Grassland Management Affects Plant Leaf Nutrients Under Ambient and Future Climate
ABSTRACT Climate change and agronomic management are major drivers altering Central European anthropogenic grassland ecosystems, but little is known about how these drivers interact in their effects on plant nutrient concentrations and ratios. This study was conducted in a climate change field exper...
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Wiley
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71615 |
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| author | Yva Herion Lena Philipp Nele Detjen Petra Hoffmann W. Stanley Harpole Janna Macholdt Thomas Reitz Christiane Roscher |
| author_facet | Yva Herion Lena Philipp Nele Detjen Petra Hoffmann W. Stanley Harpole Janna Macholdt Thomas Reitz Christiane Roscher |
| author_sort | Yva Herion |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Climate change and agronomic management are major drivers altering Central European anthropogenic grassland ecosystems, but little is known about how these drivers interact in their effects on plant nutrient concentrations and ratios. This study was conducted in a climate change field experiment (higher temperature and changed seasonal precipitation pattern) in Central Germany with species‐rich non‐fertilized grasslands managed either by two times mowing (meadow) or three times sheep grazing (pasture) per year. In spring 2022, during peak plant growth, we collected leaves of five plant species per functional group (grasses, legumes, non‐legume forbs) as well as topsoil samples and determined plant leaf and plant available soil nutrient concentrations (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S) and ratios. Plant functional groups differed in leaf concentrations of all studied nutrients with the exception of sulfur. The future climate treatment (compared to ambient climate) resulted in lower leaf N:P ratios across both management types and did not show any other effects on leaf or soil nutrients. Independent of the climate treatment, leaf and soil K concentrations were higher, while leaf Ca concentrations were lower in pastures compared to meadows. In addition, grasses had higher leaf N, legumes higher leaf S concentrations but lower leaf N:P ratios, and forbs lower leaf S concentrations in pastures than in meadows. While we found no interactive effect of climate and management and little effects of the rather moderate future climate treatment, the observed differences between pastures and meadows indicate that management, even at low intensity, modifies plant and soil nutrients in grasslands. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-46286ce96b854a7b92cbd8da03a961ec |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj-art-46286ce96b854a7b92cbd8da03a961ec2025-08-20T03:08:40ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582025-07-01157n/an/a10.1002/ece3.71615Grassland Management Affects Plant Leaf Nutrients Under Ambient and Future ClimateYva Herion0Lena Philipp1Nele Detjen2Petra Hoffmann3W. Stanley Harpole4Janna Macholdt5Thomas Reitz6Christiane Roscher7Department of Physiological Diversity Helmholtz‐Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) Leipzig GermanyDepartment of Soil Ecology Helmholtz‐Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) Halle (Saale) GermanyDepartment of Agronomy and Organic Farming Martin Luther University Halle‐Wittenberg (MLU) Halle (Saale) GermanyDepartment of Physiological Diversity Helmholtz‐Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) Leipzig GermanyDepartment of Physiological Diversity Helmholtz‐Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) Leipzig GermanyDepartment of Agronomy and Organic Farming Martin Luther University Halle‐Wittenberg (MLU) Halle (Saale) GermanyGerman Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle‐Jena‐Leipzig Leipzig GermanyDepartment of Physiological Diversity Helmholtz‐Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) Leipzig GermanyABSTRACT Climate change and agronomic management are major drivers altering Central European anthropogenic grassland ecosystems, but little is known about how these drivers interact in their effects on plant nutrient concentrations and ratios. This study was conducted in a climate change field experiment (higher temperature and changed seasonal precipitation pattern) in Central Germany with species‐rich non‐fertilized grasslands managed either by two times mowing (meadow) or three times sheep grazing (pasture) per year. In spring 2022, during peak plant growth, we collected leaves of five plant species per functional group (grasses, legumes, non‐legume forbs) as well as topsoil samples and determined plant leaf and plant available soil nutrient concentrations (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S) and ratios. Plant functional groups differed in leaf concentrations of all studied nutrients with the exception of sulfur. The future climate treatment (compared to ambient climate) resulted in lower leaf N:P ratios across both management types and did not show any other effects on leaf or soil nutrients. Independent of the climate treatment, leaf and soil K concentrations were higher, while leaf Ca concentrations were lower in pastures compared to meadows. In addition, grasses had higher leaf N, legumes higher leaf S concentrations but lower leaf N:P ratios, and forbs lower leaf S concentrations in pastures than in meadows. While we found no interactive effect of climate and management and little effects of the rather moderate future climate treatment, the observed differences between pastures and meadows indicate that management, even at low intensity, modifies plant and soil nutrients in grasslands.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71615macronutrientsmeadowpastureplant functional groupseasonal precipitation pattern |
| spellingShingle | Yva Herion Lena Philipp Nele Detjen Petra Hoffmann W. Stanley Harpole Janna Macholdt Thomas Reitz Christiane Roscher Grassland Management Affects Plant Leaf Nutrients Under Ambient and Future Climate Ecology and Evolution macronutrients meadow pasture plant functional group seasonal precipitation pattern |
| title | Grassland Management Affects Plant Leaf Nutrients Under Ambient and Future Climate |
| title_full | Grassland Management Affects Plant Leaf Nutrients Under Ambient and Future Climate |
| title_fullStr | Grassland Management Affects Plant Leaf Nutrients Under Ambient and Future Climate |
| title_full_unstemmed | Grassland Management Affects Plant Leaf Nutrients Under Ambient and Future Climate |
| title_short | Grassland Management Affects Plant Leaf Nutrients Under Ambient and Future Climate |
| title_sort | grassland management affects plant leaf nutrients under ambient and future climate |
| topic | macronutrients meadow pasture plant functional group seasonal precipitation pattern |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71615 |
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