01961nas a2200265 4500008004100000245010500041210006900146300001500215490000800230520116100238653001801399653001601417653001401433653002201447653001701469100001401486700001601500700001801516700001601534700002401550700001901574700001901593700001701612856006601629 2012 eng d00aIncorporating clonal growth form clarifies the role of plant height in response to nitrogen addition0 aIncorporating clonal growth form clarifies the role of plant hei a1053 -10620 v1693 a
Nutrient addition to grasslands consistently causes species richness declines and productivity increases. Competition, particularly for light, is often assumed to produce this result. Using a long-term dataset from North American herbaceous plant communities, we tested whether height and clonal growth form together predict responses to fertilization because neither trait alone predicted species loss in a previous analysis. Species with a tall-runner growth form commonly increased in relative abundance in response to added nitrogen, while short species and those with a tall-clumped clonal growth form often decreased. The ability to increase in size via vegetative spread across space, while simultaneously occupying the canopy, conferred competitive advantage, although typically only the abundance of a single species within each height-clonal growth form significantly responded to fertilization in each experiment. Classifying species on the basis of two traits (height and clonal growth form) increases our ability to predict species responses to fertilization compared to either trait alone in predominantly herbaceous plant communities.
10aClonal growth10aCompetition10agrassland10aNitrogen addition10aproductivity1 aGough, L.1 aGross, K.L.1 aCleland, E.E.1 aClark, C.M.1 aCollins, Scott., L.1 aFargione, J.E.1 aPennings, S.C.1 aSuding, K.N. uhttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00442-012-2264-5