), nitrogen (N), and a mixture of other macro- and micro-nutrients (‘cations treatment’)) to six types of Cerrado vegetation. We then studied over a 3-year period how these treatments affected the aboveground biomass of native forbs, native C3 and C4 grasses, and invasive C4 grasses.

Results

The full nutrient treatment (N + P+ ‘cations’) significantly increased total community biomass across our sites, but P alone had no effect. The nutrient treatments also affected the relative abundance of functional plant groups in the six vegetation types. P addition, either alone or in combination with other nutrients, increased the biomass of alien C4 grasses, where present, whereas the cations treatment stimulated growth of the native C4 grasses. Addition of N + P reduced the biomass of native C3 grasses.

Conclusions

Our results indicate co-limitation by several nutrients, including P, perhaps N, and at least one other nutrient. Further research is needed to determine what the other nutrient (or nutrients) may be. Native and invasive species appear to be limited by different nutrients, with P alone stimulating growth of African C4 grasses. This should be considered in managing both natural and invaded communities.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (project 31003A_122563), ETH North South Centre and University of Brasilia. We thank the staff of IBGE Reserve for logistical support and Yann Hautier for helpful suggestions on a draft version of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, Universitätstrasse 16, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland

    Luciola S. Lannes, Peter J. Edwards & Harry Olde Venterink

  2. Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade de Brasília, Asa Norte, Brasília, DF, Brazil

    Mercedes M. C. Bustamante

  3. Departamento de Biologia e Zootecnia, UNESP – Univ Estadual Paulista, Rua Monção 226, 15385-000, Ilha Solteira, SP, Brazil

    Luciola S. Lannes

  4. Plant Biology and Nature Management, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    Harry Olde Venterink

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  1. Luciola S. Lannes
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  2. Mercedes M. C. Bustamante
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  3. Peter J. Edwards
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  4. Harry Olde Venterink
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Correspondence to Luciola S. Lannes.

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Responsible Editor: Hans Lambers

Appendices

Appendix 1

Fig. 3
figure 3

Monthly precipitation during the period of the experiment at the IBGE Ecological Reserve. Data from the IBGE meteorological station (http://www.recor.org.br)

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Appendix 2

Table 3 Number of plots per experimental site containing invasive C4 grasses, native forbs, native C3 grasses and invasive C4 grasses at the beginning of the experiment.
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Appendix 3

Table 4 Soil characteristics for the six experimental sites used in this study. Differences were tested by means of ANOVA + Tukey test Averages and SE are shown. n = 3, P < 0.05
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Appendix 4. Forms and dosages of nutrients applied in the fertilization plots.

Control (control) – Water only.

Nitrogen (N) – 20 g m−2 of nitrogen supplied as NH4NO3.

Phosphorus (P) – 5 g m−2 of phosphorus supplied as Na2HPO4.

Nitrogen and phosphorus (N + P) – Simultaneous addition of nitrogen and phosphorus as described above.

Cations and micronutrients (‘cations’) – This treatment was applied to test whether other nutrient than N or P was limiting growth. The combination of cations followed Cech et al. (2008). It consisted of 5 g m−2 of potassium (KCl) + 5 g m−2 of calcium (CaCl2.2H2O) + 1.4 g m−2 of magnesium (MgSO4.7H2O) + 0.04 g m−2 of iron (FeCl2.4H2O) + 0.032 g m−2 of manganese (MnCl2.4H2O) + 0.012 g m−2 of zinc (ZnSO4.7H2O) + 0.020 g m−2 of boron (H3BO3) + 0.016 g m−2 of copper (CuSO4.5H2O) + 0.002 g m−2 of molybdenum (Na2MoO4.2H2O).

All nutrients (N + P+ ‘cations’) – Simultaneous addition of nitrogen, phosphorus and cations as described above.

Appendix 5

Table 5 Effects of 3 years of vegetation clipping on biomass of the control plots. F values and significance levels resulting from one-way ANOVA are shown. N = 5. For P < 0.05, one significant value was detected (shown in bold)
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Appendix 6

Fig. 4
figure 4

Aboveground biomass responses to the six fertilization treatments in six sites in the Cerrado in the three years of experiment. The effects of nutrient additions on total biomass and biomass partitioned into functional groups were tested using ANOVA + 2-sided Dunnett test, P < 0.05. Error bars correspond to the standard errors of the mean of total biomass (n = 5). Asterisks indicate significant differences between the treatments and control plots, placed above the error bars for total biomass and indicated in the respective sub-bar for the functional groups

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Lannes, L.S., Bustamante, M.M.C., Edwards, P.J. et al. Native and alien herbaceous plants in the Brazilian Cerrado are (co-)limited by different nutrients. Plant Soil 400, 231–243 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2725-9

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