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- Title
Interactions between tall oatgrass invasion and soil nitrogen cycling.
- Authors
Hinckley, Eve-Lyn S.; Miller, Hannah R.; Lezberg, Ann; Anacker, Brian
- Abstract
Increases in nitrogen (N) inputs to the biosphere can exacerbate the introduction and spread of invasive non-native plant species. Often, with elevated soil N levels, invasive plants establish and further enrich soil N pools, changing overall ecosystem function. This study examined the relationship between soil N cycling and an increasingly prevalent, invasive plant species, tall oatgrass (Arrhenatherum elatius subsp. elatius), in foothills ecosystems between the Colorado Rocky Mountains and the Denver-Boulder Metropolitan area—similar to many Western US grasslands and woodlands. It focused on investigating differences in soil N transformations, inorganic N pools, and vegetation characteristics across invaded and uninvaded plots at three sites in two seasons (summer and autumn). There was a statistically significant effect of invasion on rates of net N mineralization, but it was dependent on site and season (p = 0.046). Site had a statistically significant effect on soil moisture and aboveground biomass C:N (p < 0.04). The interactions of invasion x site were statistically significant for ammonium pools (p < 0.03). These findings suggest that A. elatius invasion can be associated with accelerated N cycling, but that the nature of the relationship differs by location and season in the foothills. More broadly, this study contributes to determining how the N cycle is shifting in grassland ecosystems subject to increasing pressures from anthropogenic change.
- Subjects
DENVER (Colo.); COLORADO; NITROGEN cycle; NITROGEN in soils; INVASIVE plants; PLANT species; GRASSLAND soils; METROPOLITAN areas
- Publication
Oecologia, 2022, Vol 199, Issue 2, p419
- ISSN
0029-8549
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00442-022-05192-x