Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Chronic N enrichment and drought alter plant cover and community composition in a Mediterranean-type semi-arid shrubland

  • Community ecology – original research
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition has caused a decline in native plant species and an increase in exotic plant species in many terrestrial ecosystems; however, vegetation change depends on the rate and/or duration of N input, individual species responses, interactions with other resources, and ecosystem properties such as species richness and canopy cover, soil texture, pH, and/or disturbance regime. Native shrub and exotic forb responses to N enrichment were evaluated over a 13-year field experiment in a mature coastal sage scrub (CSS) shrubland of southern California to test the hypothesis that dry-season N input will cause a decline in native shrubs and an increase in exotic annuals. Nitrogen enrichment caused the dominant native shrubs, Artemisia californica and Salvia mellifera, to respond differently, with A. californica initially increasing with N input but declining thereafter and S. mellifera declining consistently over the 13-year-period. Both species exhibited higher canopy dieback during drought conditions, especially in N plots. Brassica nigra, an exotic annual, invaded N plots significantly more than control plots, but only after 10 years of N addition and a prolonged drought, which increased native shrub canopy dieback. These results indicate a possible synergism between N enrichment and drought on native shrub and exotic forb abundance, which would have important implications for plant diversity in semi-arid shrublands of southwest US that are anticipated to experience an increase in anthropogenic N enrichment and the frequency and duration of drought.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen EB, Egerton-Warburton LM, Hilbig BE, Valliere JM (2016) Interactions of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, critical loads of nitrogen deposition, and shifts from native to invasive species in a southern California shrubland. Botany 94:425–433. doi:10.1139/cjb-2015-0266

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bobbink R, Hicks K, Galloway J et al (2010) Global assessment of nitrogen deposition effects on terrestrial plant diversity: a synthesis. Ecol Appl 20(1):30–59

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bonham CD (1989) Measurements of terrestrial vegetation. John Wiley, New York, p 338

    Google Scholar 

  • Bozzolo FH, Lipson DA (2013) Differential responses of native and exotic coastal sage scrub plant species to N additions and the soil microbial community. Plant Soil 371:37–51. doi:10.1007/s11104-013-1668-2

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bytnerowicz A, Fenn ME (1996) Nitrogen deposition in California forests: a review. Environ Pollut 92:127–146

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cleland EE, Harpole WS (2010) Nitrogen enrichment and plant communities. Ann NY Acad Sci 1195:46–61. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2010.05458.x

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cox P, Delao A, Komorniczak A, Weller R (2009) The California almanac of emissions and air quality, 2009. Air resources board. California Environmental Protection Agency, Sacramento

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox RD, Preston KL, Johnson RF, Minnich RA, Allen EB (2014) Influence of landscape-scale variables on vegetation conversion to exotic annual grassland in southern California, USA. Glob Ecol Conser 2:190–203. doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2014.09.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Antonio CM, Vitousek PM (1992) Biological invasions by exotic grasses, the grass fire cycle, and global change. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 23:63–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fenn ME, Poth MA (2004) Monitoring nitrogen deposition in throughfall using ion exchange resin columns: a field test in the San Bernardino mountains. J Environ Qual 33:2007–2014

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fenn ME, Haeuber R, Tonnesen GS et al (2003) Nitrogen emissions, deposition, and monitoring in the western United States. Bioscience 53:391–403

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fenn ME, Allen EB, Weiss SB et al (2010) Nitrogen critical loads and management alternatives for N-impacted ecosystems in California. J Environ Manage 91:2404–2423. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2010.07.034

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Galloway JN, Dentener FJ, Capone DG et al (2004) Nitrogen cycles: past, present, and future. Biogeochemistry 70:153–226

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Garfin G, Franco G, Blanco H et al (2014) Ch. 20: Southwest. Climate change impacts in the United States: the third national climate assessment. Melillo JM, Richmond TC, Yohe GW (Eds) US: Global Change Research Program, 462–486, doi:10.7930/J08G8HMN

