Large herbivores act as a major driver of plant litter decomposition in grasslands. The modifications of soil biotic and abiotic properties, as well as the changes in quality (C/N ratio) of plant litter, are two key pathways by which large herbivores can affect litter decomposition. Yet we know little about the relative role of these two mechanisms in mediating decomposition. Here, by combining a large-scale and a small-scale field manipulative experiment, we examined how livestock (cattle and sheep) grazing affects standing litter decomposition of a dominant grass,Leymus chinensisin grasslands in northeast China. We found that livestock grazing affected litter decay rate both by its influences on soil property (soil moisture, nutrient content, and microbial communities) and on plant litter quality (C/N ratio). Due to their distinct body size and diet preference, cattle and sheep affected soil property and litter quality, thus litter decay rate, differently by causing varying disturbance regimes and by feeding on different dominant species. Our study provides evidence that herbivore grazing can influence litter decomposition by modifying soil conditions and litter quality independently. Therefore, choosing the proper large herbivore(s) in grazing regimes may be important in maintaining nutrient cycling in grassland ecosystems.
", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "China", "Sheep", "Biodiversity", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Grassland", "01 natural sciences", "Article", "Soil", "Animals", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Cattle", "Herbivory", "Soil Microbiology"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-26835-1"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Scientific%20Reports", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1038/s41598-018-26835-1", "name": "item", "description": "10.1038/s41598-018-26835-1", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1038/s41598-018-26835-1"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2018-06-14T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1073/pnas.1217382110", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:18:44Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2013-04-02", "title": "Plant Diversity Effects On Soil Food Webs Are Stronger Than Those Of Elevated Co2 And N Deposition In A Long-Term Grassland Experiment", "description": "Recent metaanalyses suggest biodiversity loss affects the functioning of ecosystems to a similar extent as other global environmental change agents. However, the abundance and functioning of soil organisms have been hypothesized to be much less responsive to such changes, particularly in plant diversity, than aboveground variables, although tests of this hypothesis are extremely rare. We examined the responses of soil food webs (soil microorganisms, nematodes, microarthropods) to 13-y manipulation of multiple environmental factors that are changing at global scales\uffe2\uff80\uff94specifically plant species richness, atmospheric CO 2 , and N deposition\uffe2\uff80\uff94in a grassland experiment in Minnesota. Plant diversity was a strong driver of the structure and functioning of soil food webs through several bottom-up (resource control) effects, whereas CO 2 and N only had modest effects. We found few interactions between plant diversity and CO 2 and N, likely because of weak interactive effects of those factors on resource availability (e.g., root biomass). Plant diversity effects likely were large because high plant diversity promoted the accumulation of soil organic matter in the site\uffe2\uff80\uff99s sandy, organic matter\uffe2\uff80\uff93poor soils. Plant diversity effects were not explained by the presence of certain plant functional groups. Our results underline the prime importance of plant diversity loss cascading to soil food webs (density and diversity of soil organisms) and functions. Because the present results suggest prevailing plant diversity effects and few interactions with other global change drivers, protecting plant diversity may be of high priority to maintain the biodiversity and functioning of soils in a changing world.
", "keywords": ["580", "2. Zero hunger", "0301 basic medicine", "Food Chain", "Nitrogen", "Climate Change", "Minnesota", "Biodiversity", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Carbon Dioxide", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "13. Climate action", "XXXXXX - Unknown", "Linear Models", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Biomass"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1217382110"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Proceedings%20of%20the%20National%20Academy%20of%20Sciences", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1073/pnas.1217382110", "name": "item", "description": "10.1073/pnas.1217382110", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1073/pnas.1217382110"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2013-04-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1073/pnas.1320585111", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:18:44Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2014-08-19", "title": "Effect Of Woody-Plant Encroachment On Livestock Production In North And South America", "description": "SignificanceGrasslands all over the world are undergoing a rapid shift from herbaceous to woody-plant dominance, a phenomenon known as woody-plant encroachment. The impact of this global phenomenon on livestock production (LP), the main ecosystem service provided by grasslands, remains largely unexplored. We quantified, for the first time, the impact of woody-plant encroachment on LP at a large scale, finding a reduction of between 0.6 and 1.6 reproductive cows per square kilometer for each 1% increase in tree cover. By comparing the largest rangelands of the Americas (United States and Argentina), we also showed how the impact of woody-plant encroachment is mediated by social\uffe2\uff80\uff93economic factors. Our paper represents a significant advance in our understanding of grasslands as complex social\uffe2\uff80\uff93ecological systems.
", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "Conservation of Natural Resources", "Livestock", "Climate", "Argentina", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "01 natural sciences", "333", "United States", "Trees", "13. Climate action", "Animals", "Cattle", "Ecosystem", "Environmental Monitoring", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1320585111"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Proceedings%20of%20the%20National%20Academy%20of%20Sciences", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1073/pnas.1320585111", "name": "item", "description": "10.1073/pnas.1320585111", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1073/pnas.1320585111"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2014-08-18T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/gcb.14839", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Closed Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:22Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2019-09-13", "title": "Multiple trade-offs regulate the effects of woody plant removal on biodiversity and ecosystem functions in global rangelands", "description": "AbstractWoody plant encroachment is a major land management issue. Woody removal often aims to restore the original grassy ecosystem, but few studies have assessed the role of woody removal on ecosystem functions and biodiversity at global scales. We collected data from 140 global studies and evaluated how different woody plant removal methods affected biodiversity (plant and animal diversity) and ecosystem functions (plant production, hydrological function, soil carbon) across global rangelands. Our results indicate that the impact of removal is strongly context dependent, varying with the specific response variable, removal method, and traits of the target species. Over all treatments, woody plant removal increased grass biomass and total groundstorey diversity. Physical and chemical removal methods increased grass biomass and total groundstorey biomass (i.e., non\uffe2\uff80\uff90woody plants, including grass biomass), but burning reduced animal diversity. The impact of different treatment methods declined with time since removal, particularly for total groundstorey biomass. Removing pyramid\uffe2\uff80\uff90shaped woody plants increased total groundstorey biomass and hydrological function but reduced total groundstorey diversity. Environmental context (e.g., aridity and soil texture) indirectly controlled the effect of removal on biomass and biodiversity by influencing plant traits such as plant shape, allelopathic, or roots types. Our study demonstrates that a one\uffe2\uff80\uff90size\uffe2\uff80\uff90fits\uffe2\uff80\uff90all approach to woody plant removal is not appropriate, and that consideration of woody plant identity, removal method, and environmental context is critical for optimizing removal outcomes. Applying this knowledge is fundamental for maintaining diverse and functional rangeland ecosystems as we move toward a drier and more variable climate.
", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "0106 biological sciences", "Rangeland management", "Biodiversity", "Plants", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Wood", "01 natural sciences", "Encroachment", "", "Removal method", "raits", "Woody plant traits", "Shrub removal", "13. Climate action", "XXXXXX - Unknown", "Meta\u2010analysis", "Animals", "Thickening", "Biomass", "Global synthesis", "Ecosystem"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14839"}, {"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.14839", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/gcb.14839", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/gcb.14839"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2019-10-06T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1093/jxb/err133", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:03Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2011-05-18", "title": "Interactive Effects Of Elevated Co2, Warming, And Drought On Photosynthesis Of Deschampsia Flexuosa In A Temperate Heath Ecosystem", "description": "Global change factors affect plant carbon uptake in concert. In order to investigate the response directions and potential interactive effects, and to understand the underlying mechanisms, multifactor experiments are needed. The focus of this study was on the photosynthetic response to elevated CO(2) [CO2; free air CO(2) enrichment (FACE)], drought (D; water-excluding curtains), and night-time warming (T; infrared-reflective curtains) in a temperate heath. A/C(i) curves were measured, allowing analysis of light-saturated net photosynthesis (P(n)), light- and CO(2)-saturated net photosynthesis (P(max)), stomatal conductance (g(s)), the maximal rate of Rubisco carboxylation (V(cmax)), and the maximal rate of ribulose bisphosphate (RuBP) regeneration (J(max)) along with leaf \u03b4(13)C, and carbon and nitrogen concentration on a monthly basis in the grass Deschampsia flexuosa. Seasonal drought reduced P(n) via g(s), but severe (experimental) drought decreased P(n) via a reduction in photosynthetic capacity (P(max), J(max), and V(cmax)). The effects were completely reversed by rewetting and stimulated P(n) via photosynthetic capacity stimulation. Warming increased early and late season P(n) via higher P(max) and J(max). Elevated CO(2) did not decrease g(s), but stimulated P(n) via increased C(i). The T\u00d7CO2 synergistically increased plant carbon uptake via photosynthetic capacity up-regulation in early season and by better access to water after rewetting. The effects of the combination of drought and elevated CO(2) depended on soil water availability, with additive effects when the soil water content was low and D\u00d7CO2 synergistic stimulation of P(n) after rewetting. The photosynthetic responses appeared to be highly influenced by growth pattern. The grass has opportunistic water consumption, and a biphasic growth pattern allowing for leaf dieback at low soil water availability followed by rapid re-growth of active leaves when rewetted and possibly a large resource allocation capability mediated by the rhizome. This growth characteristic allowed for the photosynthetic capacity up-regulations that mediated the T\u00d7CO2 and D\u00d7CO2 synergistic effects on photosynthesis. These are clearly advantageous characteristics when exposed to climate changes. In conclusion, after 1 year of experimentation, the limitations by low soil water availability and stimulation in early and late season by warming clearly structure and interact with the photosynthetic response to elevated CO(2) in this grassland species.", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "Carbon Isotopes", "0303 health sciences", "Light", "Nitrogen", "Rain", "Temperature", "Water", "Carbon Dioxide", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Research Papers", "Carbon", "6. Clean water", "Droughts", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "13. Climate action", "Plant Stomata", "Regression Analysis", "Seasons", "Photosynthesis", "Ecosystem"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/err133"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Journal%20of%20Experimental%20Botany", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1093/jxb/err133", "name": "item", "description": "10.1093/jxb/err133", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1093/jxb/err133"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2011-05-16T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1098/rstb.2012.0102", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:07Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2012-10-08", "title": "Impact Of Grazing Intensity On Seasonal Variations In Soil Organic Carbon And Soil Co2 Efflux In Two Semiarid Grasslands In Southern Botswana", "description": "Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are an important source of organic carbon, and affect a range of ecosystem functions in arid and semiarid environments. Yet the impact of grazing disturbance on crust properties and soil CO 2 efflux remain poorly studied, particularly in African ecosystems. The effects of burial under wind-blown sand, disaggregation and removal of BSCs on seasonal variations in soil CO 2 efflux, soil organic carbon, chlorophyll a and scytonemin were investigated at two sites in the Kalahari of southern Botswana. Field experiments were employed to isolate CO 2 efflux originating from BSCs in order to estimate the C exchange within the crust. Organic carbon was not evenly distributed through the soil profile but concentrated in the BSC. Soil CO 2 efflux was higher in Kalahari Sand than in calcrete soils, but rates varied significantly with seasonal changes in moisture and temperature. BSCs at both sites were a small net sink of C to the soil. Soil CO 2 efflux was significantly higher in sand soils where the BSC was removed, and on calcrete where the BSC was buried under sand. The BSC removal and burial under sand also significantly reduced chlorophyll a , organic carbon and scytonemin . Disaggregation of the soil crust, however, led to increases in chlorophyll a and organic carbon. The data confirm the importance of BSCs for C cycling in drylands and indicate intensive grazing, which destroys BSCs through trampling and burial, will adversely affect C sequestration and storage. Managed grazing, where soil surfaces are only lightly disturbed, would help maintain a positive carbon balance in African drylands.
