Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Study Reports on Declines in Ecosystem Productivity Fueled by Nitrogen-Induced Species Loss
http://www.ia.ucsb.edu/pa/display.aspx?pkey=3062[font face=Serif]NEWS RELEASE
[font size=5]Study Reports on Declines in Ecosystem Productivity Fueled by Nitrogen-Induced Species Loss[/font]
July 3, 2013
[font size=3] (Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– Humans have been affecting their environment since the ancestors of Homo sapiens first walked upright, but never has their impact been more detrimental than in the 21st century. "The loss of biodiversity has much greater and more profound ecosystem impacts than had ever been imagined," said David Tilman, professor of ecology, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning at UC Santa Barbara's Bren School of Environmental Science & Management.
Human-driven environmental disturbances, such as increasing levels of reactive nitrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2), have multiple effects, including changes in biodiversity, species composition, and ecosystem functioning. Pieces of this puzzle have been widely examined but this new study puts it all together by examining multiple elements. The results were published July 1 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
According to the team's recent findings, adding nitrogen to grasslands led to an initial increase in ecosystem productivity. However, that increase proved unsustainable because the increased nitrogen resulted in a loss of plant diversity. "In combination with earlier studies, our results show that the loss of biodiversity, no matter what might cause it, is a major driver of ecosystem functioning," said Tilman.
The study analyzed 30 years of field data from the Nitrogen Enrichment Experiment in order to determine the temporal effect of nitrogen enrichment on the productivity, plant diversity, and species composition of naturally assembled grasslands at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve in central Minnesota. The results showed that while nitrogen enrichment initially increased plant productivity, eventually this effect declined, especially in the plots that received the most fertilizer. These returns diminished over time because fertilizing also drove declines in plant diversity.
…[/font][/font]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1310880110
[font size=5]Study Reports on Declines in Ecosystem Productivity Fueled by Nitrogen-Induced Species Loss[/font]
July 3, 2013
[font size=3] (Santa Barbara, Calif.) –– Humans have been affecting their environment since the ancestors of Homo sapiens first walked upright, but never has their impact been more detrimental than in the 21st century. "The loss of biodiversity has much greater and more profound ecosystem impacts than had ever been imagined," said David Tilman, professor of ecology, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning at UC Santa Barbara's Bren School of Environmental Science & Management.
Human-driven environmental disturbances, such as increasing levels of reactive nitrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2), have multiple effects, including changes in biodiversity, species composition, and ecosystem functioning. Pieces of this puzzle have been widely examined but this new study puts it all together by examining multiple elements. The results were published July 1 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
According to the team's recent findings, adding nitrogen to grasslands led to an initial increase in ecosystem productivity. However, that increase proved unsustainable because the increased nitrogen resulted in a loss of plant diversity. "In combination with earlier studies, our results show that the loss of biodiversity, no matter what might cause it, is a major driver of ecosystem functioning," said Tilman.
The study analyzed 30 years of field data from the Nitrogen Enrichment Experiment in order to determine the temporal effect of nitrogen enrichment on the productivity, plant diversity, and species composition of naturally assembled grasslands at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve in central Minnesota. The results showed that while nitrogen enrichment initially increased plant productivity, eventually this effect declined, especially in the plots that received the most fertilizer. These returns diminished over time because fertilizing also drove declines in plant diversity.
…[/font][/font]
