Abstract
Nitrogen (N) enrichment has been pinpointed as a main driver for biodiversity change. Most of our knowledge of effects of increased N availability on ecosystems comes from northern Europe and America. Most other ecosystem types have been neglected. Although Mediterranean ecosystems are N-limited biodiversity hotspots, very little is known about the effects of N enrichment in these systems. In contribution to filling this gap, our study examined the short-term effects of N enrichment in a N-manipulation (doses and forms) field study of a severely nutrient-limited Mediterranean ecosystem located in a Natura 2000 site in Portugal. N availability (dose and forms) was modified by the addition of 40 and 80 kg N ha−1 year−1 as NH4NO3 or 40 kg N as NH4 + ha−1 year−1 (control plots are not fertilized) since January 2007. The studied ecosystem was highly N responsive, i.e., visible changes were seen within one year of N additions: vascular plant and soil microbial diversity (soil bacteria and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal spores) increased. Also the N concentration in leaves and litter increased, while the carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio of leaves and litter decreased.
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through the project PTDC/BIA-BEC/099323/2008; Teresa Dias for her PhD grant BD/25382/2005 (FCT); We are grateful to the Arrábida Natural Park for making available the experimental site and allowing the N manipulation experiment and to COST 729 for supporting participation in Workshop on Nitrogen Deposition, Critical Loads and Biodiversity.
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Dias, T., Chaves, S., Tenreiro, R., Martins-Loução, MA., Sheppard, L., Cruz, C. (2014). Effects of Increased Nitrogen Availability in Mediterranean Ecosystems: A Case Study in a Natura 2000 Site in Portugal. In: Sutton, M., Mason, K., Sheppard, L., Sverdrup, H., Haeuber, R., Hicks, W. (eds) Nitrogen Deposition, Critical Loads and Biodiversity. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7939-6_27
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7939-6_27
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