Land use intensity, rather than plant species richness, affects the leaching risk of multiple nutrients from permanent grasslands

Klaus, Valentin H.; Kleinebecker, Till; Busch, Verena; Fischer, Markus; Hölzel, Norbert; Nowak, Sascha; Prati, Daniel; Schäfer, Deborah; Schöning, Ingo; Schrumpf, Marion; Hamer, Ute

doi:10.1111/gcb.14123

Cited by 38 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 62 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Besides an economic impact, grassland renewal has an environmental impact. Many studies show an increased emission of the greenhouse gasses N 2 O and CO 2 and leaching of nitrogen after ploughing grassland [8,[56][57][58][59][60][61][62]. Our study confirms that when grasslands contain at least 70% desirable grasses (i.e., Lolium perenne and Phleum pratense), long-term grass productivity does not increase and the NY N0 even decreases as a result of grassland renewal.…”

Section: Practical Implicationssupporting

confidence: 80%

Productivity and Topsoil Quality of Young and Old Permanent Grassland: An On-Farm Comparison

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Renewing agricultural grasslands for improved yields and forage quality generally involves eliminating standing vegetation with herbicides, ploughing and reseeding. However, grassland renewal may negatively affect soil quality and related ecosystem services. On clay soil in the north of the Netherlands, we measured grass productivity and soil chemical parameters of ‘young’ (5–15 years since last grassland renewal) and ‘old’ (>20 years since last grassland renewal) permanent grasslands, located as pairs at 10 different dairy farms. We found no significant difference with old permanent grassland in herbage dry matter yield and fertilizer nitrogen (N) response, whereas herbage N yield was lower in young permanent grassland. Moreover, the young grassland soil contained less soil organic matter (SOM), soil organic carbon (C) and soil organic N compared to the old grassland soil. Grass productivity was positively correlated with SOM and related parameters such as soil organic C, soil organic N and potentially mineralizable N. We conclude that on clay soils with 70% desirable grasses (i.e., Lolium perenne and Phleum pratense) or more, the presumed yield benefit of grassland renewal is offset by a loss of soil quality (SOM and N-total). The current practice of renewing grassland after 10 years without considering the botanical composition, is counter-productive and not sustainable.

show abstract

Section: Practical Implicationssupporting

confidence: 80%

Productivity and Topsoil Quality of Young and Old Permanent Grassland: An On-Farm Comparison

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Furthermore, simple plant communities consisting of 12 plant species are more likely to regenerate than more complex communities consisting of 60 plant species. We also found that low‐intensity grasslands had a larger relative increase of released NO 3 ‐N compared with grasslands with high land‐use intensity, which was very likely caused by the already high release of NO 3 ‐N in grasslands with high land‐use intensity even without the presence of a disturbance (Klaus, Kleinebecker, et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 54%

“…Previous work on this experiment has shown that sward disturbance increases cover of bare soil, seedling species richness and number of seedlings directly after disturbance, due to the activation of the soil seed bank (Klaus et al, ) and release of nitrate (Klaus, Kleinebecker, et al, ). In the present study, we investigated how the disturbance effects and the recovery of ecosystem functions are related to land‐use intensity, plant species richness and functional composition in the first and second season after the sward disturbance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…After the first season, disturbance effects disappeared for above‐ground biomass and plant cover and, on some sites, values from disturbed plots even exceeded those of the control plots, probably due to compensatory growth stimulated by disturbance‐related release of nutrients (especially NO 3 ‐N, see below; McNaughton, Wallace, & Coughenour, ; Klaus, Kleinebecker, et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Recovery of ecosystem functions after experimental disturbance in 73 grasslands differing in land‐use intensity, plant species richness and community composition