  • Gea-Izquierdo G, Gennet S, Bartolome JW (2007) Assessing plant–nutrient relationships in highly invaded Californian grasslands using non-normal probability distributions. Appl Veg Sci 10:343–350. doi:10.1658/1402-2001(2007)10[343:APRIHI]2.0.CO;2

  • Gray JT, Schlesinger WH (1983) Nutrient use by evergreen and deciduous shrubs in southern California. II. Experimental investigations of the relationship between growth, nitrogen uptake, and nitrogen availability. J Ecol 71:43–56

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harpole WS, Potts DL, Suding KN (2007) Ecosystem responses to water and nitrogen amendment in a California grassland. Glob Change Biol 13:1–8. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2007.01447.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hintze J (2007) NCSS and PASS. Number Cruncher Statistical Systems, Kaysville. http://www.NCSS.com. Accessed 1 June 2011

  • Homyak PM, Blankinship JC, Marchus K, Lucero DM, Sickman JO, Schimel JP (2016) Aridity and plant uptake interact to make dryland soils hotspots for nitric oxide (NO) emissions. PNAS 113:E2608–E2616. doi:10.1073/pnas.1520496113

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Isbell F, Reich PB, Tilman D et al (2013) Nutrient enrichment, biodiversity loss, and consequent declines in ecosystem productivity. Proc Natl Acad Sci 110:11911–11916. doi:10.1073/pnas.1310880110

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Keeley JE, Brennan TJ (2012) Fire-driven alien invasion in a fire-adapted ecosystem. Oecologia 169:1043–1052. doi:10.1007/s00442-012-2253-8

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kimball S, Goulden ML, Suding KN, Parker S (2014) Altered water and nitrogen input shifts succession in a Southern California coastal sage community. Ecol Appl 24:1390–1404

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knecht AA (1971) Soil survey for Western riverside area California. United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolb KJ, Davis SD (1994) Drought tolerance and xylem embolism in co-occurring species of coastal sage and chaparral. Ecology 75:648–659

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milchunas DG, Lauenroth WK (1995) Inertia in plant community structure: state changes after cessation of nitrogen-enrichment stress. Ecol Appl 5:452–458

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Minnich RA, Dezzani RJ (1998) Historical decline of coastal sage scrub in the Riverside-Perris Plain California. Western Birds 29:366–391

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers N, Mittermeier RA, Mittermeier CG et al (2000) Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403:853–858

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Naeem S, Knops JMH, Tilman D, Howe KM, Kennedy T, Gale S (2000) Plant diversity increases resistance to invasion in the absence of covarying extrinsic factors. Oikos 91:97–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Padgett PE, Allen EB (1999) Differential responses to nitrogen fertilization in native shrubs and exotic annuals common to Mediterranean coastal sage scrub of California. Plant Ecol 144:93–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearce ISK, Van der Wal R (2008) Interpreting nitrogen pollution thresholds for sensitive habitats: the importance of concentration versus dose. Environ Pollut 152:253–256

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Phoenix GK, Hicks WK, Cinderby S et al (2006) Atmospheric nitrogen deposition in world biodiversity hotspots: the need for a greater global perspective in assessing N deposition impacts. Glob Change Biol 12:470–476. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2006.01104.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pivovaroff AL, Santiago LS, Vourlitis GL, Grantz DA, Allen MF (2016) Differing hydraulic response strategies of four Mediterranean-type shrubs to long-term dry season nitrogen deposition. Oecologia. doi:10.1007/s00442-016-3609-2

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pratt JD, Mooney KA (2013) Clinal adaptation and adaptive plasticity in Artemisia californica: implications for the response of a foundation species to predicted climate change. Glob Change Biol 19:2454–2466. doi:10.1111/gcb.12199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rao LE, Allen EB (2010) Combined effects of precipitation and nitrogen deposition on native and invasive winter annual production in California deserts. Oecologia 162:1035–1046. doi:10.1007/S00442-009-1516-5

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rao LE, Steers RJ, Allen EB (2011) Effects of natural and anthropogenic gradients on native and exotic winter annuals in a southern California desert. Plant Ecol 212:1079–1089. doi:10.1007/s11258-010-9888-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Read DJ, Perez-Moreno J (2003) Mycorrhizas and nutrient cycling in ecosystems—a journey towards relevance? New Phytol 157:475–492

