Reduced N cycling in response to elevated CO2, warming, and drought in a Danish heathland:  synthesizing results of the CLIMAITE project after two years of treatments

Klaus Steenberg Larsen; Louise C. Andresen; Claus Beier; Sven Evert Jonasson; Kristian A Albert; Per Lennart Ambus; Marie Frost Arndal; Mette S Carter; Søren Christensen; Martin Holmstrup; Andreas Ibrom; Jane Kongstad Nielsen; Leon Van der Linden; Kristine Maraldo; Anders Michelsen; Teis N Mikkelsen; Kim Pilegaard; Anders Priemé; Helge Ro-Poulsen; Inger Kappel Schmidt; Merete B Selsted; Karen Stevnbak Andersen

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02351.x

Reduced N cycling in response to elevated CO₂, warming, and drought in a Danish heathland: synthesizing results of the CLIMAITE project after two years of treatments

Klaus Steenberg Larsen, Louise C. Andresen, Claus Beier, Sven Evert Jonasson, Kristian A Albert, Per Lennart Ambus, Marie Frost Arndal, Mette S Carter, Søren Christensen, Martin Holmstrup, Andreas Ibrom, Jane Kongstad Nielsen, Leon Van der Linden, Kristine Maraldo, Anders Michelsen, Teis N Mikkelsen, Kim Pilegaard, Anders Priemé, Helge Ro-Poulsen, Inger Kappel SchmidtMerete B Selsted, Karen Stevnbak Andersen

163 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Field-scale experiments simulating realistic future climate scenarios are important tools for investigating the effects of current and future climate changes on ecosystem functioning and biogeochemical cycling. We exposed a seminatural Danish heathland ecosystem to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), warming, and extended summer drought in all combinations. Here, we report on the short-term responses of the nitrogen (N) cycle after 2 years of treatments. Elevated CO2 significantly affected aboveground stoichiometry by increasing the carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratios in the leaves of both co-dominant species (Calluna vulgaris and Deschampsia flexuosa), as well as the C/N ratios of Calluna flowers and by reducing the N concentration of Deschampsia litter. Belowground, elevated CO2 had only minor effects, whereas warming increased N turnover, as indicated by increased rates of microbial NH4+ consumption, gross mineralization, potential nitrification, denitrification and N2O emissions. Drought reduced belowground gross N mineralization and decreased fauna N mass and fauna N mineralization. Leaching was unaffected by treatments but was significantly higher across all treatments in the second year than in the much drier first year indicating that ecosystem N loss is highly sensitive to changes and variability in amount and timing of precipitation. Interactions between treatments were common and although some synergistic effects were observed, antagonism dominated the interactive responses in treatment combinations, i.e. responses were smaller in combinations than in single treatments. Nonetheless, increased C/N ratios of photosynthetic tissue in response to elevated CO2, as well as drought-induced decreases in litter N production and fauna N mineralization prevailed in the full treatment combination. Overall, the simulated future climate scenario therefore lead to reduced N turnover, which could act to reduce the potential growth response of plants to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration

Original language	English
Journal	Global Change Biology
Volume	17
Issue number	5
Pages (from-to)	1884-1899
Number of pages	16
ISSN	1354-1013
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02351.x
Publication status	Published - May 2011

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10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02351.x

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Larsen, K. S., Andresen, L. C., Beier, C., Jonasson, S. E., Albert, K. A., Ambus, P. L., Arndal, M. F., Carter, M. S., Christensen, S., Holmstrup, M., Ibrom, A., Nielsen, J. K., Van der Linden, L., Maraldo, K., Michelsen, A., Mikkelsen, T. N., Pilegaard, K., Priemé, A., Ro-Poulsen, H., ... Andersen, K. S. (2011). Reduced N cycling in response to elevated CO₂, warming, and drought in a Danish heathland: synthesizing results of the CLIMAITE project after two years of treatments. Global Change Biology, 17(5), 1884-1899. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02351.x

Reduced N cycling in response to elevated CO₂, warming, and drought in a Danish heathland: synthesizing results of the CLIMAITE project after two years of treatments. / Larsen, Klaus Steenberg; Andresen, Louise C.; Beier, Claus et al.
In: Global Change Biology, Vol. 17, No. 5, 05.2011, p. 1884-1899.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

Larsen, KS, Andresen, LC, Beier, C, Jonasson, SE, Albert, KA, Ambus, PL, Arndal, MF, Carter, MS, Christensen, S, Holmstrup, M, Ibrom, A, Nielsen, JK, Van der Linden, L, Maraldo, K, Michelsen, A, Mikkelsen, TN, Pilegaard, K, Priemé, A , Ro-Poulsen, H , Schmidt, IK, Selsted, MB & Andersen, KS 2011, 'Reduced N cycling in response to elevated CO₂, warming, and drought in a Danish heathland: synthesizing results of the CLIMAITE project after two years of treatments', Global Change Biology, vol. 17, no. 5, pp. 1884-1899. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02351.x

