Responses of Temperate Forests to Nitrogen Deposition: Testing the Explanatory Power of Modeled Deposition Datasets for
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Responses of Temperate Forests to Nitrogen Deposition: Testing the Explanatory Power of Modeled Deposition Datasets for Vegetation Gradients Marina Roth,1,2* Hans-Gerhard Michiels,1 Heike Puhlmann,3 Carina Sucker,4 Maria-Barbara Winter,1 and Markus Hauck2 1 Forest Conservation, Forest Research Institute Baden-Wu¨rttemberg, Wonnhaldestr. 4, 79100 Freiburg, Germany; 2Applied Vegetation Ecology, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, Tennenbacher Str. 4, 79106 Freiburg, Germany; 3Soil and Environment, Forest Research Institute Baden-Wu¨rttemberg, Wonnhaldestr. 4, 79100 Freiburg, Germany; 4Hydrology, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, Friedrichstraße 39, 79098 Freiburg, Germany
ABSTRACT Eutrophication due to increased nitrogen concentrations is known to alter species composition and threaten sensitive habitat types. The contribution of atmospheric nitrogen deposition to eutrophication is often difficult to determine. Various deposition models have been developed to estimate the amount of nitrogen deposited for both entire regions and different landscape surface types. The question arises whether the resulting deposition maps allow direct conclusions about the risk of eutrophication-related changes in the understory vegetation composition and diversity in nitrogensensitive forest ecosystems. We combined vegetation and soil data recorded across eutrophication gradients in ten oligo-mesotrophic forest types in southwest Germany with datasets from two dif-
Received 17 February 2020; accepted 18 October 2020 Electronic supplementary material: The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00579-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Author contributions HP, HGM and MBW conceived the study, MR performed the research and analyzed the data, MR and MH wrote the paper, with input from HP, HGM, MBW and CS. *Corresponding author; e-mail: [email protected]
ferent deposition models specifically fitted for forests in our study region. Altogether, 153 forest stands, with three sampling replicates each, were examined. Linear mixed-effect models and NMDS analyses revealed that other site factors, in particular the soil C/N ratio, soil pH and canopy cover, played a greater role in explaining vegetation gradients than nitrogen deposition. The latter only rarely had effects on species richness (positive), nitrophyte cover (positive or negative) and the cover of sensitive character species (negative). These effects varied depending on the deposition model used and the forest types examined. No effects of nitrogen deposition on average Ellenberg N values were found. The results reflect the complex situation in forests where nitrogen availability is not only influenced by deposition but also by nitrogen mineralization and retention which depend on soil type, pH and (micro)climate. This context dependency must be regarded when evaluating the effects of nitrogen deposition. Key words: Nitrogen; Eutrophication;
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