In biodiversity experiments based on seeded experimental communities, species richness and species composition exert a strong influence on canopy structure and can lead to an improved use of aboveground resources. In this study, we want to explore whether these findings are applicable to agriculturally managed permanent grassland. Vertical layered profiles of biomass, leaf area (LA) and light i...

Allelopathic effects of plant litter have been extensively studied, but less attention has been given to the dynamics of phytotoxicity during the decomposition processes. Decomposition experiments were carried out on above- and below-ground plant materials of 25 species of different functional groups (nitrogen fixer, forbs, woody and grasses-sedges) in aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The phyt...

Restoration treatments are based on the largely untested notion that desired recovery of plant communities following disturbance wouldn’t occur in the absence of active intervention. We identified rate of short-term (10 year) floristic changes following removal of plant functional groups in Wyoming big sagebrush plant communities in 1999e2005 and 2008. Treatments imposed on 6 6 m plots were: 1)...

In terrestrial ecosystems, atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has greatly increased N availability relative to other elements, particularly phosphorus (P). Alterations in the availability of N relative to P can affect plant growth rate and functional traits, as well as resource allocation to above- versus belowground biomass (MA and MB). Biomass allocation among individual plants is broadly si...

Although the potential for increased temperature is the primary and best-studied aspect of anthropogenic climate change, altered rainfall patterns, increased storm intensity, and more severe droughts are also predicted in most climate-change scenarios. We altered experimentally the rainfall regime in a native tallgrass prairie in northeastern Kansas and assessed leaf-level physiological activit...

Finding the best management strategies to restore grassland diversity and achieve a compromise between agricultural use biodiversity protection is global challenge. This paper reports novel data relating impacts of 19 years restoration managements predicted increase botanical within reseeded upland temperate common in less favoured areas Europe. The treatments imposed were: continuous sheep gra...