Summary
This paper, published in Science in 2011, synthesises evidence from nutrient addition experiments across grassland ecosystems globally to investigate how co-limitation by multiple nutrients drives changes in plant diversity. The authors likely demonstrate that adding multiple limiting nutrients simultaneously causes greater reductions in plant species richness than single-nutrient additions, challenging the classical single-resource limitation paradigm. The findings have significant implications for understanding how agricultural fertilisation and atmospheric deposition interact to erode plant biodiversity.
UK applicability
The findings are applicable to UK conditions, particularly in the context of semi-natural grasslands and upland habitats where atmospheric nitrogen deposition combined with phosphorus enrichment poses a recognised threat to plant diversity; this work supports UK agri-environment policy objectives around nutrient management and grassland conservation.
Key measures
Plant species richness; nutrient addition treatments (N, P, K and combinations); diversity indices
Outcomes reported
The study examined how simultaneous limitation by multiple nutrients (rather than single-nutrient limitation) shapes plant species diversity, likely finding that co-limitation by nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium suppresses diversity more than single-nutrient addition alone.
Topic tags
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