Human activities have greatly increased the availability of biologically active forms of nutrients [e.g., nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg)] in many soil ecosystems worldwide. Multi\uffe2\uff80\uff90nutrient fertilization strongly increases plant productivity but may also alter the storage of carbon (C) in soil, which represents the largest terrestrial pool of organic C. Despite this issue is important from a global change perspective, key questions remain on how the single addition of N or the combination of N with other nutrients might affect C sequestration in human\uffe2\uff80\uff90managed soils. Here, we use a 19\uffe2\uff80\uff90year old nutrient addition experiment on a permanent grassland to test for nutrient\uffe2\uff80\uff90induced effects on soil C sequestration. We show that combined NPKMg additions to permanent grassland have \uffe2\uff80\uff98constrained\uffe2\uff80\uff99 soil C sequestration to levels similar to unfertilized plots whereas the single addition of N significantly enhanced soil C stocks (N\uffe2\uff80\uff90only fertilized soils store, on average, 11\uffc2\uffa0t C\uffc2\uffa0ha\uffe2\uff88\uff921 more than unfertilized soils). These results were consistent across grazing and liming treatments suggesting that whilst multi\uffe2\uff80\uff90nutrient additions increase plant productivity, soil C sequestration is increased by N\uffe2\uff80\uff90only additions. The positive N\uffe2\uff80\uff90only effect on soil C content was not related to changes in plant species diversity or to the functional composition of the plant community. N\uffe2\uff80\uff90only fertilized grasslands show, however, increases in total root mass and the accumulation of organic matter detritus in topsoils. Finally, soils receiving any N addition (N only or N in combination with other nutrients) were associated with high N losses. Overall, our results demonstrate that nutrient fertilization remains an important global change driver of ecosystem functioning, which can strongly affect the long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term sustainability of grassland soil ecosystems (e.g., soils ability to deliver multiple ecosystem services).
", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Carbon Sequestration", "root mass", "Nitrogen", "grasslands", "nitrogen losses", "Phosphorus", "nitrogen fertilization", "Biodiversity", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Plants", "15. Life on land", "Plant Roots", "6. Clean water", "Soil", "England", "nutrient addition", "13. Climate action", "Potassium", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Seasons", "plant productivity", "ecosystem services", "Ecosystem"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12323"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Global%20Change%20Biology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/gcb.12323", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/gcb.12323", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/gcb.12323"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2013-10-10T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5061/dryad.20qv5", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-04T16:21:51Z", "type": "Dataset", "title": "Data from: Canopy soil greenhouse gas dynamics in response to indirect fertilization across an elevation gradient of tropical montane forests", "description": "unspecifiedCanopy soils can significantly contribute to aboveground labile biomass, especially in tropical montane forests. Whether they also contribute to the exchange of greenhouse gases is unknown. To examine the importance of canopy soils to tropical forest-soil greenhouse gas exchange, we quantified gas fluxes from canopy soil cores along an elevation gradient with 4 yr of nutrient addition to the forest floor. Canopy soil contributed 5\u201312 percent of combined (canopy + forest floor) soil CO2 emissions but CH4 and N2O fluxes were low. At 2000 m, phosphorus decreased CO2 emissions (>40%) and nitrogen slightly increased CH4 uptake and N2O emissions. Our results show that canopy soils may contribute significantly to combined soil greenhouse gas fluxes in montane regions with high accumulations of canopy soil. We also show that changes in fluxes could occur with chronic nutrient deposition.", "keywords": ["canopy organic matter", "CH4", "Carbon dioxide", "nitrous oxide", "13. Climate action", "nutrient addition", "N2O", "CO2", "15. Life on land", "Methane", "12. Responsible consumption"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Matson, Amanda L., Corre, Marife D., Veldkamp, Edzo,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.20qv5"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.20qv5", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.20qv5", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.20qv5"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2016-10-10T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.5061/dryad.n3s2m", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-04T16:21:59Z", "type": "Dataset", "created": "2025-10-02", "title": "Data from: Urban trees reduce nutrient leaching to groundwater", "description": "unspecifiedMany urban waterways suffer from excess nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) feeding algal blooms, which cause lower water clarity and oxygen levels, bad odor and taste, and the loss of desirable species. Nutrient movement from land to water is likely to be influenced by urban vegetation, but there are few empirical studies addressing this. In this study, we examined whether or not urban trees can reduce nutrient leaching to groundwater, an important nutrient export pathway that has received less attention than stormwater. We characterized leaching beneath thirty-three trees of fourteen species, and seven open turfgrass areas, across three city parks in Saint Paul, Minnesota. We installed lysimeters at 60 cm depth to collect soil water approximately biweekly from July 2011 through October 2013, except during winter and drought periods, measured dissolved organic carbon (C), N, and P in soil water, and modeled water