", "keywords": ["Chlorophyll", "2. Zero hunger", "Conservation of Natural Resources", "Botswana", "Indoles", "Chlorophyll A", "Temperature", "Water", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Carbon Dioxide", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Carbon", "Fires", "Carbon Cycle", "Soil", "Phenols", "13. Climate action", "Animals", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Herbivory", "Seasons", "Desert Climate", "Ecosystem", "Soil Microbiology"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Andrew D. Thomas", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0102"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Philosophical%20Transactions%20of%20the%20Royal%20Society%20B%3A%20Biological%20Sciences", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1098/rstb.2012.0102", "name": "item", "description": "10.1098/rstb.2012.0102", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1098/rstb.2012.0102"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2012-11-19T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/1574-6941.12197", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:16Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2013-08-31", "title": "Bacterial Community In Alpine Grasslands Along An Altitudinal Gradient On The Tibetan Plateau", "description": "The Tibetan Plateau, 'the third pole', is a region that is very sensitive to climate change. A better understanding of response of soil microorganisms to climate warming is important to predict soil organic matter preservation in future scenario. We selected a typically altitudinal gradient (4400 m-5200 m a.s.l) along south-facing slope of Nyainqentanglha Mountains on central Tibetan Plateau. Bacterial communities were investigated using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (T-RFLP) combined with sequencing methods. Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria were dominant bacteria in this alpine soil. Redundancy analysis revealed that soil bacterial communities were significantly different along the large altitudinal gradient, although the dominant environmental driving factors varied at different soil depth. Specifically, our results showed that precipitation and soil NH4 + were dominant environmental factors that influence bacterial communities at 0-5 cm depth along the altitudinal gradients, whereas pH was a major influential factor at 5-20 cm soil. In this semi-arid region, precipitation rather than temperature was a main driving force on soil bacterial communities as well as on plant communities. We speculate that an increase in temperature might not significantly change soil bacterial community structures along the large altitudinal gradient, whereas precipitation change would play a more important role in affecting soil bacterial communities.", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "0303 health sciences", "Bacteria", "Altitude", "Climate", "Molecular Sequence Data", "Temperature", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Tibet", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "13. Climate action", "11. Sustainability", "Ecosystem", "Phylogeny", "Soil Microbiology"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Tianxiang Luo, Yanli Yuan, Gengxin Zhang, Jian Wang, Guicai Si,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/1574-6941.12197"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/FEMS%20Microbiology%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/1574-6941.12197", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/1574-6941.12197", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/1574-6941.12197"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2013-09-30T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/1758-2229.12049", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Closed Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:16Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2013-03-14", "title": "Soil Phosphorus Depletion And Shifts In Plant Communities Change Bacterial Community Structure In A Long-Term Grassland Management Trial", "description": "SummaryAgricultural systems rely on healthy soils and their sustainability requires understanding the long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term impacts of agricultural practices on soils, including microbial communities. We examined the impact of 17 years of land management on soil bacterial communities in a New Zealand randomized\uffe2\uff80\uff90block pasture trial. Significant variation in bacterial community structure related to mowing and plant biomass removal, while nitrogen fertilizer had no effect. Changes in soil chemistry and legume abundance described 52% of the observed variation in the bacterial community structure. Legumes (Trifolium species) were absent in unmanaged plots but increased in abundance with management intensity; 11% of the variation in soil bacterial community structure was attributed to this shift in the plant community. Olsen P explained 10% of the observed heterogeneity, which is likely due to persistent biomass removal resulting in P limitation; Olsen P was significantly lower in plots with biomass removed (14\uffe2\uff80\uff89mg kg\uffe2\uff88\uff921\uffe2\uff80\uff89\uffc2\uffb1\uffe2\uff80\uff891.3SE) compared with plots that were not mown, or where biomass was left after mowing (32\uffe2\uff80\uff89mg kg\uffe2\uff88\uff921\uffe2\uff80\uff89\uffc2\uffb1\uffe2\uff80\uff891.6SE). Our results suggest that removal of plant biomass and associated phosphorus, as well as shifts in the plant community, have greater long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term impacts on soil bacterial community structure than application of nitrogen fertilizers.
", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "0301 basic medicine", "0303 health sciences", "Bacteria", "Nitrogen", "Microbial Consortia", "Population Dynamics", "Agriculture", "Fabaceae", "Phosphorus", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "Biomass", "Fertilizers", "Ecosystem", "Soil Microbiology", "New Zealand"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.12049"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Environmental%20Microbiology%20Reports", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/1758-2229.12049", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/1758-2229.12049", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/1758-2229.12049"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2013-04-10T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/gcb.12144", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Closed Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:20Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2013-01-20", "title": "Effects of grazing on grassland soil carbon: a global review", "description": "AbstractSoils of grasslands represent a large potential reservoir for storingCO2, but this potential likely depends on how grasslands are managed for large mammal grazing. Previous studies found both strong positive and negative grazing effects on soil organic carbon (SOC) but explanations for this variation are poorly developed. Expanding on previous reviews, we performed a multifactorial meta\uffe2\uff80\uff90analysis of grazer effects onSOCdensity on 47 independent experimental contrasts from 17 studies. We explicitly tested hypotheses that grazer effects would shift from negative to positive with decreasing precipitation, increasing fineness of soil texture, transition from dominant grass species with C3to C4photosynthesis, and decreasing grazing intensity, after controlling for study duration and sampling depth. The six variables of soil texture, precipitation, grass type, grazing intensity, study duration, and sampling depth explained 85% of a large variation (\uffc2\uffb1150\uffc2\uffa0g\uffc2\uffa0m\uffe2\uff88\uff922\uffc2\uffa0yr\uffe2\uff88\uff921) in grazing effects, and the best model included significant interactions between precipitation and soil texture (P\uffc2\uffa0=\uffc2\uffa00.002), grass type, and grazing intensity (P\uffc2\uffa0=\uffc2\uffa00.012), and study duration and soil sampling depth (P\uffc2\uffa0=\uffc2\uffa00.020). Specifically, an increase in mean annual precipitation of 600\uffc2\uffa0mm resulted in a 24%decreasein grazer effect size on finer textured soils, while on sandy soils the same increase in precipitation produced a 22%increasein grazer effect onSOC. Increasing grazing intensity increasedSOCby 6\uffe2\uff80\uff937% on C4\uffe2\uff80\uff90dominated and C4\uffe2\uff80\uff93C3mixed grasslands, but decreasedSOCby an average 18% in C3\uffe2\uff80\uff90dominated grasslands. We discovered these patterns despite a lack of studies in natural, wildlife\uffe2\uff80\uff90dominated ecosystems, and tropical grasslands. Our results, which suggest a future focus on why C3vs. C4\uffe2\uff80\uff90dominated grasslands differ so strongly in their response ofSOCto grazing, show that grazer effects onSOCare highly context\uffe2\uff80\uff90specific and imply that grazers in different regions might be managed differently to help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.
", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Soil", "Food Chain", "Livestock", "Animals", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Feeding Behavior", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Carbon", "Ecosystem"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Megan E. McSherry, Mark E. Ritchie,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12144"}, {"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.12144", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/gcb.12144", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/gcb.12144"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2013-02-26T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/gcb.12238", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Closed Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:20Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2013-04-30", "title": "Winter Climate Change Effects On Soil C And N Cycles In Urban Grasslands", "description": "AbstractDespite growing recognition of the role that cities have in global biogeochemical cycles, urban systems are among the least understood of all ecosystems. Urban grasslands are expanding rapidly along with urbanization, which is expected to increase at unprecedented rates in upcoming decades. The large and increasing area of urban grasslands and their impact on water and air quality justify the need for a better understanding of their biogeochemical cycles. There is also great uncertainty about the effect that climate change, especially changes in winter snow cover, will have on nutrient cycles in urban grasslands. We aimed to evaluate how reduced snow accumulation directly affects winter soil frost dynamics, and indirectly greenhouse gas fluxes and the processing of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) during the subsequent growing season in northern urban grasslands. Both artificial and natural snow reduction increased winter soil frost, affecting winter microbial C and N processing, accelerating C and N cycles and increasing soil\uffc2\uffa0:\uffc2\uffa0atmosphere greenhouse gas exchange during the subsequent growing season. With lower snow accumulations that are predicted with climate change, we found decreases in N retention in these ecosystems, and increases inN2OandCO2flux to the atmosphere, significantly increasing the global warming potential of urban grasslands. Our results suggest that the environmental impacts of these rapidly expanding ecosystems are likely to increase as climate change brings milder winters and more extensive soil frost.
", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Nitrogen", "Climate Change", "Urbanization", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Carbon", "Soil", "13. Climate action", "11. Sustainability", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Seasons", "Ecosystem"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12238"}, {"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.12238", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/gcb.12238", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/gcb.12238"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2013-05-29T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/gcb.12517", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Closed Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:20Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2014-01-03", "title": "Effects Of Straw Carbon Input On Carbon Dynamics In Agricultural Soils: A Meta-Analysis", "description": "AbstractStraw return has been widely recommended as an environmentally friendly practice to manage carbon (C) sequestration in agricultural ecosystems. However, the overall trend and magnitude of changes in soil C in response to straw return remain uncertain. In this meta\uffe2\uff80\uff90analysis, we calculated the response ratios of soil organic C (SOC) concentrations, greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission, nutrient contents and other important soil properties to straw addition in 176 published field studies. Our results indicated that straw return significantly increased SOC concentration by 12.8\uffc2\uffa0\uffc2\uffb1\uffc2\uffa00.4% on average, with a 27.4\uffc2\uffa0\uffc2\uffb1\uffc2\uffa01.4% to 56.6\uffc2\uffa0\uffc2\uffb1\uffc2\uffa01.8% increase in soil active C fraction. CO2 emission increased in both upland (27.8\uffc2\uffa0\uffc2\uffb1\uffc2\uffa02.0%) and paddy systems (51.0\uffc2\uffa0\uffc2\uffb1\uffc2\uffa02.0%), while CH4 emission increased by 110.7\uffc2\uffa0\uffc2\uffb1\uffc2\uffa01.2% only in rice paddies. N2O emission has declined by 15.2\uffc2\uffa0\uffc2\uffb1\uffc2\uffa01.1% in paddy soils but increased by 8.3\uffc2\uffa0\uffc2\uffb1\uffc2\uffa02.5% in upland soils. Responses of macro\uffe2\uff80\uff90aggregates and crop yield to straw return showed positively linear with increasing SOC concentration. Straw\uffe2\uff80\uff90C input rate and clay content significantly affected the response of SOC. A significant positive relationship was found between annual SOC sequestered and duration, suggesting that soil C saturation would occur after 12\uffc2\uffa0years under straw return. Overall, straw return was an effective means to improve SOC accumulation, soil quality, and crop yield. Straw return\uffe2\uff80\uff90induced improvement of soil nutrient availability may favor crop growth, which can in turn increase ecosystem C input. Meanwhile, the analysis on net global warming potential (GWP) balance suggested that straw return increased C sink in upland soils but increased C source in paddy soils due to enhanced CH4 emission. Our meta\uffe2\uff80\uff90analysis suggested that future agro\uffe2\uff80\uff90ecosystem models and cropland management should differentiate the effects of straw return on ecosystem C budget in upland and paddy soils.
", "keywords": ["Greenhouse Effect", "2. Zero hunger", "Air Pollutants", "Carbon Sequestration", "Agriculture", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Carbon", "Soil", "13. Climate action", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Gases", "Ecosystem"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12517"}, {"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.12517", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/gcb.12517", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/gcb.12517"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2014-02-13T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/gcb.12576", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Closed Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:20Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2014-03-14", "title": "Soil carbon stock change following afforestation in Northern Europe: a meta-analysis", "description": "AbstractNorthern Europe supports large soil organic carbon (SOC) pools and has been subjected to high frequency of land\uffe2\uff80\uff90use changes during the past decades. However, this region has not been well represented in previous large\uffe2\uff80\uff90scale syntheses of land\uffe2\uff80\uff90use change effects onSOC, especially regarding effects of afforestation. Therefore, we conducted a meta\uffe2\uff80\uff90analysis ofSOCstock change following afforestation in Northern Europe. Response ratios were calculated for forest floors and mineral soils (0\uffe2\uff80\uff9310\uffc2\uffa0cm and 0\uffe2\uff80\uff9320/30\uffc2\uffa0cm layers) based on paired control (former land use) and afforested plots. We analyzed the influence of forest age, former land\uffe2\uff80\uff90use, forest type, and soil textural class. Three major improvements were incorporated in the meta\uffe2\uff80\uff90analysis: analysis of major interaction groups, evaluation of the influence of nonindependence between samples according to study design, and mass correction. Former land use was a major factor contributing to changes inSOCafter afforestation. In former croplands,SOCchange differed between soil layers and was significantly positive (20%) in the 0\uffe2\uff80\uff9310\uffc2\uffa0cm layer. Afforestation of former grasslands had a small negative (nonsignificant) effect indicating limitedSOCchange following this land\uffe2\uff80\uff90use change within the region. Forest floors enhanced the positive effects of afforestation onSOC, especially with conifers. Meta\uffe2\uff80\uff90estimates calculated for the periods <30\uffc2\uffa0years and >30\uffc2\uffa0years since afforestation revealed a shift from initial loss to later gain ofSOC. The interaction group analysis indicated that meta\uffe2\uff80\uff90estimates in former land\uffe2\uff80\uff90use, forest type, and soil textural class alone were either offset or enhanced when confounding effects among variable classes were considered. Furthermore, effect sizes were slightly overestimated if sample dependence was not accounted for and if no mass correction was performed. We conclude that significantSOCsequestration in Northern Europe occurs after afforestation of croplands and not grasslands, and changes are small within a 30\uffe2\uff80\uff90year perspective.