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roem WJ, Klees H, Berendse F (2002) Effects of nutrient addition and acidification on plant species diversity and seed germination in heathland. J Appl Ecol 39:937–948

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Seabloom EW, Harpole WS, Reichmann OJ, Tilman D (2003) Invasion, competitive dominance, and resource use by exotic and native California grassland species. Proc Natl Acad Sci 100:13384–13389

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Sigüenza C, Crowley DE, Allen EB (2006) Soil microorganisms of a native shrub and exotic grasses along a nitrogen deposition gradient in southern California. Appl Soil Ecol 32:13–26. doi:10.1016/j.apsoil.2005.02.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simkin SM, Allen EB, Bowman WD et al (2016) Conditional vulnerability of plant diversity to atmospheric nitrogen deposition across the United States. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 113:4086–4091. doi:10.1073/pnas.1515241113

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Suding KN, Collins SL, Gough L et al (2005) Functional and abundance-based mechanisms explain diversity loss due to N fertilization. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 102:4387–4392. doi:10.1073/pnas.0408648102

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Talluto MV, Suding KN (2008) Historical change in coastal sage scrub in southern California, USA in relation to fire frequency and air pollution. Landsc Ecol 23:803–815. doi:10.1007/s10980-008-9238-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valliere JM, Allen EB (2016) Interactive effects of nitrogen deposition and drought-stress on plant–soil feedbacks of Artemisia californica seedlings. Plant Soil 403:277–290. doi:10.1007/s11104-015-2776-y

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek PM, Howarth RW, Likens GE et al (1997) Human alteration of the global nitrogen cycle: sources and consequences. Ecol Appl 7:737–750

    Google Scholar 

  • Vourlitis GL (2012) Aboveground net primary production response of semi-arid shrublands to chronic experimental dry-season N input. Ecosphere 3:1–9. doi:10.1890/ES11-00339.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vourlitis GL, Fernandez JS (2012) Changes in the soil, litter, and vegetation nitrogen and carbon concentrations of semiarid shrublands in response to chronic dry season nitrogen input. J Arid Environ 82:115–122. doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2012.02.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vourlitis GL, Hentz CS (2016) Chronic N addition alters the carbon and nitrogen storage of a post-fire Mediterranean-type shrubland. J Geophys Res-Biogeosci. 121:385–398. doi:10.1002/2015JG003220

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vourlitis GL, Pasquini S (2009) Experimental dry-season N deposition alters species composition in southern Californian Mediterranean-type shrublands. Ecology 90:2183–2189

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vourlitis GL, Pasquini S, Mustard R (2009) Effects of dry-season N input on the productivity and N storage of Mediterranean-type shrublands. Ecosystems 12:473–488. doi:10.1007/s10021-009-9236-6

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Westman WE (1983) Xeric Mediterranean-Type Shrubland Associations of Alta and Baja California and the Community/Continuum Debate. Vegetatio 52:3–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood YA, Meixner T, Shouse PJ, Allen EB (2006) Altered ecohydrologic response drives native shrub loss under conditions of elevated nitrogen deposition. J Environ Qual 35:76–92. doi:10.2134/jeq2004.0465

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation-CAREER (DEB-0133259), National Institutes of Health- National Institute of General Medical Science-SCORE (S06 GM 59833), and the United States Department of Agriculture-National Institute of Food and Agriculture-HSI (2010-38422-21241) programs. Permission to use the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve was graciously granted by the San Diego State University Field Station Programs.

Author contribution statement

GLV conceived, designed, and performed the experiments, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. California State University, San Marcos, CA, 92064, USA

    George L. Vourlitis

Authors
  1. George L. Vourlitis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to George L. Vourlitis.

Additional information

Communicated by Edith B. Allen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Vourlitis, G.L. Chronic N enrichment and drought alter plant cover and community composition in a Mediterranean-type semi-arid shrubland. Oecologia 184, 267–277 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-017-3860-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-017-3860-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation