Response of a perennial grassland to nitrogen and phosphorus additions in sub-tropical, semi-arid Australia

Bennett, Lauren T.; Adams, Mark A.

doi:10.1006/jare.2000.0759

Cited by 45 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…The results of several studies (Bobbink 1991;Bennett and Adams 2001;Mamolos et al 2005;D'Antonio and Mack 2006) fit well to the N:P thresholds of Güsewell (2004), whereas the results of some fertilizer experiments show little or no agreement with these thresholds in certain vegetation types (Ludwig et al 2001;Niinemets and Kull 2005;Craine et al 2008). Although these studies do not support the use of the reported N:P thresholds, plant N:P ratios clearly indicate effects of N and P enrichment in these studies.…”

Section: Water and Nutrient Limitations In Semiarid Steppe Grasslandssupporting

confidence: 54%

Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium nutritional status of semiarid steppe grassland in Inner Mongolia

et al. 2010

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In grazed semiarid steppe ecosystems, much attention has been paid to aspects of growth limitation by water. So far, potential limitation of primary production by plant nutrients was rarely considered. This knowledge is essential for identification of sustainable land-use practices in these large and important ecosystems on the background of overexploitation and climate change. In the present study plant nutrient concentrations and ratios were investigated with factorial additions of water and N fertilizer at two sites with contrasting soil nutrient availability. Combined analysis of nutrient concentrations, contents, biomass production, and plant N:P ratios consistently confirmed primary growth limitation by water and a strong N limitation when sufficient amounts of water were supplied. P limitation only occurred at the site with low P availability when in addition to the natural supply, water and N fertilizer were given. According to reported thresholds of N:K and K:P ratios, K was not limiting in any plot. The observed nutritional patterns in the plant community were related to the dynamics of species composition and their specific nutrient status. Stipa grandis had the highest N:P ratio whereas Artemisia frigida showed lowest N:P. These nutrient characteristics were related to growth strategies of dominant species. Accordingly, the relative biomass contribution of S. grandis and A. frigida strongly affected the nutrient status of the plant community. Plant N:P ratios indicate the relative limitation by N or P in the semiarid grasslands under sufficient water supply, but other methods of nutritional diagnosis should be used when plant N:P ratios remain below critical values.

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Section: Water and Nutrient Limitations In Semiarid Steppe Grasslandssupporting

confidence: 54%

Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium nutritional status of semiarid steppe grassland in Inner Mongolia

et al. 2010

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“…P limitation of growth in this arid valley contradicts the widely held view that N limiting is widely occurring in arid lands (Hooper and Johnson, 1999;Bennett and Adams, 2001;James et al, 2005). However, several other studies reported that P was a limiting factor to the shrub Larrea tridentata in Chihuahuan Desert in both lab and field experiments (Lajtha and Schlesinger, 1988;Schlesinger et al, 1990).…”

Section: Hierarchical Resource Limitation Structurementioning

confidence: 39%

“…Green et al,1994;Qu et al, 2003); or by manipulating with simple combinations of N and P, such as high and low levels of fertilization and comparing to a control (Fernandez et al, 2000;Bennett and Adams, 2001;Grünzweig and Körner, 2003). However, the experiments seldom consider plant growth in relation to P supply or to the combinations of N and P, since P is thought less important to plant growth Güsewell et al, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interactive effects of water, nitrogen and phosphorus on the growth, biomass partitioning and water-use efficiency of Bauhinia faberi seedlings

Song

et al. 2010

Journal of Arid Environments

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a b s t r a c tThe scarcity of research on the interactive effects of multi-limiting resources has hampered the success in ecological restoration. The effects of water (W), nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) on the performance of a perennial shrub, Bauhinia faberi seedlings were studied through a full factorial experimental design. Eighteen treatments was involved including three water (W1: 10, W2: 20 and W3: 40% field capacity), two N (N1: 100 and N2: 280 mg N kg À1 soil) and three P (P1: 12, P2: 24 and P3: 48 mg P kg À1 soil) for 19 weeks in a greenhouse experiment. P strongly regulated the biomass allocation under severe drought stress. Elevated W and P with N1 or N2 level increased root surface area and length, root and shoot mass, water-use efficiency and tissue P concentration, but did not significantly decrease tissue N concentration. The interaction of N and P was significant. Compared to N1, N2 significantly decreased growth parameters at P1 and P2, slightly reduced them at P3, suggesting that P3 alleviated the negative effects of N2.Therefore, the interactive effects of soil N and P should be examined thoroughly in seedlings plantation sites in arid regions to avoid excess level of nitrogen. Crown

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“…Lower thresholds were also found in an African savanna system (Ludwig et al, 2001) and in a semi-arid Australian grassland (Bennett and Adams, 2001), but greater on alpine meadows (Bowman, 1994). These examples indicate that threshold N:P ratios to N-or Plimitation are determined in different N:P ratios from those found in wetlands and may differ in the various grassland types.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 77%

“…One way to investigate nutrient-limited plant growth in terrestrial ecosystems is to examine the response of vegetation to nutrient additions. Although often straightforward, these experiments are lengthy and labor-intensive (Bennett and Adams, 2001;Van Duren and Pegtel, 2000). In addition, chemical adsorption and microbial immobilization, in some cases, decrease the availability of supplied nutrients, complicating interpretation of results (Aerts and Chapin, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation in contrasting soil water sites of upland herbaceous grasslands and N:P ratios as indicators of nutrient limitation

2005

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Effects of differences in long-term water supply were examined on soil characteristics, primary production and species composition in a wet and a dry site of an upland herbaceous grassland. Also the responses of species to N and P enrichments were examined. N and P concentrations of non-legume species were positively related, indicating that biomass N:P ratios seem to be mainly determined by N:P supply ratios. Forbs had generally higher concentrations than graminoids. Intermittent water inundation of soil in the wet site resulted in greater soil N and P availability. The greater productivity of this site promoted the growth of forbs. A fertilizer experiment showed that biomass was limited by N only in the wet site, but by both nutrients in the dry one. The species with the higher N and P concentrations were favored more after N and P enrichment, respectively; however, species enhancement was not related to N:P ratios of species. This indicates that N and P concentrations of species, rather than N:P ratios of species, are better predictors of species responses to N and P enrichment. N:P ratios of whole communities were 8.73 for the wet and 11.36 for the dry site. These values in comparison with the responses of plant communities to N and P fertilization show that thresholds of N:P ratios indicative of N or P limitation are much lower than those found for European wetlands.

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Response of a perennial grassland to nitrogen and phosphorus additions in sub-tropical, semi-arid Australia

Cited by 45 publications

References 55 publications

Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium nutritional status of semiarid steppe grassland in Inner Mongolia

Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium nutritional status of semiarid steppe grassland in Inner Mongolia

Interactive effects of water, nitrogen and phosphorus on the growth, biomass partitioning and water-use efficiency of Bauhinia faberi seedlings

Vegetation in contrasting soil water sites of upland herbaceous grasslands and N:P ratios as indicators of nutrient limitation

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