", "keywords": ["Crops", " Agricultural", "0106 biological sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "Carbon Sequestration", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "01 natural sciences", "Carbon", "Trees", "Europe", "Soil", "13. Climate action", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12576"}, {"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.12576", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/gcb.12576", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/gcb.12576"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2014-05-02T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/gcb.13111", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Closed Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:21Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2015-10-01", "title": "Shifting Grassland Plant Community Structure Drives Positive Interactive Effects Of Warming And Diversity On Aboveground Net Primary Productivity", "description": "AbstractEcosystems worldwide are increasingly impacted by multiple drivers of environmental change, including climate warming and loss of biodiversity. We show, using a long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term factorial experiment, that plant diversity loss alters the effects of warming on productivity. Aboveground primary productivity was increased by both high plant diversity and warming, and, in concert, warming (\uffe2\uff89\uff881.5\uffc2\uffa0\uffc2\uffb0C average above and belowground warming over the growing season) and diversity caused a greater than additive increase in aboveground productivity. The aboveground warming effects increased over time, particularly at higher levels of diversity, perhaps because of warming\uffe2\uff80\uff90induced increases in legume and C4 bunch grass abundances, and facilitative feedbacks of these species on productivity. Moreover, higher plant diversity was associated with the amelioration of warming\uffe2\uff80\uff90induced environmental conditions. This led to cooler temperatures, decreased vapor pressure deficit, and increased surface soil moisture in higher diversity communities. Root biomass (0\uffe2\uff80\uff9330\uffc2\uffa0cm) was likewise consistently greater at higher plant diversity and was greater with warming in monocultures and at intermediate diversity, but at high diversity warming had no detectable effect. This may be because warming increased the abundance of legumes, which have lower root\uffc2\uffa0:\uffc2\uffa0shoot ratios than the other types of plants. In addition, legumes increase soil nitrogen (N) supply, which could make N less limiting to other species and potentially decrease their investment in roots. The negative warming\uffc2\uffa0\uffc3\uff97\uffc2\uffa0diversity interaction on root mass led to an overall negative interactive effect of these two global change factors on the sum of above and belowground biomass, and thus likely on total plant carbon stores. In total, plant diversity increased the effect of warming on aboveground net productivity and moderated the effect on root mass. These divergent effects suggest that warming and changes in plant diversity are likely to have both interactive and divergent impacts on various aspects of ecosystem functioning.
", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "0106 biological sciences", "Climate Change", "Water", "Fabaceae", "Biodiversity", "Plant Components", " Aerial", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Grassland", "Plant Roots", "01 natural sciences", "Soil", "13. Climate action", "11. Sustainability", "Biomass", "Seasons"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13111"}, {"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.13111", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/gcb.13111", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/gcb.13111"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2016-01-06T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/gcb.13431", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:21Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2016-07-14", "title": "Grazing intensity significantly affects belowground carbon and nitrogen cycling in grassland ecosystems: a meta-analysis", "description": "AbstractLivestock grazing activities potentially alter ecosystem carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles in grassland ecosystems. Despite the fact that numerous individual studies and a few meta\uffe2\uff80\uff90analyses had been conducted, how grazing, especially its intensity, affects belowground C and N cycling in grasslands remains unclear. In this study, we performed a comprehensive meta\uffe2\uff80\uff90analysis of 115 published studies to examine the responses of 19 variables associated with belowground C and N cycling to livestock grazing in global grasslands. Our results showed that, on average, grazing significantly decreased belowground C and N pools in grassland ecosystems, with the largest decreases in microbial biomass C and N (21.62% and 24.40%, respectively). In contrast, belowground fluxes, including soil respiration, soil net N mineralization and soil N nitrification increased by 4.25%, 34.67% and 25.87%, respectively, in grazed grasslands compared to ungrazed ones. More importantly, grazing intensity significantly affected the magnitude (even direction) of changes in the majority of the assessed belowground C and N pools and fluxes, and C\uffc2\uffa0:\uffc2\uffa0N ratio as well as soil moisture. Specifically,light grazing contributed to soil C and N sequestration whereas moderate and heavy grazing significantly increased C and N losses. In addition, soil depth, livestock type and climatic conditions influenced the responses of selected variables to livestock grazing to some degree. Our findings highlight the importance of the effects of grazing intensity on belowground C and N cycling, which may need to be incorporated into regional and global models for predicting effects of human disturbance on global grasslands and assessing the climate\uffe2\uff80\uff90biosphere feedbacks.
", "keywords": ["Carbon sequestration", "Mineralization", "Livestock", "Nitrogen", "Soil microbial biomass", "Poaceae", "333", "Carbon Cycle", "Soil", "Animals", "mineralization", "Herbivory", "FoR 06 (Biological Sciences)", "Ecosystem", "2. Zero hunger", "Science & Technology", "Ecology", "050205 Environmental Management", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Nitrogen Cycle", "15. Life on land", "carbon sequestration", "Grassland", "soil microbial biomass", "Carbon", "Environmental sciences", "Biological sciences", "Heavy grazing", "13. Climate action", "heavy grazing", "CO2 emission", "Biodiversity Conservation", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "FoR 05 (Environmental Sciences)", "Life Sciences & Biomedicine"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13431"}, {"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.13431", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/gcb.13431", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/gcb.13431"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2016-09-22T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/gcb.13827", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Restricted", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:21Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2017-07-20", "title": "What plant functional traits can reduce nitrous oxide emissions from intensively managed grasslands?", "description": "AbstractPlant species exert a dominant control over the nitrogen (N) cycle of natural and managed grasslands. Although in intensively managed systems that receive large external N inputs the emission of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) is a crucial component of this cycle, a mechanistic relationship between plant species and N2O emissions has not yet been established. Here we use a plant functional trait approach to study the relation between plant species strategies and N2O emissions from soils. Compared to species with conservative strategies, species with acquisitive strategies have higher N uptake when there is ample N in the soil, but also trigger N mineralization when soil N is limiting. Therefore, we hypothesized that (1) compared to conservative species, species with acquisitive traits reduce N2O emissions after a high N addition; and (2) species with conservative traits have lower N2O emissions than acquisitive plants if there is no high N addition. This was tested in a greenhouse experiment using monocultures of six grass species with differing above\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and below\uffe2\uff80\uff90ground traits, growing across a gradient of soil N availability. We found that acquisitive species reduced N2O emissions at all levels of N availability, produced higher biomass and showed larger N uptake. As such, acquisitive species had 87% lower N2O emissions per unit of N uptake than conservative species (p\uffc2\uffa0<\uffc2\uffa0.05). Structural equation\uffc2\uffa0modelling revealed that specific leaf area and root length density were key traits regulating the effects of plants on N2O emission and biomass productivity. These results provide the first framework to understand the mechanisms through which plants modulate N2O emissions, pointing the way to develop productive grasslands that contribute optimally to climate change mitigation.
", "keywords": ["Plant traits", "2. Zero hunger", "Air Pollutants", "Nitrous oxide", "Nitrogen", "Climate Change", "Nitrous Oxide", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Plants", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Grassland", "Soil", "Species Specificity", "13. Climate action", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Biomass", "Fertilizers", "Plant-microbe interactions", "Functional traits"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.13827"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13827"}, {"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.13827", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/gcb.13827", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/gcb.13827"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2017-08-17T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02058.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:31Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2009-09-07", "title": "Maintenance Of Leaf N Controls The Photosynthetic Co2 Response Of Grassland Species Exposed To 9 Years Of Free-Air Co2 Enrichment", "description": "AbstractDetermining underlying physiological patterns governing plant productivity and diversity in grasslands are critical to evaluate species responses to future environmental conditions of elevated CO2 and nitrogen (N) deposition. In a 9\uffe2\uff80\uff90year experiment, N was added to monocultures of seven C3 grassland species exposed to elevated atmospheric CO2 (560\uffe2\uff80\uff83\uffce\uffbcmol\uffe2\uff80\uff83CO2\uffe2\uff80\uff83mol\uffe2\uff88\uff921) to evaluate how N addition affects CO2 responsiveness in species of contrasting functional groups. Functional groups differed in their responses to elevated CO2 and N treatments. Forb species exhibited strong down\uffe2\uff80\uff90regulation of leaf Nmass concentrations (\uffe2\uff88\uff9226%) and photosynthetic capacity (\uffe2\uff88\uff9228%) in response to elevated CO2, especially at high N supply, whereas C3 grasses did not. Hence, achieved photosynthetic performance was markedly enhanced for C3 grasses (+68%) in elevated CO2, but not significantly for forbs. Differences in access to soil resources between forbs and grasses may distinguish their responses to elevated CO2 and N addition. Forbs had lesser root biomass, a lower distribution of biomass to roots, and lower specific root length than grasses. Maintenance of leaf N, possibly through increased root foraging in this nutrient\uffe2\uff80\uff90poor grassland, was necessary to sustain stimulation of photosynthesis under long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term elevated CO2. Dilution of leaf N and associated photosynthetic down\uffe2\uff80\uff90regulation in forbs under elevated [CO2], relative to the C3 grasses, illustrates the potential for shifts in species composition and diversity in grassland ecosystems that have significant forb and grass components.
", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "Nitrogen", "Science", "Ecology and Evolutionary Biology", "Poaceae C3 grass species", "carbon dioxide enrichment", "01 natural sciences", "nitrogen", "C 3 Grass Species", "FACE", "carbon cycle", "Species Functional Groups", "nitrogen cycle", "Free-air CO 2", "Carboxylation Rate", "Photosynthesis", "2. Zero hunger", "photosynthesis", "species diversity", "Geology and Earth Sciences", "carbon dioxide", "Carboxylation rate", "15. Life on land", "Species functional groups", "grasses", "Free-air CO2", "Keywords: angiosperm", "grassland"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/63064/5/Crous-etal_GCB2009-doi-online.pdf.jpg"}, {"href": "https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/63064/7/01_Crous_Maintenance_of_leaf_N_controls_2009.pdf.jpg"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02058.x"}, {"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/j.1365-2486.2009.02058.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02058.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.02058.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2010-06-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1365-3040.2010.02254.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:34Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2010-11-10", "title": "Effect Of Soil Acidity, Soil Strength And Macropores On Root Growth And Morphology Of Perennial Grass Species Differing In Acid-Soil Resistance", "description": "ABSTRACTIt is unclear whether roots of acid\uffe2\uff80\uff90soil resistant plants have significant advantages, compared with acid\uffe2\uff80\uff90soil sensitive genotypes, when growing in high\uffe2\uff80\uff90strength, acid soils or in acid soils where macropores may allow the effects of soil acidity and strength to be avoided. The responses of root growth and morphology to soil acidity, soil strength and macropores by seedlings of five perennial grass genotypes differing in acid\uffe2\uff80\uff90soil resistance were determined, and the interaction of soil acidity and strength for growth and morphology of roots was investigated. Soil acidity and strength altered root length and architecture, root hair development, and deformed the root tip, especially in acid\uffe2\uff80\uff90soil sensitive genotypes. Root length was restricted to some extent by soil acidity in all genotypes, but the adverse impact of soil acidity on root growth by acid\uffe2\uff80\uff90soil resistant genotypes was greater at high levels of soil strength. Roots reacted to soil acidity when growing in macropores, but elongation through high\uffe2\uff80\uff90strength soil was improved. Soil strength can confound the effect of acidity on root growth, with the sensitivity of acid\uffe2\uff80\uff90resistant genotypes being greater in high\uffe2\uff80\uff90strength soils. This highlights the need to select for genotypes that resist both acidity and high soil strength.
", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "0106 biological sciences", "0301 basic medicine", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "Genotype", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "01 natural sciences", "Acids", "Plant Roots"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3040.2010.02254.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Plant%2C%20Cell%20%26amp%3B%20Environment", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1365-3040.2010.02254.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1365-3040.2010.02254.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1365-3040.2010.02254.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2010-12-22T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2006.01732.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:36Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2006-04-25", "title": "Antecedent Moisture And Seasonal Precipitation Influence The Response Of Canopy-Scale Carbon And Water Exchange To Rainfall Pulses In A Semi-Arid Grassland", "description": "The influences of prior monsoon-season drought (PMSD) and the seasonal timing of episodic rainfall ('pulses') on carbon and water exchange in water-limited ecosystems are poorly quantified. *In the present study, we estimated net ecosystem exchange of CO(2) (NEE) and evapotranspiration (ET) before, and for 15 d following, experimental irrigation in a semi-arid grassland during June and August 2003. Rainout shelters near Tucson, Arizona, USA, were positioned on contrasting soils (clay and sand) and planted with native (Heteropogon contortus) or non-native invasive (Eragrostis lehmanniana) C4 bunchgrasses. Plots received increased ('wet') or decreased ('dry') monsoon-season (July-September) rainfall during 2002 and 2003. Following a June 2003 39-mm pulse, species treatments had similar NEE and ET dynamics including 15-d integrated NEE (NEE(pulse)). Contrary to predictions, PMSD increased net C uptake during June in plots of both species. Greater flux rates after an August 2003 39-mm pulse reflected biotic activity associated with the North American Monsoon. Furthermore, August NEE(pulse) and ecosystem pulse-use efficiency (PUE(e) = NEE(pulse)/ET(pulse)) was greatest in Heteropogon plots. PMSD and rainfall seasonal timing may interact with bunchgrass invasions to alter NEE and ET dynamics with consequences for PUE(e) in water-limited ecosystems.", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "Climate", "Rain", "Arizona", "Water", "Plant Transpiration", "Carbon Dioxide", "Eragrostis", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "01 natural sciences", "Carbon", "6. Clean water", "13. Climate action", "Data Interpretation", " Statistical", "Seasons", "Ecosystem", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2006.01732.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/New%20Phytologist", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2006.01732.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2006.01732.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2006.01732.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2006-04-25T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02122.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Closed Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:37Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2007-06-07", "title": "How Do Climate Warming And Species Richness Affect Co2 Fluxes In Experimental Grasslands?", "description": "This paper presents the results of 2 yr of CO(2) flux measurements on grassland communities of varying species richness, exposed to either the current or a warmer climate. We grew experimental plant communities containing one, three or nine grassland species in 12 sunlit, climate-controlled chambers. Half of these chambers were exposed to ambient air temperatures, while the other half were warmed by 3 degrees C. Equal amounts of water were added to heated and unheated communities, implying drier soils if warming increased evapotranspiration. Three main CO(2) fluxes (gross photosynthesis, above-ground and below-ground respiration) were measured multiple times per year and reconstructed hourly or half-hourly by relating them to their most important environmental driver. While CO(2) outputs through respiration were largely unchanged under warming, CO(2) inputs through photosynthesis were lowered, especially in summer, when heat and drought stress were higher. Above-ground CO(2) fluxes were significantly increased in multispecies communities, as more complementary resource use stimulated productivity. Finally, effects of warming appeared to be smallest in monocultures. This study shows that in a future warmer climate the CO(2) sink capacity of temperate grasslands could decline, and that such adverse effects are not likely to be mitigated by efforts to maintain or increase species richness.", "keywords": ["Greenhouse Effect", "0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "0303 health sciences", "Climate", "Water", "Biodiversity", "Carbon Dioxide", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "13. Climate action", "Seasons", "14. Life underwater", "Ecosystem"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02122.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/New%20Phytologist", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02122.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02122.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02122.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2007-06-07T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02643.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:37Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2008-10-09", "title": "Precipitation Timing And Magnitude Differentially Affect Aboveground Annual Net Primary Productivity In Three Perennial Species In A Chihuahuan Desert Grassland", "description": "DOI:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02695.xCommentary p 5
", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "aboveground annual net primary productivity (ANPP)", "desert grasslands", "Rain", "global climate change", "Chihuahuan desert", "Opuntia", "precipitation", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Adaptation", " Physiological", "Texas", "01 natural sciences", "Soil", "XXXXXX - Unknown", "Liliaceae", "Biomass", "Desert Climate"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02643.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/New%20Phytologist", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02643.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02643.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02643.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2008-12-03T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02054.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Closed Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:36Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2007-03-26", "title": "Irrigation And Enhanced Soil Carbon Input Effects On Below-Ground Carbon Cycling In Semiarid Temperate Grasslands", "description": "Global climate change is generally expected to increase net primary production, resulting in increased soil carbon (C) inputs. To gain an understanding of how such increased soil C inputs would affect C cycling in the vast grasslands of northern China, we conducted a field experiment in which the responses of plant and microbial biomass and respiration were studied. Our experiment included the below-ground addition of particulate organic matter (POM) at rates equivalent to 0, 60, 120 and 240 g C m(-2), under either natural precipitation or under enhanced precipitation during the summer period (as predicted for that region in recent simulations using general circulation models). We observed that addition of POM had a large effect on soil microbial biomass and activity and that a major part of the added C was rapidly lost from the system. This suggests that microbial activity in the vast temperate grassland ecosystems of northern China is energy-limited. Moreover, POM addition (and the associated nutrient release) affected plant growth much more than the additional water input. Although we performed no direct fertilization experiments, the response of plant productivity to POM addition (and associated release of nutrients) leads us to believe that plant productivity in the semiarid grassland ecosystems of northern China is primarily limited by nutrients and not by water.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "China", "Altitude", "Climate", "Temperature", "Water", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Carbon", "Kinetics", "Soil", "13. Climate action", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Desert Climate", "Ecosystem"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02054.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/New%20Phytologist", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02054.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02054.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02054.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2007-03-26T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02309.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Closed Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:37Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2008-02-06", "title": "Recurrent Soil Freeze-Thaw Cycles Enhance Grassland Productivity", "description": "Ongoing global warming will increase the frequency of soil freeze-thaw cycles (FTCs) in cool-temperate and other high-latitude regions. The spatial relevance of seasonally frozen ground amounts to c. 55% of the total land area of the northern hemisphere. Evidence suggests that FTCs contribute to nutrient dynamics. Knowledge of their effects on plant communities is scarce, although plants may be the decisive factor in controlling ecosystem functions such as nutrient retention. Here, the effects are analysed of five additional FTCs in winter for the above- and below-ground productivity of experimental grassland communities and soil enzymatic activity over the following growing season. Freeze-thaw cycles increased the above-ground productivity but reduced root length over the whole subsequent growing season. In summer, no changes in soil enzymatic activities representing the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles were observed in the FTC-manipulated plots, except for an increased cellobiohydrolase activity. Changes in productivity resulting in an increased shoot-to-root ratio and shifts in timing are capable of altering ecosystem stability and ecosystem services, such as productivity and nutrient retention.", "keywords": ["Greenhouse Effect", "2. Zero hunger", "Time Factors", "Reproduction", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Plant Roots", "above-ground net primary productivity (ANPP); central Europe; climate change; EVENT-experiment; freeze\u2013thaw cycles; root length; soil enzymatic activity", "Soil", "13. Climate action", "Freezing", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Ecosystem", "Plant Shoots"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02309.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/New%20Phytologist", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02309.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02309.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2007.02309.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2007-12-07T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03293.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Closed Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:37Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2010-05-10", "title": "Contrasting Effects Of Elevated Co2 And Warming On Nitrogen Cycling In A Semiarid Grassland", "description": "*Simulation models indicate that the nitrogen (N) cycle plays a key role in how other ecosystem processes such as plant productivity and carbon (C) sequestration respond to elevated CO(2) and warming. However, combined effects of elevated CO(2) and warming on N cycling have rarely been tested in the field. *Here, we studied N cycling under ambient and elevated CO(2) concentrations (600 micromol mol(-1)), and ambient and elevated temperature (1.5 : 3.0 degrees C warmer day:night) in a full factorial semiarid grassland field experiment in Wyoming, USA. We measured soil inorganic N, plant and microbial N pool sizes and NO(3)(-) uptake (using a (15)N tracer). *Soil inorganic N significantly decreased under elevated CO(2), probably because of increased microbial N immobilization, while soil inorganic N and plant N pool sizes significantly increased with warming, probably because of increased N supply. We observed no CO(2 )x warming interaction effects on soil inorganic N, N pool sizes or NO(3)(-) uptake in plants and microbes. *Our results indicate a more closed N cycle under elevated CO(2) and a more open N cycle with warming, which could affect long-term N retention, plant productivity, and C sequestration in this semiarid grassland.", "keywords": ["580", "2. Zero hunger", "Bacteria", "Nitrogen Isotopes", "Nitrogen", "Temperature", "Water", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Carbon Dioxide", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Global Warming", "Plant Roots", "Soil", "13. Climate action", "Isotope Labeling", "XXXXXX - Unknown", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Biomass", "Desert Climate", "Plant Shoots"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03293.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/New%20Phytologist", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03293.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03293.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03293.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2010-05-10T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03776.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:37Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2011-06-08", "title": "Seven Years Of Carbon Dioxide Enrichment, Nitrogen Fertilization And Plant Diversity Influence Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi In A Grassland Ecosystem", "description": "\u2022 We tested the prediction that the abundance and diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are influenced by resource availability and plant community composition by examining the joint effects of carbon dioxide (CO(2) ) enrichment, nitrogen (N) fertilization and plant diversity on AM fungi. \u2022 We quantified AM fungal spores and extramatrical hyphae in 176 plots after 7 yr of treatment with all combinations of ambient or elevated CO(2) (368 or 560 ppm), with or without N fertilization (0 or 4 g Nm(-2) ), and one (monoculture) or 16 host plant species (polyculture) in the BioCON field experiment at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, Minnesota, USA. \u2022 Extramatrical hyphal lengths were increased by CO(2) enrichment, whereas AM spore abundance decreased with N fertilization. Spore abundance, morphotype richness and extramatrical hyphal lengths were all greater in monoculture plots. A structural equation model showed AM fungal biovolume was most influenced by CO(2) enrichment, plant community composition and plant richness, whereas spore richness was most influenced by fungal biovolume, plant community composition and plant richness. \u2022 Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi responded to differences in host community and resource availability, suggesting that mycorrhizal functions, such as carbon sequestration and soil stability, will be affected by global change.", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "Nitrogen", "Minnesota", "Hyphae", "Poaceae", "Models", " Biological", "01 natural sciences", "nitrogen", "Soil", "Mycorrhizae", "Biomass", "Fertilizers", "Ecosystem", "Soil Microbiology", "vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizas", "580", "2. Zero hunger", "grassland ecology", "grasslands", "carbon dioxide", "Biodiversity", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Carbon Dioxide", "Spores", " Fungal", "15. Life on land", "plant diversity", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Plant Shoots"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03776.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/New%20Phytologist", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03776.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03776.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03776.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2011-06-08T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.01032.x", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:40Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2011-01-11", "title": "Fungal And Bacterial Growth Responses To N Fertilization And Ph In The 150-Year 'Park Grass' Uk Grassland Experiment", "description": "The effects of nitrogen (N) fertilization (0-150 kg N ha\u207b\u00b9 year\u207b\u00b9 since 1865) and pH (3.3-7.4) on fungal and bacterial growth, biomass and phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) composition were investigated in grassland soils from the 'Park Grass Experiment', Rothamsted Research, UK. Bacterial growth decreased and fungal growth increased with lower pH, resulting in a 50-fold increase in the relative importance of fungi between pH 7.4 and 3.3. The PLFA-based fungal:bacterial biomass ratio was unchanged between pH 4.5 and 7.4, and decreased only below pH 4.5. Respiration and substrate-induced respiration biomass both decreased three- to fourfold with lower pH, but biomass concentrations estimated using PLFAs were unaffected by pH. N fertilization did not affect bacterial growth and marginally affected fungal growth while PLFA biomass marker concentrations were all reduced by higher N additions. Respiration decreased with higher N application, suggesting a reduced quality of the soil organic carbon. The PLFA composition was strongly affected by both pH and N. A comparison with a pH gradient in arable soil allowed us to generalize the pH effect between systems. There are 30-50-fold increases in the relative importance of fungi between high (7.4-8.3) and low (3.3-4.5) pH with concomitant reductions of respiration by 30-70%.", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "0303 health sciences", "Bacteria", "Nitrogen", "Fatty Acids", "Fungi", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Carbon Dioxide", "Hydrogen-Ion Concentration", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Microbiology", "United Kingdom", "03 medical and health sciences", "Soil", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Biomass", "Fertilizers", "Phospholipids", "Soil Microbiology"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.01032.x"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/FEMS%20Microbiology%20Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.01032.x", "name": "item", "description": "10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.01032.x", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2010.01032.x"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2011-01-17T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1126/science.1071148", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:49Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2002-07-27", "title": "Soil Fertility And Biodiversity In Organic Farming", "description": "An understanding of agroecosystems is key to determining effective farming systems. Here we report results from a 21-year study of agronomic and ecological performance of biodynamic, bioorganic, and conventional farming systems in Central Europe. We found crop yields to be 20% lower in the organic systems, although input of fertilizer and energy was reduced by 34 to 53% and pesticide input by 97%. Enhanced soil fertility and higher biodiversity found in organic plots may render these systems less dependent on external inputs.
