The type of nutrient limitation affects the plant species richness-productivity relationship: evidence from dry grasslands across Eurasia

0510187 - BÚ 2020 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Palpurina, S. - Chytrý, M. - Hölzel, N. - Tichý, L. - Wagner, V. - Horsák, M. - Axmanová, I. - Hájek, M. - Hájková, Petra - Freitag, M. - Lososová, Z. - Mathar, W. - Tzonev, R. - Danihelka, Jiří - Dřevojan, P.
The type of nutrient limitation affects the plant species richness-productivity relationship: evidence from dry grasslands across Eurasia.
Journal of Ecology. Roč. 107, č. 3 (2019), s. 1038-1050. ISSN 0022-0477. E-ISSN 1365-2745
R&D Projects: GA ČR GB14-36079G
Institutional support: RVO:67985939
Keywords : species richness–productivity relationship * alpha diversity * above-ground biomass
OECD category: Plant sciences, botany
Impact factor: 5.762, year: 2019
Method of publishing: Limited access

The species richness–productivity relationship is one of the most debated patterns in ecology. Species coexistence theory suggests that it could be tightly linked to the type of nutrient limitation (NL: no limitation, single-nutrient limitation, co-limitation by several nutrients). Combining the predictions of the humped-back model and the higher niche dimensionality hypothesis, we hypothesised that plant species richness will increase with the number of different limiting nutrients but that it is detectable only at higher productivity levels, at which competition for nutrients is more intense. To test this hypothesis, we used species richness data collected in 10 m × 10 m plots at 694 temperate dry grassland sites across eight regions in northern Eurasia. Productivity ranged from 10 to ~500 g·m-2 of above-ground standing biomass. The type of NL was identified by critical nutrient ratios alone and their combination with critical nutrient concentrations measured in the plant tissue. Relationships were analysed using generalised linear and mixed-effect models. In line with our expectations, species richness of Eurasian temperate dry grasslands increased more steeply and peaked higher under higher productivity levels at N&P colimited sites. When NL was assessed by both ratios and concentrations, species richness at N&P co-limited sites continued to increase monotonically until the maximum productivity sampled in this study. In contrast, at sites with a single nutrient limitation or no limitation, the peak in species richness was lower and occurred at a lower productivity of about 300–400 g·m-2. We provide the first evidence that the species richness–productivity relationship may depend on the type of nutrient limitation as predicted by the species coexistence theory.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0302272