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

1. Drivers of ecosystem stability have been a major topic in ecology for decades.Most studies have focused on the influence of species richness on ecosystem stability and found positive diversity-stability relationships. However, land use and abiotic factors shape species richness and functional composition of plant communities and may override species richness-stability relations in managed grasslands.2. We analysed the relative importance of land-use intensity (LUI), resident plant species richness and functional composition for recovery of plant communities (plant species richness, plant cover, above-and below-ground biomass) and release of soil nutrients after a severe mechanical disturbance. Experimental sward disturbance was applied to 73 grassland sites along a LUI gradient in three German regions. We considered relative (ln(disturbance/control)) and absolute (disturbance − control) treatment effects. Using structural equation modelling, we disentangled direct effects of LUI and resident species richness on recovery and indirect effects via changes in functional richness.3. Community-weighted-mean traits rarely mattered for recovery or nutrient release, while functional richness especially increased relative recovery of plant communities but also relative release of NO 3 -N and NH 4 -N. These effects were enhanced by increasing resident plant species richness and decreasing LUI. Next to these indirect influences of LUI and resident plant species richness via functional community composition, grasslands of high compared with grasslands of low resident plant species richness generally showed decreased recovery of plant communities. In grasslands of high LUI, absolute recovery of some aspects of plant 2636 |

show abstract

“…Land-use intensification is one of the main drivers altering plant community composition (Matson et al 1997) for example by favouring the dominance of exploitative/acquisitive over conservative plant species due to the elevation of nutrient availability (Klaus et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land-use intensity shapes kinetics of extracellular enzymes in rhizosphere soil of agricultural grassland plant species

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The aim of this study was to identify how land-use intensity shapes the kinetic properties of extracellular hydrolytic enzymes (EHEs) in rhizosphere soil among and within plant species representing different i) resource acquisition strategies (exploitative (ex) vs. conservative (co) plant species) and ii) response types to land-use intensification (winner (Wi) vs. loser (Lo), i.e. species that increase in abundance due to land-use intensification vs. species that decrease in abundance). Methods The potential enzyme activities (Vmax) and the apparent substrate affinities (Km) of βcellobiohydrolase (CBH), β-glucosidase (BG), xylanase (XYL), N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG), and phosphomonoesterase (PH) were determined in rhizosphere samples of Agrimonia eupatoria (co, Lo), Dactylis glomerata (ex, Wi), Lotus corniculatus (co, Lo), Taraxacum sect. Ruderalia (ex, Wi) and Trifolium repens (ex, Wi). Samples (n=37) were taken on six permanent grasslands along a gradient in land-use intensity in central Germany. Results Plant species identity and performance of species to land-use intensity are less important for explaining enzyme kinetics than are land-use intensity and associated changes in soil properties (especially organic carbon, pH and C:N ratio) and composition of the surrounding plant community, i.e. the abundance of herbs and plant diversity. However, the rhizosphere of winner species of intensive land-use was characterized by higher Km of CBH and two out of the three winners were associated with lower Km of PH. Higher Vmax of XYL in the rhizosphere of winner species suggest higher production of hemicellulose-degrading enzymes in rhizospheres of higher land-use intensity. Conclusions This study demonstrates that both land-use intensity and to a lower degree the type of plants' resource acquisition strategy affect EHEs of C-, N-, and P-cycles in the rhizosphere. Rhizospheres of common grassland species are hotspots of hemicellulose, chitin, and organic P degradation but not of cellulose degradation. Further studies should consider variations in the kinetics of EHEs as a function of root orders and soil depths.

show abstract

Land use intensity, rather than plant species richness, affects the leaching risk of multiple nutrients from permanent grasslands

Cited by 38 publications

References 62 publications

Productivity and Topsoil Quality of Young and Old Permanent Grassland: An On-Farm Comparison

Productivity and Topsoil Quality of Young and Old Permanent Grassland: An On-Farm Comparison

Recovery of ecosystem functions after experimental disturbance in 73 grasslands differing in land‐use intensity, plant species richness and community composition

Land-use intensity shapes kinetics of extracellular enzymes in rhizosphere soil of agricultural grassland plant species

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About