Long-term nutrient enrichment differentially affects investment in sexual reproduction in four boreal forest understory species
Dates
Year
2013
Citation
Grainger, Tess Nahanni, and Turkington, Roy, 2013, Long-term nutrient enrichment differentially affects investment in sexual reproduction in four boreal forest understory species: Plant Ecology, v. 214, no. 8, p. 1017-1026.
Summary
The combustion of fossil fuels and associated warmer temperatures are causing a global increase in the availability of soil nutrients such as nitrogen. This will have pronounced effects on plants at northern latitudes that are adapted to low nutrient conditions. An experiment in northern Canada set up in 1990 has investigated the effects of long-term nutrient enrichment (fertilizer addition) and mammalian herbivore exclusion (fencing) on an understory plant community. We used this experiment to assess how 22 years of fertilization has affected investment in sexual reproduction in four herbaceous understory species. We measured reproductive output at the plot level (proportion of plants flowering) for four species (Mertensia paniculata, [...]
Summary
The combustion of fossil fuels and associated warmer temperatures are causing a global increase in the availability of soil nutrients such as nitrogen. This will have pronounced effects on plants at northern latitudes that are adapted to low nutrient conditions. An experiment in northern Canada set up in 1990 has investigated the effects of long-term nutrient enrichment (fertilizer addition) and mammalian herbivore exclusion (fencing) on an understory plant community. We used this experiment to assess how 22 years of fertilization has affected investment in sexual reproduction in four herbaceous understory species. We measured reproductive output at the plot level (proportion of plants flowering) for four species (Mertensia paniculata, Epilobium angustifolium, Achillea millefolium and Festuca altaica) and at the individual plant level (biomass allocation to flower parts) for M. paniculata and E. angustifolium. Fertilization increased the probability of flowering for A. millefolium and resulted in a higher allocation of biomass to flower parts for E. angustifolium. Sexual reproduction in M. paniculata and F. altaica was largely unaffected by increased nutrient supply, and, as expected, herbivore exclusion had almost no effect on any species. Whereas plants in northern ecosystems currently reproduce mainly through clonal growth, rapidly changing environmental conditions and warmer temperatures will likely result in increased benefits of sexual reproduction. This could give a competitive advantage to species such as A. millefolium and E. angustifolium that increase investment in sexual reproduction when released from nutrient limitation.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
