title: Glasshouse vs field experiments: do they yield ecologically similar results for assessing N impacts on peat mosses?
abstract: • Peat bogs have accumulated more atmospheric carbon (C) than any other terrestrial ecosystem today. Most of this C is associated with peat moss (Sphagnum) litter. Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition can decrease Sphagnum production, compromising the C sequestration capacity of peat bogs. The mechanisms underlying the reduced production are uncertain, necessitating multifactorial experiments. • We investigated whether glasshouse experiments are reliable proxies for field experiments for assessing interactions between N deposition and environment as controls on Sphagnum N concentration and production. We performed a meta-analysis over 115 glasshouse experiments and 107 field experiments. • We found that glasshouse and field experiments gave similar qualitative and quantitative estimates of changes in Sphagnum N concentration in response to N application. However, glasshouse-based estimates of changes in production--even qualitative assessments-- diverged from field experiments owing to a stronger N effect on production response in absence of vascular plants in the glasshouse, and a weaker N effect on production response in presence of vascular plants compared to field experiments. • Thus, although we need glasshouse experiments to study how interacting environmental factors affect the response of Sphagnum to increased N deposition, we need field experiments to properly quantify these effects.
authors.affiliation: Nature Conservation and Plant Ecology Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 3a, 6708 PB Wageningen, the Netherlands.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Ecology and Evolution, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.
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authors.lastname: Granath
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Systems Ecology, Free University of Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
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authors.affiliation: Nature Conservation and Plant Ecology Group, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 3a, 6708 PB Wageningen, the Netherlands.
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authors.lastname: Sheppard
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Evolution, University of Ferrara, Corso Ercole I d'Este 32, I-44121 Ferrara, Italy.|WSL Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Wetlands Research Group, Site Lausanne, Station 2, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.|École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC), Laboratory of Ecological Systems (ECOS), Batiment GR, Station 2, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Ecology and Evolution, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.
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authors.affiliation: Mount Holyoke College, Environmental Studies Department, Clapp Laboratory, 50 College Street, South Hadley, Massachusetts 01075, USA.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Sciences, Université Laval, 2425 rue de l'Agriculture, Quebec, QC, Canada G1V 0A6.
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authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Soil Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Rue Emile-Argand 11, CH-2009 Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: E A D
authors.initials: EAD
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authors.affiliation: WSL Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Wetlands Research Group, Site Lausanne, Station 2, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.|École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC), Laboratory of Ecological Systems (ECOS), Batiment GR, Station 2, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.|Laboratory of Chrono-Environnement, UMR 6249 CNRS - INRA, Université de Franche-Comté, Besançon, France.
authors.forename: A
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authors.initials: LJL
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authors.affiliation: UMR 6553 ECOBIO & FR90 CAREN, Rennes University, CNRS, Campus de Beaulieu, 263 avenue du Général Leclerc, 35042 Rennes Cedex, France.
authors.forename: A-J
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authors.lastname: Francez
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Evolution, University of Ferrara, Corso Ercole I d'Este 32, I-44121 Ferrara, Italy.
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authors.affiliation: The Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute, Postbox 115, 1431 Ås, Norway.
authors.forename: J-F
authors.initials: JF
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authors.forename: M P C P
authors.initials: MPCP
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authors.forename: S
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authors.forename: A
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authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), Edinburgh Bush Estate Penicuik, EH26 0QB, Scotland.
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mesh_terms: D055669:Ecological and Environmental Phenomena; D016014:Linear Models; D008954:Models, Biological; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D044003:Sphagnopsida / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development*
chemical_list: D009584:Nitrogen