Ecological responses of dominant grasses along two climatic gradients in the Great Plains of the United States

Epstein, Howard E.; Lauenroth, William K.; Burke, Ingrid C.; Coffin, Debra P.

doi:10.2307/3236456

Cited by 126 publications

(105 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…With respect to the spatial gradient from semiarid to subhumid grasslands, as water availability increases across the precipitation gradient, there is strong evidence of increasing light and nitrogen limitation with increasing plant height (Weaver 1954;Bremen & DeWitt 1983;Lauenroth & Coffin 1992;Lane 1995;Epstein et al 1996;Vinton & Burke 1997;Burke et al 1997b;Murphy et al 1996). Increases in aboveground production and plant height are accomplished both by changes in plant species composition and by individual species increasing in height (Lane 1995).…”

Section: Indeterminate Dominance Grasslands: An Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant-Soil interactions in temperate grasslands

Burke

Lauenroth

Vinton

et al. 1998

Plant-Induced Soil Changes: Processes and Feedbacks

137

167

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We present a conceptual model in which plant-soil interactions in grasslands are characterized by the extent to which water is limiting. Plant-soil interactions in dry grasslands, those dominated by water limitation ('belowground-dominance'), are fundamentally different from plant-soil interactions in subhumid grasslands, where resource limitations vary in time and space among water, nitrogen, and light ('indeterminate dominance'). In the belowgrounddominance grasslands, the strong limitation of soil water leads to complete (though uneven) occupation of the soil by roots, but insufficient resources to support continuous aboveground plant cover. Discontinuous aboveground plant cover leads to strong biological and physical forces that result in the accumulation of soil materials beneath individual plants in resource islands. The degree of accumulation in these resource islands is strongly influenced by p!ant functional type (lifespan, growth form, root:shoot ratio, photosynthetic pathway), with the largest resource islands accumulating under perennial bunch grasses. Resource islands develop over decadal time scales, but may be reduced to the level of bare ground following death of an individual plant in as little as 3 years. These resource islands may have a great deal of significance as an index of recovery from disturbance, an indicator of ecosystem stability or harbinger of desertification, or may be significant because of possible feedbacks to plant establishment. In the grasslands in which the dominant resource limiting plant community dynamics is indeterminate, plant cover is relatively continuous, and thus the major force in plant-soil interactions is related to the feedbacks among plant biomass production, litter quality and nutrient availability. With increasing precipitation, the over-riding importance of water as a limiting factor diminishes, and four other factors become important in determining plant community and ecosystem dynamics: soil nitrogen, herbivory, fire, and light. Thus, several different strategies for competing for resources are present in this portion of the gradient. These strategies are represented by different plant traits, for example root:shoot allocation, height and photosynthetic pathway type (C3 vs. C4) and nitrogen fixation, each of which has a different influence on litter quality and thus nutrient availability. Recent work has indicated 122 that there are strong feedbacks between plant community structure, diversity, and soil attributes including nitrogen availability and carbon storage. Across both types of grasslands, there is strong evidence that human forces that alter plant community structure, such as invasions by nonnative annual plants or changes in grazing or fire regime, alters the pattern, quantity, and quality of soil organic matter in grassland ecosystems. The reverse influence of soils on plant communities is also strong; in tum, alterations of soil nutrient supply in grasslands can have major influences on plant species composition, plant diversity, and primary p...

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Section: Indeterminate Dominance Grasslands: An Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant-Soil interactions in temperate grasslands

Burke

Lauenroth

Vinton

et al. 1998

Plant-Induced Soil Changes: Processes and Feedbacks

137

167

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“…Researchers have hypothesized that precipitation effects on SOC stocks are mediated through changes in vegetation via primary productivity (i.e., forest to grassland) (Homann et al 2007). In the Great Plains, primary productivity is strongly limited by moisture (Epstein et al 1996).…”

Section: Ratio Of Mean Annual Precipitation To Potential Evapotranspimentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of climate change on soil carbon and nitrogen storage in the US Great Plains

Follett¹,

Stewart²,

Pruessner³

et al. 2012

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

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Soils of the US Great Plains contain enormous stocks of soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil organic nitrogen (SON) that are vulnerable to predicted climate and land use change. Climate change scenarios predict a 2.2°C to 3.6°C (4°F to 6.5°F) increase and more variability in precipitation across most of the United States. This study quantifies management effects (native grassland, Conservation Reserve Program [CRP], and cropped) on SOC and SON stocks across the region and assessed soil variables (soil texture, cation exchange capacity, and others) and climatic drivers (precipitation and temperature) to predict future changes in carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stocks. Across all sites, cropped land had significantly lower C and N stocks in the 0 to 5 cm (0 to 2 in) and 0 to 10 cm (0 to 3.9 in) depths than native sites, while CRP sites were intermediate. Mean annual temperature (MAT), the ratio of mean annual precipitation to potential evapotranspiration (MAP:PET), soil bulk density (BD), and clay content were important covariates for SOC and SON stocks within land use. Soil C and N stocks under all three land uses were strongly negatively related to MAT and positively related to MAP:PET, suggesting that they are equally vulnerable to increased temperature and decreasing water availability. Based on these empirical relationships, a 1ºC (1.8ºF) increase in MAT could cause a loss of 486 Tg SOC (536 million tn) and a loss of 180 kg SON ha ) from the top 10 cm (3.9 in) of soil over 30 years, but the decrease will be mediated by water availability (MAP:PET). Combined, increased temperature and conversion from CRP to cropland could decrease the existing SOC sink, but improved soil management and increased water availability may help offset these losses in the US Great Plains.

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“…Nitrogen and water are the principal resources that limit switchgrass productivity. 11 Switchgrass shows little or no response to P and K. 12 However, P and K fertilizers and lime are recommended to maintain soil nutrient balance both during establishment and production years. In one study, yearly nitrogen application up to 150 kg ha -1 resulted in an average yield increase of 15 kg dry matter kg -1 N applied.…”

Section: Annual Maintenancementioning

confidence: 99%