A new study published in PNAS, led by the United States Department of Agriculture and involving several researchers from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and Leipzig University, investigated how the relationship between mean annual precipitation (MAP) and grassland biomass changes when one or more nutrients are added.
A new study published in PNAS, led by the United States Department of Agriculture and involving several researchers from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and Leipzig University, investigated how the relationship between mean annual precipitation (MAP) and grassland biomass changes when one or more nutrients are added. The authors show that precipitation and nutrient availability are the key drivers of plant biomass, while the effects of plant diversity are minimal.
Global changes in precipitation are putting ecosystems around the world to the test: while MAP is increasing in some regions, it is decreasing in others. At the same time, many ecosystems are being exposed – both intentionally and unintentionally – to increasing amounts of nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. This may result from agricultural practices like land use and fertilisation, or from urban runoff, which includes wastewater, entering nearby waterways. Both factors – precipitation and nutrients – directly affect plant biomass production.
The study found that plant biomass is closely related to mean annual precipitation in grasslands. On average, plant biomass increases with higher MAP, but other factors come into play as well, such as nutrient availability.
Read more at: German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research
NutNet side at the Jena Experiment in Germany (Photo Credit: Christiane Roscher)
