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Experimental evidence for the immediate impact of fertilization and irrigation upon the plant and invertebrate communities of mountain grasslands
The response of montane and subalpine hay meadow plant and arthropod communities to the application of liquid manure and aerial irrigation – two novel, rapidly spreading management practices – remains poorly understood, which hampers the formulation of best practice management recommendations for bo...
Autores principales: | , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
2014
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4203302/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25360290 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1118 |
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author | Andrey, Aline Humbert, Jean-Yves Pernollet, Claire Arlettaz, Raphaël |
author_facet | Andrey, Aline Humbert, Jean-Yves Pernollet, Claire Arlettaz, Raphaël |
author_sort | Andrey, Aline |
collection | PubMed |
description | The response of montane and subalpine hay meadow plant and arthropod communities to the application of liquid manure and aerial irrigation – two novel, rapidly spreading management practices – remains poorly understood, which hampers the formulation of best practice management recommendations for both hay production and biodiversity preservation. In these nutrient-poor mountain grasslands, a moderate management regime could enhance overall conditions for biodiversity. This study experimentally assessed, at the site scale, among low-input montane and subalpine meadows, the short-term effects (1 year) of a moderate intensification (slurry fertilization: 26.7–53.3 kg N·ha(−1)·year(−1); irrigation with sprinklers: 20 mm·week(−1); singly or combined together) on plant species richness, vegetation structure, hay production, and arthropod abundance and biomass in the inner European Alps (Valais, SW Switzerland). Results show that (1) montane and subalpine hay meadow ecological communities respond very rapidly to an intensification of management practices; (2) on a short-term basis, a moderate intensification of very low-input hay meadows has positive effects on plant species richness, vegetation structure, hay production, and arthropod abundance and biomass; (3) vegetation structure is likely to be the key factor limiting arthropod abundance and biomass. Our ongoing experiments will in the longer term identify which level of management intensity achieves an optimal balance between biodiversity and hay production. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4203302 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2014 |
publisher | Blackwell Publishing Ltd |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-42033022014-10-30 Experimental evidence for the immediate impact of fertilization and irrigation upon the plant and invertebrate communities of mountain grasslands Andrey, Aline Humbert, Jean-Yves Pernollet, Claire Arlettaz, Raphaël Ecol Evol Original Research The response of montane and subalpine hay meadow plant and arthropod communities to the application of liquid manure and aerial irrigation – two novel, rapidly spreading management practices – remains poorly understood, which hampers the formulation of best practice management recommendations for both hay production and biodiversity preservation. In these nutrient-poor mountain grasslands, a moderate management regime could enhance overall conditions for biodiversity. This study experimentally assessed, at the site scale, among low-input montane and subalpine meadows, the short-term effects (1 year) of a moderate intensification (slurry fertilization: 26.7–53.3 kg N·ha(−1)·year(−1); irrigation with sprinklers: 20 mm·week(−1); singly or combined together) on plant species richness, vegetation structure, hay production, and arthropod abundance and biomass in the inner European Alps (Valais, SW Switzerland). Results show that (1) montane and subalpine hay meadow ecological communities respond very rapidly to an intensification of management practices; (2) on a short-term basis, a moderate intensification of very low-input hay meadows has positive effects on plant species richness, vegetation structure, hay production, and arthropod abundance and biomass; (3) vegetation structure is likely to be the key factor limiting arthropod abundance and biomass. Our ongoing experiments will in the longer term identify which level of management intensity achieves an optimal balance between biodiversity and hay production. Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2014-06 2014-05-28 /pmc/articles/PMC4203302/ /pubmed/25360290 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1118 Text en © 2014 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Original Research Andrey, Aline Humbert, Jean-Yves Pernollet, Claire Arlettaz, Raphaël Experimental evidence for the immediate impact of fertilization and irrigation upon the plant and invertebrate communities of mountain grasslands |
title | Experimental evidence for the immediate impact of fertilization and irrigation upon the plant and invertebrate communities of mountain grasslands |
title_full | Experimental evidence for the immediate impact of fertilization and irrigation upon the plant and invertebrate communities of mountain grasslands |
title_fullStr | Experimental evidence for the immediate impact of fertilization and irrigation upon the plant and invertebrate communities of mountain grasslands |
title_full_unstemmed | Experimental evidence for the immediate impact of fertilization and irrigation upon the plant and invertebrate communities of mountain grasslands |
title_short | Experimental evidence for the immediate impact of fertilization and irrigation upon the plant and invertebrate communities of mountain grasslands |
title_sort | experimental evidence for the immediate impact of fertilization and irrigation upon the plant and invertebrate communities of mountain grasslands |
topic | Original Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4203302/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25360290 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1118 |
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