Effects of bioavailable phosphorus and soil biota on typical Nardus grassland species in competition with fast-growing plant species

Stephanie Schelfhout; Safaa Wasof; Jan Mertens; Margot Vanhellemont; Andreas Demey; Annelies Haegeman; Eva DeCock; Iris Moeneclaey; Pieter Vangansbeke; Nicole Viaene; Steve Baeyen; Nancy De Sutter; Martine Maes; Wim H. van der Putten; Kris Verheyen; An De Schrijver

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106880

Effects of bioavailable phosphorus and soil biota on typical Nardus grassland species in competition with fast-growing plant species

Stephanie Schelfhout^* (Corresponding author), Safaa Wasof (Corresponding author), Jan Mertens (Corresponding author), Margot Vanhellemont (Corresponding author), Andreas Demey (Corresponding author), Annelies Haegeman (Corresponding author), Eva DeCock (Corresponding author), Iris Moeneclaey (Corresponding author), Pieter Vangansbeke (Corresponding author), Nicole Viaene (Corresponding author), Steve Baeyen (Corresponding author), Nancy De Sutter (Corresponding author), Martine Maes (Corresponding author), Wim H. van der Putten (Corresponding author), Kris Verheyen (Corresponding author), An De Schrijver (Corresponding author)

^*Corresponding author for this work

NIOO - Terrestrial Ecology (TE)

Research output: Contribution to journal/periodical › Article › Scientific › peer-review

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Abstract

The restoration of Nardus grasslands is often hampered by high bioavailability of soil phosphorus and disturbed soil communities. In order to better understand these bottlenecks, we studied Nardus grassland species grown together in communities with fast-growing species in 50-liter pots along a gradient of bioavailable phosphorus with or without inoculated soil biota. These mesocosms allowed the plants to freely interact, including competition for light and nutrients. We investigated changes in the plant community composition along the phosphorus gradient using Threshold Indicator Taxa Analysis (TITAN). We found a negative threshold of 11.5 mg P_Olsen kg⁻¹ with six significant indicator plant species. Above the threshold, a small increase in phosphorus resulted in a disproportionally large drop in biomass for the indicator species, including four typical Nardus grassland species. The decline in these ‘oligotrophic indicator species’ was also linked to increasing plant community biomass, so we suggest the oligotrophic indicator species to be outcompeted for light by fast-growing plant species. We did not find an effect of the soil biota treatment on the biomass of the oligotrophic indicator species, but did observe a positive effect of inoculation with soil biota on the total biomass of the plant community. Interestingly, the threshold for the plant communities in the mesocosm experiment was comparable to the upper bioavailable phosphorus concentrations in remnant Nardus grasslands in northern Belgium. For the restoration of Nardus grasslands, such phosphorus-poor soil conditions appear to be essential, because the plant species that typically occur in these grasslands are able to handle nutrient limitation, but not light limitation.

Original language	English
Article number	106880
Number of pages	7
Journal	Ecological Indicators
Volume	120
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106880
Publication status	Published - Jan 2021

Keywords

Abiotic threshold
Competition
Ecological restoration
Oligotrophic
Species-rich grassland
TITAN
international
Plan_S-Compliant_TA

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Schelfhout, S., Wasof, S., Mertens, J., Vanhellemont, M., Demey, A., Haegeman, A., DeCock, E., Moeneclaey, I., Vangansbeke, P., Viaene, N., Baeyen, S., De Sutter, N., Maes, M., van der Putten, W. H., Verheyen, K., & De Schrijver, A. (2021). Effects of bioavailable phosphorus and soil biota on typical Nardus grassland species in competition with fast-growing plant species. Ecological Indicators, 120, Article 106880. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106880

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title = "Effects of bioavailable phosphorus and soil biota on typical Nardus grassland species in competition with fast-growing plant species",

abstract = "The restoration of Nardus grasslands is often hampered by high bioavailability of soil phosphorus and disturbed soil communities. In order to better understand these bottlenecks, we studied Nardus grassland species grown together in communities with fast-growing species in 50-liter pots along a gradient of bioavailable phosphorus with or without inoculated soil biota. These mesocosms allowed the plants to freely interact, including competition for light and nutrients. We investigated changes in the plant community composition along the phosphorus gradient using Threshold Indicator Taxa Analysis (TITAN). We found a negative threshold of 11.5 mg POlsen kg−1 with six significant indicator plant species. Above the threshold, a small increase in phosphorus resulted in a disproportionally large drop in biomass for the indicator species, including four typical Nardus grassland species. The decline in these {\textquoteleft}oligotrophic indicator species{\textquoteright} was also linked to increasing plant community biomass, so we suggest the oligotrophic indicator species to be outcompeted for light by fast-growing plant species. We did not find an effect of the soil biota treatment on the biomass of the oligotrophic indicator species, but did observe a positive effect of inoculation with soil biota on the total biomass of the plant community. Interestingly, the threshold for the plant communities in the mesocosm experiment was comparable to the upper bioavailable phosphorus concentrations in remnant Nardus grasslands in northern Belgium. For the restoration of Nardus grasslands, such phosphorus-poor soil conditions appear to be essential, because the plant species that typically occur in these grasslands are able to handle nutrient limitation, but not light limitation.",

keywords = "Abiotic threshold, Competition, Ecological restoration, Oligotrophic, Species-rich grassland, TITAN, international, Plan_S-Compliant_TA",

author = "Stephanie Schelfhout and Safaa Wasof and Jan Mertens and Margot Vanhellemont and Andreas Demey and Annelies Haegeman and Eva DeCock and Iris Moeneclaey and Pieter Vangansbeke and Nicole Viaene and Steve Baeyen and {De Sutter}, Nancy and Martine Maes and {van der Putten}, {Wim H.} and Kris Verheyen and {De Schrijver}, An",

