Low biodiversity state persists two decades after cessation of nutrient enrichment

Isbell, Forest; Tilman, David; Polasky, Stephen; Binder, Seth; Hawthorne, Peter

doi:10.1111/ele.12066

Cited by 168 publications

(201 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Similarity in community composition and diversity levels for all dilution treatments between incubation days 45 and 105 highlights the stability of the two compositional states over time (Figure 2a and Supplementary Table S2). Persistence of a low biodiversity state has been shown for plant communities after cessation of nutrient enrichment (Isbell et al, 2013). However, to the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first experimental demonstration of the existence of alternative and stable states in bacterial communities caused by a loss of biodiversity and distinct assembly during soil colonization.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 60%

Effectiveness of ecological rescue for altered soil microbial communities and functions

et al. 2016

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Soil ecosystems worldwide are subjected to marked modifications caused by anthropogenic disturbances and global climate change, resulting in microbial diversity loss and alteration of ecosystem functions. Despite the paucity of studies, restoration ecology provides an appropriate framework for testing the potential of manipulating soil microbial communities for the recovery of ecosystem functioning. We used a reciprocal transplant design in experimentally altered microbial communities to investigate the effectiveness of introducing microbial communities in degraded soil ecosystems to restore N-cycle functioning. Microbial diversity loss resulted in alternative compositional states associated with impaired N-cycle functioning. Here, the addition of complex microbial communities to these altered communities revealed a pivotal role of deterministic community assembly processes. The diversity of some alternative compositional states was successfully increased but without significant restoration of soil N-cycle functioning. However, in the most degraded alternative state, the introduction of new microbial communities caused an overall decrease in phylogenetic diversity and richness. The successful soil colonization by newly introduced species for some compositional states indicates that priority effects could be overridden when attempting to manipulate microbial communities for soil restoration. Altogether, our result showed consistent patterns within restoration treatments with minor idiosyncratic effects. This suggests the predominance of deterministic processes and the predictability of restoration trajectories, which could be used to guide the effective management of microbial community assemblages for ecological restoration of soils

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 60%

Effectiveness of ecological rescue for altered soil microbial communities and functions

et al. 2016

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“…At Tadham Moor species composition was still different from controls after four years of recovery (Mountford et al, 1993), 11 years later Ellenberg N scores were significantly higher than the control plots in all except the lowest treatment (25 kg N ha − 1 yr − 1 ) (Stevens et al, 2012a) and diversity was still impacted after 20 years recovery in a prairie grassland (Isbell et al, 2013). Similarly an experiment in northeast China showed species composition differed from control plots in terms of the abundance, identity of dominant species and the abundance of annual species after three years of recovery (following four years treatment with 200 kg N ha −1 yr −1 ) (Shi et al, 2014).…”

Section: Impacts Of N Reduction In Grasslandsmentioning

confidence: 84%

How long do ecosystems take to recover from atmospheric nitrogen deposition?

Stevens

2016

Biological Conservation

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Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is a considerable threat to biodiversity and ecosystem function globally. Many experimental N additions and studies using gradients of ambient deposition have demonstrated impacts on plant species richness, diversity and composition in a broad range of habitats together with changes in soil biogeochemistry. In the last two decades levels of N deposition have begun to decline in some parts of Europe but it is currently difficult to assess the extent to which reductions in N deposition will result in recovery within seminatural habitats. There have been a number of investigations using the cessation of N additions in long-term experiments, monitoring in areas where ambient deposition has declined, transplants to situations with lower N inputs and roof experiments where rain is collected and cleaned. This review collates evidence from experiments in grasslands, forests, heathlands and wetlands where N additions have ceased or where N inputs have been reduced to assess how likely it is that habitats will recover from N deposition. The results of the majority of studies suggest that vegetation species composition, below-ground communities and soil processes may be slow to recover whereas some soil variables, such as nitrate and ammonium concentrations, can respond relatively rapidly to reductions in N inputs. There are a number of barriers to recovery such as continued critical load exceedance and lack of seed bank or local seed source, and there is the potential for vegetation communities to reach an alternative stable state where species lost as a consequence of changes due to N deposition may not be able to recolonise. In these cases only active restoration efforts can restore damaged habitats.

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“…Finally, it is likely that the recovery potential varies substantially for different systems depending on the life history of the species of interest, the presence of refuge populations, and a host of other factors (Clark and Tilman 2010). However, several long-term studies to date suggest that recovery over small scales can be slow and require intervention (Foster et al 2007, Clark and Tilman 2010, Isbell et al 2013. Considering anthropogenic N deposition occurs over large spatial scales, making the presence of refugia unlikely, reduction of current N loads is preferred before potentially intensive management options are considered.…”

Section: Christopher M Clark Et Al 1444mentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimated losses of plant biodiversity in the United States from historical N deposition (1985–2010)

Clark

Morefield

Gilliam

et al. 2013

Ecology

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Abstract. Although nitrogen (N) deposition is a significant threat to herbaceous plant biodiversity worldwide, it is not a new stressor for many developed regions. Only recently has it become possible to estimate historical impacts nationally for the United States. We used 26 years of deposition data, with ecosystem-specific functional responses from local field experiments and a national critical loads (CL) database, to generate scenario-based estimates of herbaceous species loss. Here we show that, in scenarios using the low end of the CL range, N deposition exceeded critical loads over 0.38, 6.5, 13.1, 88.6, and 222.1 million ha for the Mediterranean California, North American Desert, Northwestern Forested Mountains, Great Plains, and Eastern Forest ecoregions, respectively, with corresponding species losses ranging from ,1% to 30%. When we ran scenarios assuming ecosystems were less sensitive (using a common CL of 10 kgÁha À1 Áyr À1 , and the high end of the CL range) minimal losses were estimated. The large range in projected impacts among scenarios implies uncertainty as to whether current critical loads provide protection to terrestrial plant biodiversity nationally and urge greater research in refining critical loads for U.S. ecosystems.

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Low biodiversity state persists two decades after cessation of nutrient enrichment

Cited by 168 publications

References 50 publications

Effectiveness of ecological rescue for altered soil microbial communities and functions

Effectiveness of ecological rescue for altered soil microbial communities and functions

How long do ecosystems take to recover from atmospheric nitrogen deposition?

Estimated losses of plant biodiversity in the United States from historical N deposition (1985–2010)

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