Nitrogen addition and mowing alter drought resistance and recovery of grassland communities

Nitrogen enrichment and land use are known to influence various ecosystems, but how these anthropogenic changes influence community and ecosystem responses to disturbance remains poorly understood. Here we investigated the effects of increased nitrogen input and mowing on the resistance and recovery...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science China. Life sciences 2023-07, Vol.66 (7), p.1682-1692
Main Authors: Xu, Zhuwen, Liu, Heyong, Meng, Yani, Yin, Jinfei, Ren, Haiyan, Li, Mai-He, Yang, Shan, Tang, Shiming, Jiang, Yong, Jiang, Lin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomass
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Dominant species
Drought
Drought Resistance
Ecosystem
Ecosystems
Environmental changes
Grassland
Grasslands
Land use
Life Sciences
Mowing
Nitrogen
Nitrogen - analysis
Poaceae - physiology
Research Paper
Soil
Structure-function relationships
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Summary:Nitrogen enrichment and land use are known to influence various ecosystems, but how these anthropogenic changes influence community and ecosystem responses to disturbance remains poorly understood. Here we investigated the effects of increased nitrogen input and mowing on the resistance and recovery of temperate semiarid grassland experiencing a three-year drought. Nitrogen addition increased grassland biomass recovery but decreased structural recovery after drought, whereas annual mowing increased grassland biomass recovery and structural recovery but reduced structural resistance to drought. The treatment effects on community biomass/structural resistance and recovery were largely modulated by the stability of the dominant species and asynchronous dynamics among species, and the community biomass resistance and recovery were also greatly driven by the stability of grasses. Community biomass resistance/recovery in response to drought was positively associated with its corresponding structural stability. Our study provides important experimental evidence that both nitrogen addition and mowing could substantially change grassland stability in both functional and structural aspects. Our findings emphasize the need to study changes across levels of ecological organization for a more complete understanding of ecosystem responses to disturbances under widespread environmental changes.
ISSN:1674-7305
1869-1889
DOI:10.1007/s11427-022-2217-9