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year = "2021",

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doi = "10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106880",

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Schelfhout, S, Wasof, S, Mertens, J, Vanhellemont, M, Demey, A, Haegeman, A, DeCock, E, Moeneclaey, I, Vangansbeke, P, Viaene, N, Baeyen, S, De Sutter, N, Maes, M, van der Putten, WH, Verheyen, K & De Schrijver, A 2021, 'Effects of bioavailable phosphorus and soil biota on typical Nardus grassland species in competition with fast-growing plant species', Ecological Indicators, vol. 120, 106880. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106880

Effects of bioavailable phosphorus and soil biota on typical Nardus grassland species in competition with fast-growing plant species. / Schelfhout, Stephanie (Corresponding author); Wasof, Safaa (Corresponding author); Mertens, Jan (Corresponding author) et al.
In: Ecological Indicators, Vol. 120, 106880, 01.2021.

Research output: Contribution to journal/periodical › Article › Scientific › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Effects of bioavailable phosphorus and soil biota on typical Nardus grassland species in competition with fast-growing plant species

AU - Schelfhout, Stephanie

AU - Wasof, Safaa

AU - Mertens, Jan

AU - Vanhellemont, Margot

AU - Demey, Andreas

AU - Haegeman, Annelies

AU - DeCock, Eva

AU - Moeneclaey, Iris

AU - Vangansbeke, Pieter

AU - Viaene, Nicole

AU - Baeyen, Steve

AU - De Sutter, Nancy

AU - Maes, Martine

AU - van der Putten, Wim H.

AU - Verheyen, Kris

AU - De Schrijver, An

N1 - 7143, TE

PY - 2021/1

Y1 - 2021/1

N2 - The restoration of Nardus grasslands is often hampered by high bioavailability of soil phosphorus and disturbed soil communities. In order to better understand these bottlenecks, we studied Nardus grassland species grown together in communities with fast-growing species in 50-liter pots along a gradient of bioavailable phosphorus with or without inoculated soil biota. These mesocosms allowed the plants to freely interact, including competition for light and nutrients. We investigated changes in the plant community composition along the phosphorus gradient using Threshold Indicator Taxa Analysis (TITAN). We found a negative threshold of 11.5 mg POlsen kg−1 with six significant indicator plant species. Above the threshold, a small increase in phosphorus resulted in a disproportionally large drop in biomass for the indicator species, including four typical Nardus grassland species. The decline in these ‘oligotrophic indicator species’ was also linked to increasing plant community biomass, so we suggest the oligotrophic indicator species to be outcompeted for light by fast-growing plant species. We did not find an effect of the soil biota treatment on the biomass of the oligotrophic indicator species, but did observe a positive effect of inoculation with soil biota on the total biomass of the plant community. Interestingly, the threshold for the plant communities in the mesocosm experiment was comparable to the upper bioavailable phosphorus concentrations in remnant Nardus grasslands in northern Belgium. For the restoration of Nardus grasslands, such phosphorus-poor soil conditions appear to be essential, because the plant species that typically occur in these grasslands are able to handle nutrient limitation, but not light limitation.

AB - The restoration of Nardus grasslands is often hampered by high bioavailability of soil phosphorus and disturbed soil communities. In order to better understand these bottlenecks, we studied Nardus grassland species grown together in communities with fast-growing species in 50-liter pots along a gradient of bioavailable phosphorus with or without inoculated soil biota. These mesocosms allowed the plants to freely interact, including competition for light and nutrients. We investigated changes in the plant community composition along the phosphorus gradient using Threshold Indicator Taxa Analysis (TITAN). We found a negative threshold of 11.5 mg POlsen kg−1 with six significant indicator plant species. Above the threshold, a small increase in phosphorus resulted in a disproportionally large drop in biomass for the indicator species, including four typical Nardus grassland species. The decline in these ‘oligotrophic indicator species’ was also linked to increasing plant community biomass, so we suggest the oligotrophic indicator species to be outcompeted for light by fast-growing plant species. We did not find an effect of the soil biota treatment on the biomass of the oligotrophic indicator species, but did observe a positive effect of inoculation with soil biota on the total biomass of the plant community. Interestingly, the threshold for the plant communities in the mesocosm experiment was comparable to the upper bioavailable phosphorus concentrations in remnant Nardus grasslands in northern Belgium. For the restoration of Nardus grasslands, such phosphorus-poor soil conditions appear to be essential, because the plant species that typically occur in these grasslands are able to handle nutrient limitation, but not light limitation.

KW - Abiotic threshold

KW - Competition

KW - Ecological restoration

KW - Oligotrophic

KW - Species-rich grassland

KW - TITAN

KW - international

KW - Plan_S-Compliant_TA

U2 - 10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106880

DO - 10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106880

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85090927714

SN - 1470-160X

VL - 120

JO - Ecological Indicators

JF - Ecological Indicators

M1 - 106880

ER -

Effects of bioavailable phosphorus and soil biota on typical Nardus grassland species in competition with fast-growing plant species

Abstract

Keywords

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