fluxes using the BROOK90 hydrologic model. We also measured soil nutrient pools (bulk C and N, KCl-extractable inorganic N, Brays-P), tree tissue nutrient concentrations (C, N, and P of green leaves, leaf litter, and roots), and canopy size parameters (leaf biomass, leaf area index) to explore correlations with nutrient leaching. Trees had similar or lower N leaching than turfgrass in 2012 but higher N leaching in 2013; trees reduced P leaching compared with turfgrass in both 2012 and 2013, with lower leaching under deciduous than evergreen trees. Scaling up our measurements to an urban subwatershed of the Mississippi River (~17,400 ha, containing roughly 1.5 million trees), we estimated that trees reduced P leaching to groundwater by 533 kg in 2012 (0.031 kg/ha or 3.1 kg/km2) and 1201 kg in 2013 (0.069 kg/ha or 6.9 kg/km2). Removing these same amounts of P using stormwater infrastructure would cost $2.2 million and $5.0 million per year (2012 and 2013 removal amounts, respectively).", "keywords": ["13. Climate action", "nutrient pollution", "plant traits", "11. Sustainability", "Anthropocene", "groundwater", "nutrient leaching", "Phosphorus", "15. Life on land", "urban trees", "Urban ecosystems", "6. Clean water"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Nidzgorski, Daniel A., Hobbie, Sarah E.,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.n3s2m"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.5061/dryad.n3s2m", "name": "item", "description": "10.5061/dryad.n3s2m", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.5061/dryad.n3s2m"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2016-04-05T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "3089242097", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-04-04T16:26:40Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2020-09-22", "title": "Background insect herbivory increases with local elevation but makes minor contribution to element cycling along natural gradients in the Subarctic", "description": "AbstractHerbivores can exert major controls over biogeochemical cycling. As invertebrates are highly sensitive to temperature shifts (ectothermal), the abundances of insects in high\uffe2\uff80\uff90latitude systems, where climate warming is rapid, is expected to increase. In subarctic mountain birch forests, research has focussed on geometrid moth outbreaks, while the contribution of background insect herbivory (BIH) to elemental cycling is poorly constrained. In northern Sweden, we estimated BIH along 9 elevational gradients distributed across a gradient in regional elevation, temperature, and precipitation to allow evaluation of consistency in local versus regional variation. We converted foliar loss via BIH to fluxes of C, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) from the birch canopy to the soil to compare with other relevant soil inputs of the same elements and assessed different abiotic and biotic drivers of the observed variability. We found that leaf area loss due to BIH was ~1.6% on average. This is comparable to estimates from tundra, but considerably lower than ecosystems at lower latitudes. The C, N, and P fluxes from canopy to soil associated with BIH were 1\uffe2\uff80\uff932 orders of magnitude lower than the soil input from senesced litter and external nutrient sources such as biological N fixation, atmospheric deposition of N, and P weathering estimated from the literature. Despite the minor contribution to overall elemental cycling in subarctic birch forests, the higher quality and earlier timing of the input of herbivore deposits to soils compared to senesced litter may make this contribution disproportionally important for various ecosystem functions. BIH increased significantly with leaf N content as well as local elevation along each transect, yet showed no significant relationship with temperature or humidity, nor the commonly used temperature proxy, absolute elevation. The lack of consistency between the local and regional elevational trends calls for caution when using elevation gradients as climate proxies.Herbivores can exert major controls over biogeochemical cycling. As invertebrates are highly sensitive to temperature shifts (ectothermal), the abundances of insects in high\uffe2\uff80\uff90latitude systems, where climate warming is rapid, is expected to increase. In subarctic mountain birch forests, research has focussed on geometrid moth outbreaks, while the contribution of background insect herbivory (BIH) to elemental cycling is poorly constrained. In northern Sweden, we estimated BIH along 9 elevational gradients distributed across a gradient in regional elevation, temperature, and precipitation to allow evaluation of consistency in local versus regional variation. We converted foliar loss via BIH to fluxes of C, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) from the birch canopy to the soil to compare with other relevant soil inputs of the same elements and assessed different abiotic and biotic drivers of the observed variability. We found that leaf area loss due to BIH was ~1.6% on average. This is comparable to estimates from tundra, but considerably lower than ecosystems at lower latitudes. The C, N, and P fluxes from canopy to soil associated with BIH were 1\uffe2\uff80\uff932 orders of magnitude lower than the soil input from senesced litter and external nutrient sources such as biological N fixation, atmospheric deposition of N, and P weathering estimated from the literature. Despite the minor contribution to overall elemental cycling in subarctic birch forests, the higher quality and earlier timing of the input of herbivore deposits to soils compared to senesced litter may make this contribution disproportionally important for various ecosystem functions. BIH increased significantly with leaf N content as well as local elevation along each transect, yet showed no significant relationship with temperature or humidity, nor the commonly used temperature proxy, absolute elevation. The lack of consistency between the local and regional elevational trends calls for caution when using elevation gradients as climate proxies.