Leaf nutrients, not specific leaf area, are consistent indicators of elevated nutrient inputs

• Autores: Firn, Jennifer L.; McGree, James M.; Harvey, Eric; Flores-Moreno, Habacuc; Schütz, Martin; Buckley, Yvonne M.; Borer, Elizabeth T.; Seabloom, Eric William; La Pierre, Kimberly J.; MacDougall, Andrew S.; Prober, Suzanne M.; Stevens, Carly J.; Sullivan, Lauren L.; Porter, Erica; Ladouceur, Emma; Allen, Charlotte; Moromizato, Karine H.; Morgan, John W.; Harpole, William Stanley; Hautier, Yann; Eisenhauer, Nico; Wright, Justin P.; Adler, Peter B.; Arnillas, Carlos Alberto; Bakker, Jonathan D.; Biederman, Lori; Broadbent, Arthur A.D.; Brown, Cynthia S.; Bugalho, Miguel N.; Caldeira, Maria C.; Cleland, Elsa E.; Ebeling, Anne; Fay, Philip A.; Hagenah, Nicole; Kleinhesselink, Andrew R.; Mitchell, Rachel; Moore, Joslin L.; Nogueira, Carla; Peri, Pablo Luis; Roscher, Christiane; Smith, Melinda D.; Wragg, Peter D.; Risch, Anita C.
• Año de publicación: 2019
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Fuente: Nature Ecology & Evolution 3 :400–406 (2019)
• Materia: Nutrientes; Plantas; Biodiversidad; Praderas; Ecología; Nutrients; Plants; Biodiversity; Grasslands; Ecology
• Institución: Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria

Leaf traits are frequently measured in ecology to provide a ‘common currency’ for predicting how anthropogenic pressures impact ecosystem function. Here, we test whether leaf traits consistently respond to experimental treatments across 27 globally distributed grassland sites across 4 continents. We find that specific leaf area (leaf area per unit mass)—a commonly measured morphological trait inferring shifts between plant growth strategies—did not respond to up to four years of soil nutrient additions. Leaf nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium concentrations increased in response to the addition of each respective soil nutrient. We found few significant changes in leaf traits when vertebrate herbivores were excluded in the short-term. Leaf nitrogen and potassium concentrations were positively correlated with species turnover, suggesting that interspecific trait variation was a significant predictor of leaf nitrogen and potassium, but not of leaf phosphorus concentration. Climatic conditions and pretreatment soil nutrient levels also accounted for significant amounts of variation in the leaf traits measured. Overall, we find that leaf morphological traits, such as specific leaf area, are not appropriate indicators of plant response to anthropogenic perturbations in grasslands.
EEA Santa Cruz
Fil: Firn, Jennifer L. Queensland University of Technology; Australia
Fil: McGree, James M. Queensland University of Technology; Australia
Fil: Harvey, Eric. Université de Montréal. Département de Sciences Biologiques; Canadá
Fil: Flores-Moreno, Habacuc. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior; Estados Unidos
Fil: Schütz, Martin. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research; Suiza
Fil: Buckley, Yvonne M. Trinity College Dublin. School of Natural Sciences, Zoology; Irlanda
Fil: Borer, Elizabeth T. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior; Estados Unidos
Fil: Seabloom, Eric William. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior; Estados Unidos
Fil: La Pierre, Kimberly J. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center; Estados Unidos
Fil: MacDougall, Andrew S. University of Guelph. Department of Integrative Biology; Canadá
Fil: Prober, Suzanne M. CSIRO Land and Water; Australia
Fil: Stevens, Carly J. Lancaster University. Lancaster Environment Centre; Reino Unido
Fil: Sullivan, Lauren L. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior; Estados Unidos
Fil: Porter, Erica. Queensland University of Technology; Australia
Fil: Ladouceur, Emma. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig; Alemania. Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research. Department of Physiological Diversity; Alemania
Fil: Allen, Charlotte. Queensland University of Technology; Australia
Fil: Moromizato, Karine H. Queensland University of Technology; Australia
Fil: Morgan, John W. La Trobe University. Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution; Australia
Fil: Harpole, William Stanley. Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung. Department of Physiological Diversity; Alemania. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research; Alemania. Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Institute of Biology; Alemania
Fil: Hautier, Yann. Utrecht University. Department of Biology. Ecology and Biodiversity Group; Holanda
Fil: Eisenhauer, Nico. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Alemania. Leipzig University. Institute of Biology; Alemania
Fil: Wright, Justin P. Duke University. Department of Biology; Estados Unidos
Fil: Adler, Peter B. Utah State University. Department of Wildland Resources/Ecology Center; Estados Unidos
Fil: Arnillas, Carlos Alberto. University of Toronto. Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences; Canadá
Fil: Bakker, Jonathan D. University of Washington. School of Environmental and Forest Sciences; Estados Unidos
Fil: Biederman, Lori. Iowa State University. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology; Estados Unidos
Fil: Broadbent, Arthur A.D. University of Manchester. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Michael Smith Building; Reino Unido
Fil: Brown, Cynthia S. Colorado State University. Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management; Estados Unidos
Fil: Bugalho, Miguel N. University of Lisbon. School of Agriculture. Centre for Applied Ecology (CEABN-InBIO); Portugal
Fil: Caldeira, Maria C. University of Lisbon. School of Agriculture. Forest Research Centre; Portugal
Fil: Cleland, Elsa E. University of California San Diego. Division of Biological Sciences; Estados Unidos
Fil: Ebeling, Anne. University of Jena. Institute of Ecology and Evolution; Alemania
Fil: Fay, Philip A. United States Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Research Service. Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory; Estados Unidos
Fil: Hagenah, Nicole. University of Pretoria. Department of Zoology and Entomology. Mammal Research Institute; Sudáfrica
Fil: Kleinhesselink, Andrew R. University of California, Los Angeles. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Estados Unidos
Fil: Mitchell, Rachel. Northern Arizona University. School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability; Estados Unidos
Fil: Moore, Joslin L. Monash University. School of Biological Sciences; Australia
Fil: Nogueira, Carla. University of Lisbon. School of Agriculture. Forest Research Centre; Portugal
Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Roscher, Christiane. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig; Alemania. Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research. Department of Physiological Diversity; Alemania
Fil: Smith, Melinda D. Colorado State University. Department of Biology. Graduate Degree Program in Ecology; Estados Unidos
Fil: Wragg, Peter D. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior; Estados Unidos
Fil: Risch, Anita C. Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research; Suiza