Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Journal of Ecology
Author ORCID Identifier
Peter B. Adler: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4216-4009
Elizabeth T. Borer: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2259-5853
Christopher R. Buyarski: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7080-8978
Elsa E. Cleland: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3920-0029
Carla M. D'Antonio: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0395-9650
Kendi F. Davies: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7716-3359
Daniel S. Gruner: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3153-4297
W. Stanley Harpole: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3404-9174
Kirsten S. Hofmockel: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1586-2167
Andrew S. MacDougall: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1869-7868
Rebecca L. McCulley: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2393-0599
Brett A. Melbourne: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8843-4131
Joslin L. Moore: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9809-5092
Anita C. Risch: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0531-8336
Eric W. Seabloom: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6780-9259
Justin P. Wright: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9102-5347
Louie H. Yang: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9237-5357
Sarah E. Hobbie: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5159-031X
Volume
110
Issue
6
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Publication Date
3-25-2022
First Page
1376
Last Page
1389
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Abstract
- To evaluate how increased anthropogenic nutrient inputs alter carbon cycling in grasslands, we conducted a litter decomposition study across 20 temperate grasslands on three continents within the Nutrient Network, a globally distributed nutrient enrichment experiment
- We determined the effects of addition of experimental nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium plus micronutrient (Kμ) on decomposition of a common tree leaf litter in a long-term study (maximum of 7 years; exact deployment period varied across sites). The use of higher order decomposition models allowed us to distinguish between the effects of nutrients on early- versus late-stage decomposition.
- Across continents, the addition of N (but not other nutrients) accelerated early-stage decomposition and slowed late-stage decomposition, increasing the slowly decomposing fraction by 28% and the overall litter mean residence time by 58%.
- Synthesis. Using a novel, long-term cross-site experiment, we found widespread evidence that N enhances the early stages of above-ground plant litter decomposition across diverse and widespread temperate grassland sites but slows late-stage decomposition. These findings were corroborated by fitting the data to multiple decomposition models and have implications for N effects on soil organic matter formation. For example, following N enrichment, increased microbial processing of litter substrates early in decomposition could promote the production and transfer of low molecular weight compounds to soils and potentially enhance the stabilization of mineral-associated organic matter. By contrast, by slowing late-stage decomposition, N enrichment could promote particulate organic matter (POM) accumulation. Such hypotheses deserve further testing.
Recommended Citation
Gill, A. L., Adler, P. B., Borer, E. T., Buyarski, C. R., Cleland, E. E., D’Antonio, C. M., Davies, K. F., Gruner, D. S., Harpole, W. S., Hofmockel, K. S., MacDougall, A. S., McCulley, R. L., Melbourne, B. A., Moore, J. L., Morgan, J. W., Risch, A. C., Schütz, M., Seabloom, E. W., Wright, J. P. … Hobbie, S. E. (2022). Nitrogen increases early-stage and slows late-stage decomposition across diverse grasslands. Journal of Ecology, 110, 1376–1389. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13878
