Parasitic plants are one of the most ubiquitous groups of generalist parasites in both natural and managed ecosystems, with over 3,000 known species worldwide. Although much is known about how parasitic plants influence host performance, their role as drivers of community- and ecosystem-level properties remains largely unexplored. Parasitic plants have the potential to influence directly the productivity and structure of plant communities because they cause harm to particular host plants, indirectly increasing the competitive status of non-host species. Such parasite-driven above-ground effects might also have important indirect consequences through altering the quantity and quality of resources that enter soil, thereby affecting the activity of decomposer organisms. Here we show in model grassland communities that the parasitic plant Rhinanthus minor, which occurs widely throughout Europe and North America, has strong direct effects on above-ground community properties, increasing plant diversity and reducing productivity. We also show that these direct effects of R. minor on the plant community have marked indirect effects on below-ground properties, ultimately increasing rates of nitrogen cycling. Our study provides evidence that parasitic plants act as a major driver of both above-ground and below-ground properties of grassland ecosystems.
Here, we determine annual estimates of occupancy and species trends for 5,293 UK bryophytes, lichens, and invertebrates, providing national scale information on UK biodiversity change for 31 taxonomic groups for the time period 1970 to 2015. The dataset was produced through the application of a Bayesian occupancy modelling framework to species occurrence records supplied by 29 national recording schemes or societies (n = 24,118,549 records). In the UK, annual measures of species status from fine scale data (e.g. 1 × 1 km) had previously been limited to a few taxa for which structured monitoring data are available, mainly birds, butterflies, bats and a subset of moth species. By using an occupancy modelling framework designed for use with relatively low recording intensity data, we have been able to estimate species trends and generate annual estimates of occupancy for taxa where annual trend estimates and status were previously limited or unknown at this scale. These data broaden our knowledge of UK biodiversity and can be used to investigate variation in and drivers of biodiversity change.
The widespread application of fertilizers has greatly influenced many processes and properties of agroecosystems, and agricultural fertilization is expected to increase even further in the future. To date, most research on fertilizer impacts has used short-term studies, which may be unrepresentative of long-term responses, thus hindering our capacity to predict long-term impacts. Here, we examined the effects of long-term fertilizer addition on key ecosystem properties in a long-term grassland experiment (Palace Leas Hay Meadow) in which farmyard manure (FYM) and inorganic fertilizer treatments have been applied consistently for 120 years in order to characterize the experimental site more fully and compare ecosystem responses with those observed at other long-term and short-term experiments. FYM inputs increased soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, hay yield, nutrient availability and acted as a buffer against soil acidification (>pH 5). In contrast, N-containing inorganic fertilizers strongly acidified the soil (
Changing air quality has been one of the most important drivers of change for bryophytes and lichens in Britain and Ireland over the 20th Century, with acidic pollutants such as sulphur dioxide having large effects on the ranges and abundances of many species. At the same time, expert amateur and professional naturalists have put enormous efforts into recording the distributions of species within these groups. These efforts have provided much evidence for declines and recoveries within the bryophytes and lichens, with species distribution data being linked to airborne pollutants in many different ways. We provide a broad overview of some of the changes that have occurred in affected species, using biological records collected by national recording schemes to illustrate the various effects of air pollution; we also review the direct and indirect impacts of air pollutants on these groups. Environmental change affecting one group of species is also likely to cascade to other groups where trophic or other relationships exist between them. Using data from the volunteer‐based National Moth Recording Scheme, we provide the first evidence for an indirect association between reductions in air pollution and increases in lichenivorous moths. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, ●●, ●●–●●.
Lawson, Clare S.; Hobbs, Phil J.; Bardgett, Richard D. 2017. Plant, soil and microbial controls on grassland diversity restoration: a long-term, multi-site mesocosm experiment. Ecology, 54 (5). 1320-1330. 10.1111/1365-2664.12869 Contact CEH NORA team at noraceh@ceh.ac.uk Journal of AppliedThe NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner. Accepted ArticleThis article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Accepted ArticleThis article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. 2. We carried out an eight-year mesocosm experiment across three locations in the UK to explore the relative and interactive roles of various aboveground and belowground factors in the establishment of target species, to determine general constraints on grassland restoration. Each location had a series of mesocosms with contrasting soil types and management status, which were initially sown with six grasses typical of species-poor grasslands targeted for restoration.3. Over five years, sets of plant species were added, to test how different vegetation treatments, including early-coloniser species and the hemiparasite Rhinanthus minor, and soil type and management, influenced the establishment of target plant species and community diversity.4. The addition of early-coloniser species to model grasslands suppressed the establishment of target species, indicating a strong priority effect. Soil type was also Accepted ArticleThis article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.an important factor, but effects varied considerably across locations. In the absence of early-coloniser species, low soil nutrient availability improved establishment of target species across locations, although R. minor had no beneficial effect.5. Synthesis and applications. Our long-term, multi-site study indicates that successful restoration of species rich grassland is dependent primarily on priority effects, especially in the form of early-coloniser species that suppress establishment of slowgrowing target species. We also show that priority effects vary with soil conditions, being stronger in clay than sandy soils, and on soils of high nutrient availability. As such, our work emphasises the importance of considering priority effects and local soil conditions in developing management strategies for restoring plant species diversity in grassland.
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