TY  - JOUR
A1  - Wilfahrt, Peter
A1  - Schweiger, Andreas A. H.
A1  - Abrantes, Nelson
A1  - Arfin Khan, Mohammed Abu Sayed
A1  - Bahn, Michael
A1  - Berauer, Bernd
A1  - Bierbaumer, Michael
A1  - Djukic, Ika
A1  - Dusseldorp, Marleen van
A1  - Eibes, Pia
A1  - Estiarte, Marc
A1  - Heßberg, Andreas von
A1  - Holub, Petr
A1  - Ingrisch, Johannes
A1  - Kappel Schmidt, Inger
A1  - Kesic, Lazar
A1  - Klem, Karel
A1  - Kröel-Dulay, György
A1  - Larsen, Klaus S.
A1  - Lõhmus, Krista
A1  - Mänd, Pille
A1  - Orbán, Ildikó
A1  - Orlovic, Sasa
A1  - Peñuelas, Josep
A1  - Reinthaler, David
A1  - Radujković, Dajana
A1  - Schuchardt, Max
A1  - Schweiger, Julienne
A1  - Stojnic, Srdjan
A1  - Tietema, Albert
A1  - Urban, Otmar
A1  - Vicca, Sara
A1  - Jentsch-Beierkuhnlein, Anke
T1  - Disentangling climate from soil nutrient effects on plant biomass production using a multispecies phytometer
T2  - Ecosphere
N2  - Plant community biomass production is co-dependent on climatic and edaphic factors that are often covarying and non-independent. Disentangling how these factors act in isolation is challenging, especially along large climatic gradients that can mask soil effects. As anthropogenic pressure increasingly alters local climate and soil resource supply unevenly across landscapes, our ability to predict concurrent changes in plant community processes requires clearer understandings of independent and interactive effects of climate and soil. To address this, we developed a multispecies phytometer (i.e., standardized plant community) for separating key drivers underlying plant productivity across gradients. Phytometers were composed of three globally cosmopolitan herbaceous perennials, Dactylis glomerata, Plantago lanceolata, and Trifolium pratense. In 2017, we grew phytometer communities in 18 sites across a pan-European aridity gradient in local site soils and a standardized substrate and compared biomass production. Standard substrate phytometers succeeded in providing a standardized climate biomass response independent of local soil effects. This allowed us to factor out climate effects in local soil phytometers, establishing that nitrogen availability did not predict biomass production, while phosphorus availability exerted a strong, positive effect independent of climate. Additionally, we identified a negative relationship between biomass production and potassium and magnesium availability. Species-specific biomass responses to the environment in the climate-corrected biomass were asynchronous, demonstrating the importance of species interactions in vegetation responses to global change. Biomass production was co-limited by climatic and soil drivers, with each species experiencing its own unique set of co-limitations. Our study demonstrates the potential of phytometers for disentangling effects of climate and soil on plant biomass production and suggests an increasing role of P limitation in the temperate regions of Europe.
KW  - aridity
KW  - climate gradient
KW  - nitrogen
KW  - nutrient availability
KW  - phosphorus
KW  - phytometer
KW  - plant productivity
KW  - resource limitation
Y1  - 2021
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/63968
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-639689
SN  - 2150-8925
N1  - This project was developed as part of the ES1308 ClimMani COST action. It was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the framework of the BonaRes project SUSALPS (Sustainable use of alpine and pre-alpine grassland soils in a changing climate; project number: 031B0027C). JP and ME acknowledge European Research Council Synergy grant ERC-SyG-2013-610028 IMBALANCE-P, the Spanish Government grant CGL2016-79835-P, and the Catalan Government grant SGR 2017-1005. PH, KK, and OU were supported by the National Programme for Sustainability (grant no. LO1415). MB, JI, and DR acknowledge the support from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) project no P28572 and background logistic support from AREC Raumberg-Gumpenstein (Erich PÖTSCH). PM and KL were supported by the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research (Institutional Research Funding IUT34-9). GKD was funded by the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (K112576, K129068).
VL  - 12.2021
IS  - 8, art. e03719
SP  - 1
EP  - 14
PB  - ESA
CY  - Ithaca, NY
ER  -