Decoupled responses of above- and below-ground beta-diversity to nitrogen enrichment in a typical steppe

Increased atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition affects biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems. However, we do not know whether the effects of N on above-ground plant beta-diversity are coupled with changes occurring in the soil seed bank. We conducted a long-term N-addition experiment in a typical steppe and found that above-ground beta-diversity increased and then decreased with increasing N addition, whereas below-ground beta-diversity decreased linearly. This suggests decoupled dynamics of plant communities and their soil seed bank under N enrichment. Species substitution determined above- and below-ground beta-diversity change via an increasing role of deterministic processes with N addition. These effects were mostly driven by differential responses of the above-ground vegetation and the soil seed bank beta-diversities to N-induced changes in environmental heterogeneity, increased soil inorganic N concentrations and soil acidification. Our findings highlight the importance of considering above- and below-ground processes simultaneously for effectively conserving grassland ecosystems under N enrichment. We conducted a long-term N-addition experiment in a the typical steppe and found that above-ground vegetation beta-diversity increased and then decreased, whereas soil seed bank beta-diversity decreased linearly with increasing N addition, which suggested decoupled relationships. Our findings shed new light on plant community assembly, and highlighted the importance of considering above- and below-ground processes in effectively conserving grassland ecosystems under N enrichment.image