title: Response of aboveground biomass and diversity to nitrogen addition - a five-year experiment in semi-arid grassland of Inner Mongolia, China.
abstract: Understanding the response of the plant community to increasing nitrogen (N) deposition is helpful for improving pasture management in semi-arid areas. We implemented a 5-year N addition experiment in a Stipa krylovii steppe of Inner Mongolia, northern China. The aboveground biomass (AGB) and species richness were measured annually. Along with the N addition levels, the species richness declined significantly, and the species composition changed noticeably. However, the total AGB did not exhibit a noticeable increase. We found that compensatory effects of the AGB occurred not only between the grasses and the forbs but also among Gramineae species. The plant responses to N addition, from the community to species level, lessened in dry years compared to wet or normal years. The N addition intensified the reduction of community productivity in dry years. Our study indicated that the compensatory effects of the AGB among the species sustained the stability of grassland productivity. However, biodiversity loss resulting from increasing N deposition might lead the semi-arid grassland ecosystem to be unsustainable, especially in dry years.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface and Resource Ecology, College of Resources Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, P.R. China.|College of Resource and Environment, Yunnan Institute of Geography, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, P.R. China.
authors: Kejian
authors: K
authors: He
authors: Inner Mongolia Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Hohhot 010011, P.R. China.
authors: Yu
authors: Y
authors: Qi
authors: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface and Resource Ecology, College of Resources Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, P.R. China.
authors: Yongmei
authors: Y
authors: Huang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface and Resource Ecology, College of Resources Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, P.R. China.
authors: Huiying
authors: H
authors: Chen
authors: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface and Resource Ecology, College of Resources Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, P.R. China.
authors: Zhilu
authors: Z
authors: Sheng
authors: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface and Resource Ecology, College of Resources Science and Technology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, P.R. China.
authors: Xia
authors: X
authors: Xu
authors: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P.R. China.
authors: Lei
authors: L
authors: Duan
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D018533:Biomass; D002681:China; D017753:Ecosystem; D065948:Grassland; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D063245:Plant Development; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism*; D006109:Poaceae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D009584:Nitrogen