Glasshouse vs field experiments: do they yield ecologically similar results for assessing N impacts on peat mosses?

Abstract

Summary• Peat bogs have accumulated more atmospheric carbon (C) than any other terrestrial ecosystem today. Most of this C is associated with peat moss (Sphagnum) litter. Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition can decrease Sphagnum production, compromising the C sequestration capacity of peat bogs. The mechanisms underlying the reduced production are uncertain, necessitating multifactorial experiments.• We investigated whether glasshouse experiments are reliable proxies for field experiments for assessing interactions between N deposition and environment as controls on Sphagnum N concentration and production. We performed a meta-analysis over 115 glasshouse experiments and 107 field experiments.• We found that glasshouse and field experiments gave similar qualitative and quantitative estimates of changes in Sphagnum N concentration in response to N application. However, glasshouse-based estimates of changes in production -even qualitative assessmentsdiverged from field experiments owing to a stronger N effect on production response in absence of vascular plants in the glasshouse, and a weaker N effect on production response in presence of vascular plants compared to field experiments.• Thus, although we need glasshouse experiments to study how interacting environmental factors affect the response of Sphagnum to increased N deposition, we need field experiments to properly quantify these effects.

Comparison of growth traits between abundant and uncommon forms of a non-native vine, Dolichandra unguis-cati (Bignoniaceae) in Australia

“…Our results also seem to contradict findings by Taylor and Dhileepan (2012) who observed that LP had higher growth rates than SP in the field. These differences could be attributable to environmental (Evans and Hughes 1961) and growing conditions (field vs glasshouse) (Limpens et al 2012). Moreover, whilst we generated experimental plants from seeds (seedlings) in our experiments, Taylor and Dhileepan (2012) used plants grown from tuberlings.…”

Infra-red Thermography for High Throughput Field Phenotyping in Solanum tuberosum

“…These use multiple view imaging systems including thermal sensors, together with automated plant handling under controlled environment conditions to quantify plant growth and function. However, genetic analysis and breeding for most crop species is usually carried out under natural conditions because results from glasshouse trials do not always correlate well with field behaviour [7], [8], [9], [10]. Phenotyping in field trials is therefore likely to provide better insights into crop behaviour than studies under glasshouse conditions, especially for crops such as potato that have large canopy size and show restricted growth in pots [11].…”

Performance of four mosses in a reciprocal transplant experiment: implications for peatland succession in NE China

“…For instance, warming and more frequent heat waves (Meehl & Tebaldi, 2004) can increase water deficits, evapotranspiration, and HWT (Clair, 1998;Zona et al, 2011) resulting in drought stress for Sphagnum (Bragazza, 2008). High nitrogen input can inhibit Sphagnum growth (Berendse et al, 2001;Limpens et al, 2012) but increase population expansion (Bubier et al 2007;Bu et al, 2011). The stepwise regression shows a negative effect of lowered water table in S. palustre, but the effect seems too small to suggest an advantage for the other mosses if climate change leads Table 3 Stepwise regression analyses for the relationships between biomass growth (g) of the four species and environmental factors.…”