", "keywords": ["Crops", " Agricultural", "2. Zero hunger", "Nutrient turnover", "Agriculture", "Phosphorus", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Hydrogen-Ion Concentration", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Soil quality", "Manure", "Soil", "Soil biology", "Biodiversity and ecosystem services", "Animals", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Biomass", "Pesticides", "Fertilizers", "Arthropods", "Ecosystem", "Soil Microbiology", "Switzerland", "Triticum", "Solanum tuberosum"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1071148"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Science", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1126/science.1071148", "name": "item", "description": "10.1126/science.1071148", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1126/science.1071148"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2002-05-31T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1126/science.1075312", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "unspecified", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:19:49Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2002-12-05", "title": "Grassland Responses To Global Environmental Changes Suppressed By Elevated Co2", "description": "Simulated global changes, including warming, increased precipitation, and nitrogen deposition, alone and in concert, increased net primary production (NPP) in the third year of ecosystem-scale manipulations in a California annual grassland. Elevated carbon dioxide also increased NPP, but only as a single-factor treatment. Across all multifactor manipulations, elevated carbon dioxide suppressed root allocation, decreasing the positive effects of increased temperature, precipitation, and nitrogen deposition on NPP. The NPP responses to interacting global changes differed greatly from simple combinations of single-factor responses. These findings indicate the importance of a multifactor experimental approach to understanding ecosystem responses to global change.
", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "0301 basic medicine", "Atmosphere", "Climate", "Temperature", "Carbon Dioxide", "Environment", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "01 natural sciences", "California", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "13. Climate action", "Biomass", "Weather", "Ecosystem", "Geraniaceae"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Christopher B. Field, Erika S. Zavaleta, Erika S. Zavaleta, Nona R. Chiariello, Harold A. Mooney, Elsa E. Cleland, Elsa E. Cleland, M. Rebecca Shaw,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1075312"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Science", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1126/science.1075312", "name": "item", "description": "10.1126/science.1075312", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1126/science.1075312"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2002-12-06T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.13287/j.1001-9332.201710.003", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "unspecified", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:05Z", "type": "Journal Article", "description": "Relying on a long term field manipulated grazing experiment of typical grassland in Inner Mongolia, China, we investigated the responses of soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, extractable carbon and nitrogen, and microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen to livestock grazing and grass mo-wing. The results showed that grazing decreased extractable organic carbon by 11.4%-37.1%, while mowing increased extractable organic carbon by 5.8%. Grazing and mowing increased extrac table nitrogen by 10%-340% and 10%-240%, respectively. Grazing intensity less than 6.0 sheep\u00b7hm-2 favored the maintenance of microbial biomass carbon, and heavy grazing intensity, i.e. , 7.5 and 9.0 sheep\u00b7hm-2, decreased microbial biomass carbon. Mowing consistently increased microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen by 31.0% and 9.8%, respectively. Path analysis showed that soil organic carbon, extractable total nitrogen and total nitrogen were the dominant controls of microbial biomass carbon with soil organic carbon and total extractable nitrogen as the direct influencing factors. Soil pH, extractable organic carbon, soil organic carbon and total extractable nitrogen were the dominant controls of microbial biomass nitrogen with soil organic carbon and total extractable nitrogen as the direct factors. Mowing, light grazing and moderate grazing were beneficial to maintaining or improving soil function, and heavy grazing would cause soil degradation.", "keywords": ["China", "Soil", "Nitrogen", "Animals", "Biomass", "Poaceae", "Grassland", "Carbon"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Shuang Pang, Xiu Jia, Ji Rong Cao, Sha Sha Dun,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.13287/j.1001-9332.201710.003"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ying%20yong%20sheng%20tai%20xue%20bao%20%3D%20The%20journal%20of%20applied%20ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.13287/j.1001-9332.201710.003", "name": "item", "description": "10.13287/j.1001-9332.201710.003", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.13287/j.1001-9332.201710.003"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2017-10-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0047369", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:06Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2012-10-12", "title": "Long-Term Nitrogen Addition Leads To Loss Of Species Richness Due To Litter Accumulation And Soil Acidification In A Temperate Steppe", "description": "Although community structure and species richness are known to respond to nitrogen fertilization dramatically, little is known about the mechanisms underlying specific species replacement and richness loss. In an experiment in semiarid temperate steppe of China, manipulative N addition with five treatments was conducted to evaluate the effect of N addition on the community structure and species richness.Species richness and biomass of community in each plot were investigated in a randomly selected quadrat. Root element, available and total phosphorus (AP, TP) in rhizospheric soil, and soil moisture, pH, AP, TP and inorganic N in the soil were measured. The relationship between species richness and the measured factors was analyzed using bivariate correlations and stepwise multiple linear regressions. The two dominant species, a shrub Artemisia frigida and a grass Stipa krylovii, responded differently to N addition such that the former was gradually replaced by the latter. S. krylovii and A. frigida had highly-branched fibrous and un-branched tap root systems, respectively. S. krylovii had higher height than A. frigida in both control and N added plots. These differences may contribute to the observed species replacement. In addition, the analysis on root element and AP contents in rhizospheric soil suggests that different calcium acquisition strategies, and phosphorus and sodium responses of the two species may account for the replacement. Species richness was significantly reduced along the five N addition levels. Our results revealed a significant relationship between species richness and soil pH, litter amount, soil moisture, AP concentration and inorganic N concentration.Our results indicate that litter accumulation and soil acidification accounted for 52.3% and 43.3% of the variation in species richness, respectively. These findings would advance our knowledge on the changes in species richness in semiarid temperate steppe of northern China under N deposition scenario.", "keywords": ["0301 basic medicine", "2. Zero hunger", "China", "0303 health sciences", "Nitrogen", "Science", "Q", "R", "Temperature", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Plant Roots", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "Medicine", "Humans", "Biomass", "14. Life underwater", "Desert Climate", "Acids", "Ecosystem", "Research Article"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Wen-Hao Zhang, Wenming Bai, Linghao Li, Ying Fang, Fen Xun,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0047369"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/PLoS%20ONE", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0047369", "name": "item", "description": "10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0047369", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0047369"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2012-10-12T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0053761", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:06Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2013-01-14", "title": "Warming Rather Than Increased Precipitation Increases Soil Recalcitrant Organic Carbon In A Semiarid Grassland After 6 Years Of Treatments", "description": "Improved understanding of changes in soil recalcitrant organic carbon (C) in response to global warming is critical for predicting changes in soil organic C (SOC) storage. Here, we took advantage of a long-term field experiment with increased temperature and precipitation to investigate the effects of warming, increased precipitation and their interactions on SOC fraction in a semiarid Inner Mongolian grassland of northern China since April 2005. We quantified labile SOC, recalcitrant SOC and stable SOC at 0-10 and 10-20 cm depths. Results showed that neither warming nor increased precipitation affected total SOC and stable SOC at either depth. Increased precipitation significantly increased labile SOC at the 0-10 cm depth. Warming decreased labile SOC (P\u200a=\u200a0.038) and marginally but significantly increased recalcitrant SOC at the 10-20 cm depth (P\u200a=\u200a0.082). In addition, there were significant interactive effects of warming and increased precipitation on labile SOC and recalcitrant SOC at the 0-10 cm depth (both P<0.05), indicating that that results from single factor experiments should be treated with caution because of multi-factor interactions. Given that the absolute increase of SOC in the recalcitrant SOC pool was much greater than the decrease in labile SOC, and that the mean residence time of recalcitrant SOC is much greater, our results suggest that soil C storage at 10-20 cm depth may increase with increasing temperature in this semiarid grassland.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Time Factors", "Nitrogen", "Science", "Rain", "Q", "R", "Temperature", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Carbon", "Droughts", "Soil", "Soil biology", "13. Climate action", "Medicine", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Biomass", "Organic Chemicals", "Soil Microbiology", "Research Article"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0053761"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/PLoS%20ONE", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0053761", "name": "item", "description": "10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0053761", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0053761"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2013-01-14T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0077241", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:06Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2013-10-11", "title": "Enhancement Of Carbon Sequestration In Soil In The Temperature Grasslands Of Northern China By Addition Of Nitrogen And Phosphorus", "description": "Increased nitrogen (N) deposition is common worldwide. Questions of where, how, and if reactive N-input influences soil carbon (C) sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems are of great concern. To explore the potential for soil C sequestration in steppe region under N and phosphorus (P) addition, we conducted a field experiment between 2006 and 2012 in the temperate grasslands of northern China. The experiment examined 6 levels of N (0-56 g N m(-2) yr(-1)), 6 levels of P (0-12.4 g P m(-2) yr(-1)), and a control scenario. Our results showed that addition of both N and P enhanced soil total C storage in grasslands due to significant increases of C input from litter and roots. Compared with control plots, soil organic carbon (SOC) in the 0-100 cm soil layer varied quadratically, from 156.8 to 1352.9 g C m(-2) with N addition gradient (R(2) = 0.99, P < 0.001); and logarithmically, from 293.6 to 788.6 g C m(-2) with P addition gradient (R(2) = 0.56, P = 0.087). Soil inorganic carbon (SIC) decreased quadratically with N addition. The net C sequestration on grassland (including plant, roots, SIC, and SOC) increased linearly from -128.6 to 729.0 g C m(-2) under N addition (R(2) = 0.72, P = 0.023); and increased logarithmically, from 248.5 to 698 g C m(-2)under P addition (R(2) = 0.82, P = 0.014). Our study implies that N addition has complex effects on soil carbon dynamics, and future studies of soil C sequestration on grasslands should include evaluations of both SOC and SIC under various scenarios.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Carbon Sequestration", "China", "Nitrogen", "Science", "Q", "R", "Temperature", "Phosphorus", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Soil", "13. Climate action", "Medicine", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Research Article"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0077241"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/PLoS%20ONE", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0077241", "name": "item", "description": "10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0077241", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0077241"}, {"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": "10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0123160", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:07Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2015-04-15", "title": "Responses Of Plant Community Composition And Biomass Production To Warming And Nitrogen Deposition In A Temperate Meadow Ecosystem", "description": "Climate change has profound influences on plant community composition and ecosystem functions. However, its effects on plant community composition and biomass production are not well understood. A four-year field experiment was conducted to examine the effects of warming, nitrogen (N) addition, and their interactions on plant community composition and biomass production in a temperate meadow ecosystem in northeast China. Experimental warming had no significant effect on plant species richness, evenness, and diversity, while N addition highly reduced the species richness and diversity. Warming tended to reduce the importance value of graminoid species but increased the value of forbs, while N addition had the opposite effect. Warming tended to increase the belowground biomass, but had an opposite tendency to decrease the aboveground biomass. The influences of warming on aboveground production were dependent upon precipitation. Experimental warming had little effect on aboveground biomass in the years with higher precipitation, but significantly suppressed aboveground biomass in dry years. Our results suggest that warming had indirect effects on plant production via its effect on the water availability. Nitrogen addition significantly increased above- and below-ground production, suggesting that N is one of the most important limiting factors determining plant productivity in the studied meadow steppe. Significant interactive effects of warming plus N addition on belowground biomass were also detected. Our observations revealed that environmental changes (warming and N deposition) play significant roles in regulating plant community composition