LETTER

Decoupling the direct and indirect effects of nitrogen deposition on ecosystem function

  1. Pete Manning1,*,
  2. John E. Newington1,
  3. Helen R. Robson1,
  4. Mark Saunders1,
  5. Till Eggers2,
  6. Mark A. Bradford3,
  7. Richard D. Bardgett4,
  8. Michael Bonkowski5,
  9. Richard J. Ellis1,
  10. Alan C. Gange6,
  11. Susan J. Grayston7,
  12. Ellen Kandeler8,
  13. Sven Marhan8,
  14. Eileen Reid9,
  15. Dagmar Tscherko8,
  16. H. Charles J. Godfray1,
  17. Mark Rees10

Article first published online: 14 AUG 2006

DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2006.00959.x

Issue

Ecology Letters

Ecology Letters

Volume 9, Issue 9, pages 1015–1024, September 2006

Additional Information

How to Cite

Manning, P., Newington, J. E., Robson, H. R., Saunders, M., Eggers, T., Bradford, M. A., Bardgett, R. D., Bonkowski, M., Ellis, R. J., Gange, A. C., Grayston, S. J., Kandeler, E., Marhan, S., Reid, E., Tscherko, D., Godfray, H. C. J. and Rees, M. (2006), Decoupling the direct and indirect effects of nitrogen deposition on ecosystem function. Ecology Letters, 9: 1015–1024. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2006.00959.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Natural Environment Research Council Centre for Population Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK

  2. 2

    Ecology Division, Department for Biology and Chemistry, University of Osnabrück, Barbarastrasse 11, Osnabrück D-49069, Germany

  3. 3

    Institute of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA

  4. 4

    Soil and Ecosystem Ecology Laboratory, Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK

  5. 5

    Technische Universität Darmstadt, Fachbereich, 10, Biologie, Darmstadt D-64287, Germany

  6. 6

    School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK

  7. 7

    Department of Forest Sciences, University of British Columbia, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4

  8. 8

    Institute of Soil Science, University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany

  9. 9

    Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK

  10. 10

    Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK

*E-mail: p.manning@imperial.ac.uk

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 14 AUG 2006
  2. Article first published online: 14 AUG 2006
  3. Editor, Michael Hochberg Manuscript received 6 June 2006 First decision made 8 June 2006 Manuscript accepted 16 June 2006 Fast-track submitted and reviewed

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Keywords:

  • Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi;
  • biodiversity;
  • evapotranspiration;
  • frequency dependence;
  • mineral-associated carbon;
  • mineralization;
  • net ecosystem productivity;
  • plant community composition;
  • soil decomposer community;
  • soil enzyme activity

Abstract

Elevated nitrogen (N) inputs into terrestrial ecosystems are causing major changes to the composition and functioning of ecosystems. Understanding these changes is challenging because there are complex interactions between ‘direct’ effects of N on plant physiology and soil biogeochemistry, and ‘indirect’ effects caused by changes in plant species composition. By planting high N and low N plant community compositions into high and low N deposition model terrestrial ecosystems we experimentally decoupled direct and indirect effects and quantified their contribution to changes in carbon, N and water cycling. Our results show that direct effects on plant growth dominate ecosystem response to N deposition, although long-term carbon storage is reduced under high N plant-species composition. These findings suggest that direct effects of N deposition on ecosystem function could be relatively strong in comparison with the indirect effects of plant community change.

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