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title = "Reduced N cycling in response to elevated CO2, warming, and drought in a Danish heathland: synthesizing results of the CLIMAITE project after two years of treatments",

abstract = "Field-scale experiments simulating realistic future climate scenarios are important tools for investigating the effects of current and future climate changes on ecosystem functioning and biogeochemical cycling. We exposed a seminatural Danish heathland ecosystem to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), warming, and extended summer drought in all combinations. Here, we report on the short-term responses of the nitrogen (N) cycle after 2 years of treatments. Elevated CO2 significantly affected aboveground stoichiometry by increasing the carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratios in the leaves of both co-dominant species (Calluna vulgaris and Deschampsia flexuosa), as well as the C/N ratios of Calluna flowers and by reducing the N concentration of Deschampsia litter. Belowground, elevated CO2 had only minor effects, whereas warming increased N turnover, as indicated by increased rates of microbial NH4+ consumption, gross mineralization, potential nitrification, denitrification and N2O emissions. Drought reduced belowground gross N mineralization and decreased fauna N mass and fauna N mineralization. Leaching was unaffected by treatments but was significantly higher across all treatments in the second year than in the much drier first year indicating that ecosystem N loss is highly sensitive to changes and variability in amount and timing of precipitation. Interactions between treatments were common and although some synergistic effects were observed, antagonism dominated the interactive responses in treatment combinations, i.e. responses were smaller in combinations than in single treatments. Nonetheless, increased C/N ratios of photosynthetic tissue in response to elevated CO2, as well as drought-induced decreases in litter N production and fauna N mineralization prevailed in the full treatment combination. Overall, the simulated future climate scenario therefore lead to reduced N turnover, which could act to reduce the potential growth response of plants to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration",

author = "Larsen, {Klaus Steenberg} and Andresen, {Louise C.} and Claus Beier and Jonasson, {Sven Evert} and Albert, {Kristian A} and Ambus, {Per Lennart} and Arndal, {Marie Frost} and Carter, {Mette S} and S{\o}ren Christensen and Martin Holmstrup and Andreas Ibrom and Nielsen, {Jane Kongstad} and {Van der Linden}, Leon and Kristine Maraldo and Anders Michelsen and Mikkelsen, {Teis N} and Kim Pilegaard and Anders Priem{\'e} and Helge Ro-Poulsen and Schmidt, {Inger Kappel} and Selsted, {Merete B} and Andersen, {Karen Stevnbak}",

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T2 - synthesizing results of the CLIMAITE project after two years of treatments

AU - Larsen, Klaus Steenberg

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AU - Beier, Claus

AU - Jonasson, Sven Evert

AU - Albert, Kristian A

AU - Ambus, Per Lennart

AU - Arndal, Marie Frost

AU - Carter, Mette S

AU - Christensen, Søren

AU - Holmstrup, Martin

AU - Ibrom, Andreas

AU - Nielsen, Jane Kongstad

AU - Van der Linden, Leon

AU - Maraldo, Kristine

AU - Michelsen, Anders

AU - Mikkelsen, Teis N

AU - Pilegaard, Kim

AU - Priemé, Anders

AU - Ro-Poulsen, Helge

AU - Schmidt, Inger Kappel

AU - Selsted, Merete B

AU - Andersen, Karen Stevnbak

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N2 - Field-scale experiments simulating realistic future climate scenarios are important tools for investigating the effects of current and future climate changes on ecosystem functioning and biogeochemical cycling. We exposed a seminatural Danish heathland ecosystem to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), warming, and extended summer drought in all combinations. Here, we report on the short-term responses of the nitrogen (N) cycle after 2 years of treatments. Elevated CO2 significantly affected aboveground stoichiometry by increasing the carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratios in the leaves of both co-dominant species (Calluna vulgaris and Deschampsia flexuosa), as well as the C/N ratios of Calluna flowers and by reducing the N concentration of Deschampsia litter. Belowground, elevated CO2 had only minor effects, whereas warming increased N turnover, as indicated by increased rates of microbial NH4+ consumption, gross mineralization, potential nitrification, denitrification and N2O emissions. Drought reduced belowground gross N mineralization and decreased fauna N mass and fauna N mineralization. Leaching was unaffected by treatments but was significantly higher across all treatments in the second year than in the much drier first year indicating that ecosystem N loss is highly sensitive to changes and variability in amount and timing of precipitation. Interactions between treatments were common and although some synergistic effects were observed, antagonism dominated the interactive responses in treatment combinations, i.e. responses were smaller in combinations than in single treatments. Nonetheless, increased C/N ratios of photosynthetic tissue in response to elevated CO2, as well as drought-induced decreases in litter N production and fauna N mineralization prevailed in the full treatment combination. Overall, the simulated future climate scenario therefore lead to reduced N turnover, which could act to reduce the potential growth response of plants to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration

AB - Field-scale experiments simulating realistic future climate scenarios are important tools for investigating the effects of current and future climate changes on ecosystem functioning and biogeochemical cycling. We exposed a seminatural Danish heathland ecosystem to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), warming, and extended summer drought in all combinations. Here, we report on the short-term responses of the nitrogen (N) cycle after 2 years of treatments. Elevated CO2 significantly affected aboveground stoichiometry by increasing the carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratios in the leaves of both co-dominant species (Calluna vulgaris and Deschampsia flexuosa), as well as the C/N ratios of Calluna flowers and by reducing the N concentration of Deschampsia litter. Belowground, elevated CO2 had only minor effects, whereas warming increased N turnover, as indicated by increased rates of microbial NH4+ consumption, gross mineralization, potential nitrification, denitrification and N2O emissions. Drought reduced belowground gross N mineralization and decreased fauna N mass and fauna N mineralization. Leaching was unaffected by treatments but was significantly higher across all treatments in the second year than in the much drier first year indicating that ecosystem N loss is highly sensitive to changes and variability in amount and timing of precipitation. Interactions between treatments were common and although some synergistic effects were observed, antagonism dominated the interactive responses in treatment combinations, i.e. responses were smaller in combinations than in single treatments. Nonetheless, increased C/N ratios of photosynthetic tissue in response to elevated CO2, as well as drought-induced decreases in litter N production and fauna N mineralization prevailed in the full treatment combination. Overall, the simulated future climate scenario therefore lead to reduced N turnover, which could act to reduce the potential growth response of plants to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration

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DO - 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02351.x

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