and biomass production in temperate meadow steppe ecosystem in northeast China.", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "0301 basic medicine", "China", "Nitrogen", "Science", "Climate", "Climate Change", "Poaceae", "Global Warming", "7. Clean energy", "01 natural sciences", "Soil", "03 medical and health sciences", "Biomass", "Ecosystem", "2. Zero hunger", "Models", " Statistical", "Q", "R", "Temperature", "Water", "Agriculture", "15. Life on land", "6. Clean water", "13. Climate action", "Medicine", "Research Article"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Song Gao, Rui Guo, Wei Sun, Tao Zhang, Jixun Guo,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0123160"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/PLOS%20ONE", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0123160", "name": "item", "description": "10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0123160", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1371%2fjournal.pone.0123160"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2015-04-13T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1371/journal.pbio.0030319", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:07Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2005-08-02", "title": "Responses Of Grassland Production To Single And Multiple Global Environmental Changes", "description": "In this century, increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are expected to cause warmer surface temperatures and changes in precipitation patterns. At the same time, reactive nitrogen is entering natural systems at unprecedented rates. These global environmental changes have consequences for the functioning of natural ecosystems, and responses of these systems may feed back to affect climate and atmospheric composition. Here, we report plant growth responses of an ecosystem exposed to factorial combinations of four expected global environmental changes. We exposed California grassland to elevated CO2, temperature, precipitation, and nitrogen deposition for five years. Root and shoot production did not respond to elevated CO2 or modest warming. Supplemental precipitation led to increases in shoot production and offsetting decreases in root production. Supplemental nitrate deposition increased total production by an average of 26%, primarily by stimulating shoot growth. Interactions among the main treatments were rare. Together, these results suggest that production in this grassland will respond minimally to changes in CO2 and winter precipitation, and to small amounts of warming. Increased nitrate deposition would have stronger effects on the grassland. Aside from this nitrate response, expectations that a changing atmosphere and climate would promote carbon storage by increasing plant growth appear unlikely to be realized in this system.", "keywords": ["Greenhouse Effect", "0106 biological sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "Nitrates", "Meteorological Concepts", "QH301-705.5", "Climate", "Carbon Dioxide", "Environment", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Plant Roots", "01 natural sciences", "13. Climate action", "Biology (General)", "Plant Shoots", "Research Article", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0030319"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/PLoS%20Biology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1371/journal.pbio.0030319", "name": "item", "description": "10.1371/journal.pbio.0030319", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1371/journal.pbio.0030319"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2005-08-09T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0029293", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:07Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2011-12-28", "title": "Earthworm-Mycorrhiza Interactions Can Affect The Diversity, Structure And Functioning Of Establishing Model Grassland Communities", "description": "Both earthworms and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are important ecosystem engineers co-occurring in temperate grasslands. However, their combined impacts during grassland establishment are poorly understood and have never been studied. We used large mesocosms to study the effects of different functional groups of earthworms (i.e., vertically burrowing anecics vs. horizontally burrowing endogeics) and a mix of four AMF taxa on the establishment, diversity and productivity of plant communities after a simulated seed rain of 18 grassland species comprising grasses, non-leguminous forbs and legumes. Moreover, effects of earthworms and/or AMF on water infiltration and leaching of ammonium, nitrate and phosphate were determined after a simulated extreme rainfall event (40 l m(-2)). AMF colonisation of all three plant functional groups was altered by earthworms. Seedling emergence and diversity was reduced by anecic earthworms, however only when AMF were present. Plant density was decreased in AMF-free mesocosms when both anecic and endogeic earthworms were active; with AMF also anecics reduced plant density. Plant shoot and root biomass was only affected by earthworms in AMF-free mesocosms: shoot biomass increased due to the activity of either anecics or endogeics; root biomass increased only when anecics were active. Water infiltration increased when earthworms were present in the mesocosms but remained unaffected by AMF. Ammonium leaching was increased only when anecics or a mixed earthworm community was active but was unaffected by AMF; nitrate and phosphate leaching was neither affected by earthworms nor AMF. Ammonium leaching decreased with increasing plant density, nitrate leaching decreased with increasing plant diversity and density. In order to understand the underlying processes of these interactions further investigations possibly under field conditions using more diverse belowground communities are required. Nevertheless, this study demonstrates that belowground-aboveground linkages involving earthworms and AMF are important mediators of the diversity, structure and functioning of plant communities.", "keywords": ["Science", "Q", "R", "Biodiversity", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Models", " Theoretical", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Mycorrhizae", "Medicine", "Animals", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Oligochaeta", "Ecosystem", "Research Article"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0029293"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/PLoS%20ONE", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1371/journal.pone.0029293", "name": "item", "description": "10.1371/journal.pone.0029293", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1371/journal.pone.0029293"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2011-12-28T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0053761", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:08Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2013-01-14", "title": "Warming Rather Than Increased Precipitation Increases Soil Recalcitrant Organic Carbon In A Semiarid Grassland After 6 Years Of Treatments", "description": "Improved understanding of changes in soil recalcitrant organic carbon (C) in response to global warming is critical for predicting changes in soil organic C (SOC) storage. Here, we took advantage of a long-term field experiment with increased temperature and precipitation to investigate the effects of warming, increased precipitation and their interactions on SOC fraction in a semiarid Inner Mongolian grassland of northern China since April 2005. We quantified labile SOC, recalcitrant SOC and stable SOC at 0-10 and 10-20 cm depths. Results showed that neither warming nor increased precipitation affected total SOC and stable SOC at either depth. Increased precipitation significantly increased labile SOC at the 0-10 cm depth. Warming decreased labile SOC (P\u200a=\u200a0.038) and marginally but significantly increased recalcitrant SOC at the 10-20 cm depth (P\u200a=\u200a0.082). In addition, there were significant interactive effects of warming and increased precipitation on labile SOC and recalcitrant SOC at the 0-10 cm depth (both P<0.05), indicating that that results from single factor experiments should be treated with caution because of multi-factor interactions. Given that the absolute increase of SOC in the recalcitrant SOC pool was much greater than the decrease in labile SOC, and that the mean residence time of recalcitrant SOC is much greater, our results suggest that soil C storage at 10-20 cm depth may increase with increasing temperature in this semiarid grassland.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Time Factors", "Nitrogen", "Science", "Rain", "Q", "R", "Temperature", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Carbon", "Droughts", "Soil", "Soil biology", "13. Climate action", "Medicine", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Biomass", "Organic Chemicals", "Soil Microbiology", "Research Article"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0053761"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/PLoS%20ONE", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1371/journal.pone.0053761", "name": "item", "description": "10.1371/journal.pone.0053761", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1371/journal.pone.0053761"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2013-01-14T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0055433", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:08Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2013-01-30", "title": "Ecosystem Carbon And Nitrogen Accumulation After Grazing Exclusion In Semiarid Grassland", "description": "The grazing exclusion in degraded grassland has been extensively used to prevent the loss of grassland resources and to improve grassland services. The effects of grazing exclusion on C and N balance, however, have not been well addressed but are essential for assessing grassland C sinks, the sustainable use of grassland resources and the support of grassland services. To understand the response of ecosystem C and N to grazing exclusion in semiarid grassland, we determined the C and N in litter, aboveground biomass, roots and soils from ungrazed grassland fenced at different times in northwest China. Our results showed that the aboveground biomass, root biomass and plant litter were 70-92%, 56-151% and 59-141% higher, respectively, in grazer excluded grassland than in grazed grassland. Grazing exclusion significantly increased C and N stored in plant biomass and litter and increased the concentrations and stocks of C and N in soils. Grazing exclusion thus significantly increased the C and N stored in grassland ecosystems. The increase in C and N stored in soil contributed to more than 95% and 97% of the increases in ecosystem C and N storage. The highest C and N stocks in ecosystems were observed in 17-year grazer excluded grassland. The results from this study indicate that grazing exclusion has the potential to increase C and N storage in degraded semiarid grassland and that the recovery of ecosystem C and N was mainly due to the accumulation of C and N in soils.", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "Carbon Sequestration", "China", "Conservation of Natural Resources", "Nitrogen", "Science", "Q", "R", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "Plant Components", " Aerial", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Plant Roots", "01 natural sciences", "Carbon", "Soil", "13. Climate action", "Medicine", "Animals", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Herbivory", "Ecosystem", "Research Article"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Xingchang Zhang, Xiaorong Wei, Jimin Cheng, Liping Qiu,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0055433"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/PLoS%20ONE", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1371/journal.pone.0055433", "name": "item", "description": "10.1371/journal.pone.0055433", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1371/journal.pone.0055433"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2013-01-30T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0071923", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:08Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2013-08-05", "title": "Changes In Soil Carbon And Nitrogen Following Land Abandonment Of Farmland On The Loess Plateau, China", "description": "The revegetation of abandoned farmland significantly influences soil organic C (SOC) and total N (TN). However, the dynamics of both soil OC and N storage following the abandonment of farmland are not well understood. To learn more about soil C and N storages dynamics 30 years after the conversion of farmland to grassland, we measured SOC and TN content in paired grassland and farmland sites in the Zhifanggou watershed on the Loess Plateau, China. The grassland sites were established on farmland abandoned for 1, 7, 13, 20, and 30 years. Top soil OC and TN were higher in older grassland, especially in the 0-5 cm soil depths; deeper soil OC and TN was lower in younger grasslands (<20 yr), and higher in older grasslands (30 yr). Soil OC and N storage (0-100 cm) was significantly lower in the younger grasslands (<20 yr), had increased in the older grasslands (30 yr), and at 30 years SOC had increased to pre-abandonment levels. For a thirty year period following abandonment the soil C/N value remained at 10. Our results indicate that soil C and TN were significantly and positively correlated, indicating that studies on the storage of soil OC and TN needs to focus on deeper soil and not be restricted to the uppermost (0-30 cm) soil levels.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "China", "Nitrogen", "Science", "Q", "R", "Agriculture", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Carbon", "Soil", "Medicine", "Humans", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Biomass", "Research Article"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0071923"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/PLoS%20ONE", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1371/journal.pone.0071923", "name": "item", "description": "10.1371/journal.pone.0071923", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1371/journal.pone.0071923"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2013-08-05T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0077241", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:08Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2013-10-11", "title": "Enhancement Of Carbon Sequestration In Soil In The Temperature Grasslands Of Northern China By Addition Of Nitrogen And Phosphorus", "description": "Increased nitrogen (N) deposition is common worldwide. Questions of where, how, and if reactive N-input influences soil carbon (C) sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems are of great concern. To explore the potential for soil C sequestration in steppe region under N and phosphorus (P) addition, we conducted a field experiment between 2006 and 2012 in the temperate grasslands of northern China. The experiment examined 6 levels of N (0-56 g N m(-2) yr(-1)), 6 levels of P (0-12.4 g P m(-2) yr(-1)), and a control scenario. Our results showed that addition of both N and P enhanced soil total C storage in grasslands due to significant increases of C input from litter and roots. Compared with control plots, soil organic carbon (SOC) in the 0-100 cm soil layer varied quadratically, from 156.8 to 1352.9 g C m(-2) with N addition gradient (R(2) = 0.99, P < 0.001); and logarithmically, from 293.6 to 788.6 g C m(-2) with P addition gradient (R(2) = 0.56, P = 0.087). Soil inorganic carbon (SIC) decreased quadratically with N addition. The net C sequestration on grassland (including plant, roots, SIC, and SOC) increased linearly from -128.6 to 729.0 g C m(-2) under N addition (R(2) = 0.72, P = 0.023); and increased logarithmically, from 248.5 to 698 g C m(-2)under P addition (R(2) = 0.82, P = 0.014). Our study implies that N addition has complex effects on soil carbon dynamics, and future studies of soil C sequestration on grasslands should include evaluations of both SOC and SIC under various scenarios.