Plant and Soil N Response of Southern Californian Semi-arid Shrublands After 1 Year of Experimental N Deposition

Vourlitis, George L.; Pasquini, Sarah C.; Zorba, Gypsi

doi:10.1007/s10021-007-9030-2

Cited by 33 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…For chaparral, added N appeared to significantly inhibit NPP for the first 3 years of fertilization and post-fire recovery, and while the mechanism for this decline is unknown, N fertilization led to high rates of NO 3 leaching and rapid soil acidification (Vourlitis et al 2007b. Rapid leaching and acidification may lead v www.esajournals.org to imbalances of other nutrients such as P or base cations, which can inhibit biomass production (Mohren et al 1986, Vitousek and Howarth 1991, Roem et al 2002.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rapid leaching and acidification may lead v www.esajournals.org to imbalances of other nutrients such as P or base cations, which can inhibit biomass production (Mohren et al 1986, Vitousek and Howarth 1991, Roem et al 2002. After only the first year of fertilization, Vourlitis et al (2007b) reported that the N:P ratio of chaparral and CSS shrubs was , 14 regardless of N treatment, suggesting that shrubs were relatively more limited by N than P (Koerselman and Meuleman 1996), but up until fall 2006, the last year tissue P concentration was measured, the N:P ratio of shrubs exposed to added N had increased relative to control shrubs (data not shown).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Aboveground net primary production response of semi‐arid shrublands to chronic experimental dry‐season N input

Vourlitis

2012

Ecosphere

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Abstract. Urban chaparral and coastal sage scrub (CSS) shrublands of southern Californian have been exposed to high-levels of dry-atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition for decades. The productivity of these semi-arid shrublands is reportedly N limited, thus N exposure is hypothesized to cause an increase in aboveground net primary production (NPP). To test this hypothesis the aboveground biomass and litter production of a post-fire chaparral and a mature CSS stand were measured over an 8 year period in plots exposed to either ambient or elevated N input (ambient þ 50 kg N ha À1 y À1). Results support this hypothesis; however, trends in NPP varied over time or were affected by rainfall. For post-fire chaparral, NPP was initially inhibited by N input, but over time NPP increased consistently in plots exposed to added N. For CSS, the effect of N exposure was positively correlated with annual rainfall and N exposure caused NPP to increase significantly when rainfall exceeded approximately 450 mm year À1 . Thus, while N enrichment may increase the NPP of these semi-arid shrublands, temporal patterns may take years to emerge or be dependent on water availability. These results highlight the importance of long-term experiments and the potential for interactions between water and nutrients in semi-arid ecosystems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aboveground net primary production response of semi‐arid shrublands to chronic experimental dry‐season N input

Vourlitis

2012

Ecosphere

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“…Concentrations of atmospheric N in urban areas are 20 times higher than in remote areas resulting in 20-45 kg N/ha to be deposited to heavily polluted southern Californian shrublands annually (Bytnerowicz and Fenn, 1996;Riggan et al, 1985). This deposited N has the potential to enrich the soil and plant N of semi-arid shrublands (Egerton-Warburton and Allen, 2000;Padgett et al, 1999;Vourlitis et al, 2007), which are thought to be N limited (Fenn et al, 2003a;Gray and Schlesinger, 1983;Kummerow et al, 1982).…”

Section: Article In Pressmentioning

confidence: 96%

Carbon and nitrogen storage in soil and litter of southern Californian semi-arid shrublands

Vourlitis

Zorba

Pasquini

et al. 2007

Journal of Arid Environments

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Semi-arid shrublands of southern California, including chaparral and coastal sage, are found in widely varying elevation and microclimatic regimes and are subjected to disturbance such as fire and atmospheric N deposition that have the capacity to alter soil and litter C and N storage. Here we present a case study where soil and litter C and N were measured over 19 months in post-fire chaparral and mature coastal sage stands to assess whether differences in soil and litter C and N between these diverse shrublands could be attributed to differences in elevation, stand age, rainfall, and/or estimated N deposition exposure. Our results indicate that atmospheric N deposition exposure, either alone or in conjunction with other environmental variables (elevation, rainfall, and/or stand age), was the most frequent predictor of the spatial pattern in the soil and litter N and C variables observed. These results are consistent with those reported for high-elevation coniferous forests arrayed along an N deposition gradient in southern California, suggesting that N deposition may affect the soil N and C storage of semiarid shrublands and woodlands in a qualitatively similar manner.

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“…Fenn et al 2003;Vourlitis et al 2007;Allen et al 2009), while very few have been made on the Mediterranean Basin (Bonanomi et al 2006;Pinho et al 2009). This paper describes an integrated field study of short-term effects of increased N availability on a Mediterranean ecosystem located in a Natura 2000 site in southern Portugal (PTCON0010 Arrábida/ Espichel).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Linking N-driven biodiversity changes with soil N availability in a Mediterranean ecosystem

et al. 2010

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Nitrogen (N) enrichment has been pinpointed as a main driver for biodiversity change.Most of our knowledge of effects of increased N availability on ecosystems comes from northern Europe and America. Most other ecosystem types have been neglected. In contribution to filling this gap, our study examined the short-term effects of N enrichment in a N-manipulation (doses and forms) field study of a severely nutrient-limited Mediterranean ecosystem located in a Natura 2000 site in Portugal. Our aims were to (a) understand the effects of N enrichment on plant diversity, and to (b) link Ndriven plant community changes with changes in soil inorganic N availability. In general, the standing plant community responded to short-term N enrichment with increased richness and evenness. Changes in the plant community occurred through changes in species composition and cover, and were correlated with soil N, and N and phosphorus availability. Fertilization with 80 kg NH 4 NO 3 ha −1 y −1 was the treatment which changed plant composition the most, while geophytes, hemicryptophytes and therophytes were the biological types more responsive to N enrichment. Dittrichia viscosa was the only species that responded significantly to increased N, i.e., its cover decreased in control plots, but increased in fertilized plots, suggesting that it could be used as an indicator of N enrichment in Mediterranean maquis. Changes in plant richness and evenness were correlated with the mean and/or the variation (standard deviation) of soil inorganic N parameters (e.g. nitrate concentration in the soil solution and the soil's ratio of bioavailable N and phosphorus) measured along the time between the two plant community assessments. However, shortand long-term effects can be quite distinct, thus highlighting the need for further studies.

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Plant and Soil N Response of Southern Californian Semi-arid Shrublands After 1 Year of Experimental N Deposition

Cited by 33 publications

References 69 publications

Aboveground net primary production response of semi‐arid shrublands to chronic experimental dry‐season N input

Aboveground net primary production response of semi‐arid shrublands to chronic experimental dry‐season N input

Carbon and nitrogen storage in soil and litter of southern Californian semi-arid shrublands

Linking N-driven biodiversity changes with soil N availability in a Mediterranean ecosystem

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