The Role of Nitrogen Deposition in Widespread Plant Community Change Across Semi-natural Habitats
The Role of Nitrogen Deposition in Widespread Plant Community Change Across Semi-natural Habitats
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DOI：
10.1007/s10021-014-9765-5
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发表时间：
2014-08-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Caporn, Simon J. M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Field, Chris D.;Dise, Nancy B.;Caporn, Simon J. M.
实验研究表明，活性氮的沉积是植物群落变化的一个重要驱动力，然而，这些实验大多是短期的不切实际的处理，并在环境沉积升高的地区进行。对污染空间梯度的研究可以补充实验数据，并表明实验所证明的潜在影响是否真的发生在“真实的世界”。然而，只有极少数生境进行了有针对性的调查，而且不容易进行比较。在一个协调的运动中，我们确定了物种丰富度和植物群落组成的五个广泛的，半自然的栖息地在英国各地的网站分层沿着梯度的气候和污染，并与这些生态参数的生物多样性的主要驱动因素，包括气候，污染沉积和当地的土壤因素。在每一个栖息地，我们发现减少物种丰富度和改变物种组成与较高的氮沉降，在不同生态系统类型的相对物种损失显着的一致性。而苔藓，地衣，杂类草和禾本科植物的多样性下降，在不同的生境中的N沉降，禾本科植物的覆盖一般增加。考虑到以前的实验研究和调查工作，我们的研究结果提供了一个令人信服的论点，氮沉降是一个广泛和普遍的威胁陆地生态系统。
Experimental studies have shown that deposition of reactive nitrogen is an important driver of plant community change, however, most of these experiments are of short duration with unrealistic treatments, and conducted in regions with elevated ambient deposition. Studies of spatial gradients of pollution can complement experimental data and indicate whether the potential impacts demonstrated by experiments are actually occurring in the 'real world'. However, targeted surveys exist for only a very few habitats and are not readily comparable. In a coordinated campaign, we determined the species richness and plant community composition of five widespread, semi-natural habitats across Great Britain in sites stratified along gradients of climate and pollution, and related these ecological parameters to major drivers of biodiversity, including climate, pollution deposition, and local edaphic factors. In every habitat, we found reduced species richness and changed species composition associated with higher nitrogen deposition, with remarkable consistency in relative species loss across ecosystem types. Whereas the diversity of mosses, lichens, forbs, and graminoids declines with N deposition in different habitats, the cover of graminoids generally increases. Considered alongside previous experimental studies and survey work, our results provide a compelling argument that nitrogen deposition is a widespread and pervasive threat to terrestrial ecosystems.