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Carbon Sequestration", "China", "Nitrogen", "Science", "Q", "R", "Temperature", "Phosphorus", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Soil", "13. Climate action", "Medicine", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Research Article"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0077241"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/PLoS%20ONE", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1371/journal.pone.0077241", "name": "item", "description": "10.1371/journal.pone.0077241", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1371/journal.pone.0077241"}, {"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": "10.1371/journal.pone.0083344", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:08Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2013-12-16", "title": "Pastoral Practices To Reverse Shrub Encroachment Of Sub-Alpine Grasslands: Dung Beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea) Respond More Quickly Than Vegetation", "description": "In recent decades, pastoral abandonment has produced profound ecological changes in the Alps. In particular, the reduction in grazing has led to extensive shrub encroachment of semi-natural grasslands, which may represent a threat to open habitat biodiversity. To reverse shrub encroachment, we assessed short-term effects of two different pastoral practices on vegetation and dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea). Strategic placement of mineral mix supplements (MMS) and arrangement of temporary night camp areas (TNCA) for cattle were carried out during summer 2011 in the Val Troncea Natural Park, north-western Italian Alps. In 2012, one year after treatment, a reduction in shrub cover and an increase in bare ground cover around MMS sites was detected. A more intense effect was detected within TNCA through increases in forage pastoral value, and in the cover and height of the herbaceous layer. Immediately after treatment, changes in dung beetle diversity (total abundance, species richness, Shannon diversity, taxonomic and functional diversity) showed a limited disturbance effect caused by high cattle density. In contrast, dung beetle diversity significantly increased one year later both at MMS and TNCA sites, with a stronger effect within TNCA. Multivariate Regression Trees and associated Indicator Value analyses showed that some ecologically relevant dung beetle species preferred areas deprived of shrub vegetation. Our main conclusions are: i) TNCA are more effective than MMS in terms of changes to vegetation and dung beetles, ii) dung beetles respond more quickly than vegetation to pastoral practices, and iii) the main driver of the rapid response by dung beetles is the removal of shrubs. The resulting increase in dung beetle abundance and diversity, which are largely responsible for grassland ecosystem functioning, may have a positive effect on meso-eutrophic grassland restoration. Shrub encroachment in the Alps may therefore be reversed, and restoration of grassland enhanced, by using appropriate pastoral practices.", "keywords": ["0106 biological sciences", "2. Zero hunger", "Time Factors", "Behavior", " Animal", "Science", "Q", "R", "Plant Development", "Biodiversity", "Feeding Behavior", "Plants", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "01 natural sciences", "Coleoptera", "Italy", "13. Climate action", "Medicine", "Animals", "Cattle", "Herbivory", "Seasons", "Ecosystem", "Research Article"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://iris.unito.it/bitstream/2318/139833/1/Tocco%20et%20al.%202013.pdf"}, {"href": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0083344"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/PLoS%20ONE", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1371/journal.pone.0083344", "name": "item", "description": "10.1371/journal.pone.0083344", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1371/journal.pone.0083344"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2013-12-16T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0125404", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:10Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2015-05-06", "title": "The Contribution Of Mangrove Expansion To Salt Marsh Loss On The Texas Gulf Coast", "description": "Landscape-level shifts in plant species distribution and abundance can fundamentally change the ecology of an ecosystem. Such shifts are occurring within mangrove-marsh ecotones, where over the last few decades, relatively mild winters have led to mangrove expansion into areas previously occupied by salt marsh plants. On the Texas (USA) coast of the western Gulf of Mexico, most cases of mangrove expansion have been documented within specific bays or watersheds. Based on this body of relatively small-scale work and broader global patterns of mangrove expansion, we hypothesized that there has been a recent regional-level displacement of salt marshes by mangroves. We classified Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper images using artificial neural networks to quantify black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) expansion and salt marsh (Spartina alterniflora and other grass and forb species) loss over 20 years across the entire Texas coast. Between 1990 and 2010, mangrove area grew by 16.1 km(2), a 74% increase. Concurrently, salt marsh area decreased by 77.8 km(2), a 24% net loss. Only 6% of that loss was attributable to mangrove expansion; most salt marsh was lost due to conversion to tidal flats or water, likely a result of relative sea level rise. Our research confirmed that mangroves are expanding and, in some instances, displacing salt marshes at certain locations. However, this shift is not widespread when analyzed at a larger, regional level. Rather, local, relative sea level rise was indirectly implicated as another important driver causing regional-level salt marsh loss. Climate change is expected to accelerate both sea level rise and mangrove expansion; these mechanisms are likely to interact synergistically and contribute to salt marsh loss.", "keywords": ["Satellite Imagery", "0106 biological sciences", "Science", "Climate Change", "Marshes", "Poaceae", "01 natural sciences", "333", "Image Interpretation", " Computer-Assisted", "11. Sustainability", "14. Life underwater", "Mangrove swamps", "Ecosystem", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences", "Gulf of Mexico", "Artificial neural networks", "Winter", "Q", "R", "15. Life on land", "Texas", "Habitats", "13. Climate action", "Wetlands", "Medicine", "Avicennia", "Seasons", "Research Article"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Armitage, Anna R., Highfield, Wesley E., Brody, Samuel D., Louchouarn, Patrick,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0125404"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/PLOS%20ONE", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1371/journal.pone.0125404", "name": "item", "description": "10.1371/journal.pone.0125404", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1371/journal.pone.0125404"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2015-05-06T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0156146", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:10Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2016-05-25", "title": "Changes In Biomass And Quality Of Alpine Steppe In Response To N & P Fertilization In The Tibetan Plateau", "description": "In the alpine steppe zone on the Central Tibetan Plateau, a large amount of area has been degraded due to natural and artificial factors. N & P fertilization is widely accepted to recover degraded pastures in other regions all over the world. However, it is not clear how alpine steppe communities respond to N & P fertilization, and what is the optimal application rate, in the perspective of forage production. To attempt to explore these questions, in July 2013, two fencing sites were designed in Baingoin County with 12 treatments of different levels of nitrogen (N0: 0; N1: 7.5 g m(-2) yr(-1); N2: 15 g m(-2) yr(-1)) & phosphate (P0: 0; P1: 7.5 gP2O5 m(-2) yr(-1); P2: 15 gP2O5 m(-2) yr(-1); P3: 30 gP2O5 m(-2) yr(-1)). The results indicated N&P addition was capable to ameliorate the quality of the two sites in the Tibetan Plateau steppe. Increasing N application level resulted in significant increment in Gramineae and total biomass in the two sites. P addition significantly improved the quantity of Compositae, total biomass and the biomasss of other species in site II, while it only significantly improved the total biomass in site I. Gramineae was much more sensitive to N-induced changes than P-induced changes, and this indicated N addition was better to ameliorate the quality of plateau steppe than P-induced changes. No strong evidence was found for critical threshold within 15 g N m(-2) yr(-1), and there was decreasing tendency when P addition rate was above 15 g m(-2) yr(-1). N&P has the potential to accelerate soil acidification, which improved the content of available K, likely as a result of nonsignificant correlation between biomass and soil moisture. This work highlights the the tradeoffs that exist in N and P addition in recovering degraded steppe.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Conservation of Natural Resources", "Nitrogen", "Science", "Altitude", "Q", "R", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Tibet", "Grassland", "01 natural sciences", "Phosphates", "3. Good health", "Soil", "Medicine", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Biomass", "Research Article", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156146"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/PLOS%20ONE", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1371/journal.pone.0156146", "name": "item", "description": "10.1371/journal.pone.0156146", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1371/journal.pone.0156146"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2016-05-25T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0159680", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:10Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2016-07-28", "title": "Impacts Of Grazing Intensity And Plant Community Composition On Soil Bacterial Community Diversity In A Steppe Grassland", "description": "Soil bacteria play a key role in the ecological and evolutionary responses of agricultural ecosystems. Domestic herbivore grazing is known to influence soil bacterial community. However, the effects of grazing and its major driving factors on soil bacterial community remain unknown for different plant community compositions under increasing grazing intensity. Thus, to investigate soil bacterial community diversity under five plant community compositions (Grass; Leymus chinensis; Forb; L. chinensis & Forb; and Legume), we performed a four-year field experiment with different grazing intensity treatments (no grazing; light grazing, 4 sheep\u00b7ha-1; and heavy grazing, 6 sheep\u00b7ha-1) in a grassland in China. Total DNA was obtained from soil samples collected from the plots in August, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) fingerprinting were used to investigate soil bacterial community. The results showed that light grazing significantly increased indices of soil bacterial community diversity for the Forb and Legume groups but not the Grass and L. chinensis groups. Heavy grazing significantly reduced these soil bacterial diversity indices, except for the Pielou evenness index in the Legume group. Further analyses revealed that the soil N/P ratio, electrical conductivity (EC), total nitrogen (TN) and pH were the major environmental factors affecting the soil bacterial community. Our study suggests that the soil bacterial community diversity was influenced by grazing intensity and plant community composition in a meadow steppe. The present study provides a baseline assessment of the soil bacterial community diversity in a temperate meadow steppe.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Sheep", "Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis", "Science", "Q", "R", "Biodiversity", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Polymerase Chain Reaction", "7. Clean energy", "3. Good health", "Medicine", "Animals", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Ecosystem", "Soil Microbiology", "Research Article"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Deli Wang, Wei-chao Du, Dong-bo Liu, Tong-bao Qu, Tong-bao Qu, Li-Jun Yu, Zhiming Yang, Xia Yuan,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0159680"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/PLOS%20ONE", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1371/journal.pone.0159680", "name": "item", "description": "10.1371/journal.pone.0159680", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1371/journal.pone.0159680"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2016-07-28T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1890/07-0417.1", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Closed Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:36Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2008-07-21", "title": "Grassland Establishment Under Varying Resource Availability: A Test Of Positive And Negative Feedback", "description": "The traditional logic of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) interactions in ecosystems predicts further increases or decreases in productivity (positive feedback) in response to high and low fertility in the soil, respectively; but the potential for development of feedback in ecosystems recovering from disturbance is less well understood. Furthermore, this logic has been challenged in grassland ecosystems where frequent fires or grazing may reduce the contribution of aboveground litter inputs to soil organic matter pools and nutrient supply for plant growth, relative to forest ecosystems. Further, if increases in plant productivity increase soil C content more than soil N content, negative feedback may result from increased microbial demand for N making less available for plant growth. We used a field experiment to test for feedback in an establishing grassland by comparing aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) and belowground pools and fluxes of C and N in soil with enriched, ambient, and reduced N availability. For eight years annual N enrichment increased ANPP, root N, and root tissue quality, but root C:N ratios remained well above the threshold for net mineralization of N. There was no evidence that N enrichment increased root biomass, soil C or N accrual rates, or storage of C in total, microbial, or mineralizable pools within this time frame. However, the net nitrogen mineralization potential (NMP) rate was greater following eight years of N enrichment, and we attributed this to N saturation of the microbial biomass. Grassland developing under experimentally imposed N limitation through C addition to the soil exhibited ANPP, root biomass and quality, and net NMP rate similar to the ambient soil. Similarity in productivity and roots in the reduced and ambient N treatments was attributed to the potentially high nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) of the dominant C4 grasses, and increasing cover of legumes over time in the C-amended soil. Thus, in a developing ecosystem, positive feedback between soil N supply and plant productivity may promote enhanced long-term N availability and override progressive N limitation as C accrues in plant and soil pools. However, experimentally imposed reduction in N availability did not feed back to reduce ANPP, possibly due to shifts in NUE and functional group composition.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Soil", "Nitrogen", "13. Climate action", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Carbon", "Ecosystem"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1890/07-0417.1"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1890/07-0417.1", "name": "item", "description": "10.1890/07-0417.1", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1890/07-0417.1"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2008-07-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1890/05-0836", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:35Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2007-06-04", "title": "Bromus Tectorum Invasion Alters Nitrogen Dynamics In An Undisturbed Arid Grassland Ecosystem", "description": "The nonnative annual grass Bromus tectorum has successfully replaced native vegetation in many arid and semiarid ecosystems. Initial introductions accompanied grazing and agriculture, making it difficult to separate the effects of invasion from physical disturbance. This study examined N dynamics in two recently invaded, undisturbed vegetation associations (C3 and C4). The response of these communities was compared to an invaded/ disturbed grassland. The invaded/disturbed communities had higher surface NH4+ input in spring, whereas there were no differences for surface input of NO3-. Soil inorganic N was dominated by NH4+, but invaded sites had greater subsurface soil NO3-. Invaded sites had greater total soil N at the surface four years post-invasion in undisturbed communities, but total N was lower in the invaded/disturbed communities. Soil delta15N increased with depth in the noninvaded and recently invaded communities, whereas the invaded/disturbed communities exhibited the opposite pattern. Enriched foliar delta15N values suggest that Bromus assimilated subsurface NO3-, whereas the native grasses were restricted to surface N. A Rayleigh distillation model accurately described decomposition patterns in the noninvaded communities where soil N loss is accompanied by increasing soil delta15N; however, the invaded/ disturbed communities exhibited the opposite pattern, suggesting redistribution of N within the soil profile. This study suggests that invasion has altered the mechanisms driving nitrogen dynamics. Bromus litter decomposition and soil NO3- concentrations were greater in the invaded communities during periods of ample precipitation, and NO3- leached from the surface litter, where it was assimilated by Bromus. The primary source of N input in these communities is a biological soil crust that is removed with disturbance, and the lack of N input by the biological soil crust did not balance N loss, resulting in reduced total N in the invaded/disturbed communities. Bromus produced a positive feedback loop by leaching NO3- from decomposing Bromus litter to subsurface soil layers, accessing that deepsoil N pool with deep roots and returning that N to the surface as biomass and subsequent litter. Lack of new inputs combined with continued loss will result in lower total soil N, evidenced by the lower total soil N in the invaded/disturbed communities.", "keywords": ["ecosystem", "0106 biological sciences", "Nitrates", "550", "Nitrogen Isotopes", "Bromus", "Nitrogen", "Rain", "Population Dynamics", "arid", "Biodiversity", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "01 natural sciences", "nitrogen", "Soil", "Natural Resources and Conservation", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Biomass", "Seasons", "grassland", "bromus tectorum invasion", "Environmental Sciences", "Ecosystem"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Sperry, L. J., Belnap, J., Evans, R. D.,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1890/05-0836"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1890/05-0836", "name": "item", "description": "10.1890/05-0836", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1890/05-0836"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2006-03-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1890/10-2210.1", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Open Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:37Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2011-07-26", "title": "Soil C And N Changes With Afforestation Of Grasslands Across Gradients Of Precipitation And Plantation Age", "description": "Afforestation, the conversion of unforested lands to forests, is a tool for sequestering anthropogenic carbon dioxide into plant biomass. However, in addition to altering biomass, afforestation can have substantial effects on soil organic carbon (SOC) pools, some of which have much longer turnover times than plant biomass. An increasing body of evidence suggests that the effect of afforestation on SOC may depend on mean annual precipitation (MAP). The goal of this study was to test how labile and bulk pools of SOC and total soil nitrogen (TN) change with afforestation across a rainfall gradient of 600\uffe2\uff80\uff931500 mm in the Rio de la Plata grasslands of Argentina and Uruguay. The sites were all former grasslands planted withEucalyptusspp. Overall, we found that afforestation increased (up to 1012 kg C\uffc2\uffb7ha\uffe2\uff88\uff921\uffc2\uffb7yr\uffe2\uff88\uff921) or decreased (as much as 1294 kg C\uffc2\uffb7ha\uffe2\uff88\uff921\uffc2\uffb7yr\uffe2\uff88\uff921) SOC pools in this region and that these changes were significantly related to MAP. Drier sites gained, and wetter sites lost, SOC and TN (r2= 0.59,P= 0.003; andr2= 0.57,P= 0.004, respectively). Labile C and N in microbial biomass and extractable soil pools followed similar patterns to bulk SOC and TN. Interestingly, drier sites gained more SOC and TN as plantations aged, while losses reversed as plantations aged in wet sites, suggesting that plantation age in addition to precipitation is a critical driver of changes in soil organic matter with afforestation. This new evidence implies that longer intervals between harvests for plantations could improve SOC storage, ameliorating the negative trends found in humid sites. Our results suggest that the value of afforestation as a carbon sequestration tool should be considered in the context of precipitation and age of the forest stand.
", "keywords": ["Soil nitrogen", "Time Factors", "Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology", "Nitrogen", "Rain", "soil nitrogen", "Argentina", "Precipitation", "precipitation", "Poaceae", "333", "Trees", "Soil", "afforestation", "https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6", "Afforestations", "https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1", "Biology", "Forest Sciences", "Ecosystem", "2. Zero hunger", "Soil organic carbon", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Carbon", "soil organic carbon", "Uruguay", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Eucalyptus plantation"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1890/10-2210.1"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecological%20Applications", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1890/10-2210.1", "name": "item", "description": "10.1890/10-2210.1", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1890/10-2210.1"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2012-01-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1890/06-0399", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Closed Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:36Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2007-06-04", "title": "Rainfall And Soils Modify Plant Community Response To Grazing In Serengeti National Park", "description": "Terrestrial plant community responses to herbivory depend on resource availability, but the separate influences of different resources are difficult to study because they often correlate across natural environmental gradients. We studied the effects of excluding ungulate herbivores on plant species richness and composition, as well as available soil nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), across eight grassland sites in Serengeti National Park (SNP), Tanzania. These sites varied independently in rainfall and available soil N and P. Excluding herbivores decreased plant species richness at all sites and by an average of 5.4 species across all plots. Although plant species richness was a unimodal function of rainfall in both grazed and ungrazed plots, fences caused a greater decrease in plant species richness at sites of intermediate rainfall compared to sites of high or low rainfall. In terms of the relative or proportional decreases in plant species richness, excluding herbivores caused the strongest relative decreases at lower rainfall and where exclusion of herbivores increased available soil P. Herbivore exclusion increased among-plot heterogeneity in species composition but decreased coexistence of congeneric grasses. Compositional similarity between grazed and ungrazed treatments decreased with increasing rainfall due to greater forb richness in exclosures and greater sedge richness outside exclosures and was not related to effects of excluding herbivores on soil nutrients. Our results show that plant resources, especially water and P, appear to modulate the effects of herbivores on tropical grassland plant diversity and composition. We show that herbivore effects on soil P may be an important and previously unappreciated mechanism by which herbivores influence plant diversity, at least in tropical grasslands.", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "0106 biological sciences", "Food Chain", "Nitrogen", "Rain", "Population Dynamics", "Phosphorus", "Biodiversity", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "Tanzania", "01 natural sciences", "Soil", "Species Specificity", "Animals", "14. Life underwater", "Plants", " Edible", "Ecosystem"], "contacts": [{"organization": "Mark E. Ritchie, T. Michael Anderson, Samuel J. McNaughton,", "roles": ["creator"]}]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1890/06-0399"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecology", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1890/06-0399", "name": "item", "description": "10.1890/06-0399", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1890/06-0399"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2007-05-01T00:00:00Z"}}, {"id": "10.1890/06-1580.1", "type": "Feature", "geometry": null, "properties": {"license": "Closed Access", "updated": "2026-06-24T16:20:36Z", "type": "Journal Article", "created": "2007-10-02", "title": "Climatic/Edaphic Controls On Soil Carbon/Nitrogen Response To Shrub Encroachment In Desert Grassland", "description": "The proliferation of woody plants in grasslands over the past 100+ years can alter carbon, nitrogen, and water cycles and influence land surface\uffe2\uff80\uff93atmosphere interactions. Although the majority of organic carbon in these ecosystems resides belowground, there is no consensus on how this change in land cover has affected soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) pools. The degree to which duration of woody plant occupation, climate, and edaphic conditions have mediated SOC and TN responses to changes in life\uffe2\uff80\uff90form composition are poorly understood. We addressed these issues at a desert grassland site in Arizona, USA, where the leguminous shrub velvet mesquite (Prosopis velutina) has proliferated along an elevation/precipitation/temperature gradient and on contrasting soil morphologic surfaces.
On sandy loam complexes of mid\uffe2\uff80\uff90Holocene origin, mean SOC and TN of soils in the grassland matrix increased \uffe2\uff88\uffbc68% and \uffe2\uff88\uffbc45%, respectively, with increasing elevation. Soil organic carbon pools were comparable and TN pools were \uffe2\uff88\uffbc23% higher in Pleistocene\uffe2\uff80\uff90aged clay loam complexes co\uffe2\uff80\uff90occurring with Holocene\uffe2\uff80\uff90aged soils at the upper elevation/climatic zone. Across the site, belowground resources associated with largeProsopisplants were 21\uffe2\uff80\uff93154% (SOC) and 18\uffe2\uff80\uff93127% (TN) higher than those in the grassy matrix.
The variance in SOC and TN pools accounted for byProsopisstem size (a rough surrogate for time of site occupation) was highest at the low\uffe2\uff80\uff90 and mid\uffe2\uff80\uff90elevation sites (69\uffe2\uff80\uff9374%) and lowest at the upper elevation site (32\uffe2\uff80\uff9338%). Soil \uffce\uffb415N values ranged from 5.5\uffe2\uff80\uffb0 to 6.7\uffe2\uff80\uffb0 across the soil/elevation zones but were comparable in herbaceous and shrub\uffe2\uff80\uff90impacted soils and exhibited a weak relationship withProsopisbasal stem diameter (r2< 0.1) and TN (r2< 0.08). The SOC \uffce\uffb413C values decreased linearly with increasingProsopisbasal diameter, suggesting that size and isotopic composition of the SOC pool is a function of time ofProsopissite occupation. Isotopic mixture models indicate that encroachment of C3woody plants has also promoted SOC additions from C4plant sources, indicative of long\uffe2\uff80\uff90term herbaceous facilitation. Grassy sites in contrasting soil/elevation combinations, initially highly distinctive in their SOC pool size and \uffce\uffb413C, appear to be converging on similar values following \uffe2\uff88\uffbc100 years of woody plant proliferation.
", "keywords": ["2. Zero hunger", "Carbon Isotopes", "Nitrogen", "Climate", "Rain", "Temperature", "04 agricultural and veterinary sciences", "15. Life on land", "Poaceae", "01 natural sciences", "Carbon", "Soil", "Prosopis", "13. Climate action", "0401 agriculture", " forestry", " and fisheries", "Desert Climate", "0105 earth and related environmental sciences"]}, "links": [{"href": "https://doi.org/10.1890/06-1580.1"}, {"rel": "related", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/Ecological%20Applications", "name": "related record", "description": "related record", "type": "application/json"}, {"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "10.1890/06-1580.1", "name": "item", "description": "10.1890/06-1580.1", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items/10.1890/06-1580.1"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection", "name": "collection", "description": "Collection", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main"}], "time": {"date": "2007-10-01T00:00:00Z"}}], "links": [{"rel": "self", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "This document as GeoJSON", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Poaceae&offset=50&f=json", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "alternate", "type": "text/html", "title": "This document as HTML", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Poaceae&offset=50&f=html", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "collection", "type": "application/json", "title": "Collection URL", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"type": "application/geo+json", "rel": "prev", "title": "items (prev)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Poaceae&offset=0", "hreflang": "en-US"}, {"rel": "next", "type": "application/geo+json", "title": "items (next)", "href": "https://repository.soilwise-he.eu/cat/collections/metadata:main/items?keywords=Poaceae&offset=100", "hreflang": "en-US"}], "numberMatched": 130, "numberReturned": 50, "distributedFeatures": [], "timeStamp": "2026-06-24T20:32:35.039311Z"}