Publications
157 results found
Mombrikotb SB, Van Agtmaal M, Johnstone E, et al., 2022, The interactions and hierarchical effects of long-term agricultural stressors on soil bacterial communities, ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY REPORTS, Vol: 14, Pages: 711-718, ISSN: 1758-2229
Crawley MJ, Pakeman RJ, Albon SD, et al., 2021, The dynamics of vegetation grazed by a food-limited population of Soay sheep on St Kilda, Journal of Ecology, Vol: 109, Pages: 3988-4006, ISSN: 0022-0477
The population of Soay sheep on the island of Hirta in the Outer Hebrides has been the subject of continuous study for more than 35 years. This paper focuses on the botanical aspects of the plant–herbivore interaction, showing how the vegetation affects and is affected by the sheep.Grazing impacts on biomass and spatial structure varied across plant communities, with Holcus/Agrostis grasslands affected most and Wet Heath least, consistent with the hypothesis that herbivore impacts are proportional to plant productivity.Within plant communities, the negative relationships between sheep numbers and plant abundance (sward height, gap/tussock cover and biomass) were significant in March but not significant in August, as expected if sheep numbers are limited by food supply in winter.In most species, flower stem density declined with increasing sheep numbers. There were no examples where unpalatable plants showed increased flowering (e.g. from competitor release under selective grazing).Plant production in temporary grazing exclosures (above-ground net primary production) was greatest in Holcus/Agrostis grassland (12.6 t ha−1 dry matter year−1), lower in Nardus grassland (5.1 t ha−1 year−1) and least in Plantago sward (1.3 t ha−1 year−1) associated with differences in historical nutrient supply and microclimate.The net effect of grazing on plant species richness was positive: A few highly palatable species were excluded, but small-scale coexistence of grazing-tolerant species was enhanced by defoliation.The Soay sheep population fluctuated from 908 (in 1988) to 2,208 (in 2009), increasing by an average of 39 extra animals per year over the period 1985–2011. Between 2011 and 2020, the population fluctuated less widely and showed no trend.Population change (ln(N(t + 1)/N(t))) was inversely density dependent but positively correlated with plant production in Holcus/Agrostis grassland which increased during the study.This plant&
Schleuss PM, Widdig M, Biederman LA, et al., 2021, Microbial substrate stoichiometry governs nutrient effects on nitrogen cycling in grassland soils, SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY, Vol: 155, ISSN: 0038-0717
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 19
Widdig M, Schleuss P-M, Biederman LA, et al., 2020, Microbial carbon use efficiency in grassland soils subjected to nitrogen and phosphorus additions, SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY, Vol: 146, ISSN: 0038-0717
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 38
Leverkus AB, Crawley MJ, 2020, Temporal variation in effect sizes in a long-term, split-plot field experiment., Ecology, Vol: 101, Pages: 1-21, ISSN: 0012-9658
Ecological field experiments initiate successional and evolutionary changes amongst resident species, yet effect sizes are often reported as if they were constants. Few ecological studies have addressed their questions through long-term, experimental approaches, and many questions remain unanswered regarding temporal patterns in ecological effect sizes. We document temporal variation in effect sizes in response to pulse and press manipulations in a long-term factorial field experiment at Nash's Field, England. The experiment comprises seven treatments applied in a split-plot design to test the single and interactive effects of herbivory by insects, molluscs and rabbits, liming, nutrient limitation (applied as press experiments), competition (exclusion of grasses or herbs with specific herbicides), and seed limitation (pulse experiments) on plant community dynamics. The response of all vascular plant species was followed for two decades. High species richness was positively related to the minus-grass herbicide in the first decade and negatively related to both nitrogen addition and the abundance of dominant species in both decades. Many significant effects appeared quickly, but some large effects were not detected until year 15. Press experiments produced some long-lasting effects, but effect sizes changed due to both idiosyncratic 'year effects' and secular trends. For pulse experiments, most effects -including positive and negative responses to herbicide application and the invasion of most of the sown species- disappeared quickly. However, some endured or grew monotonically, such as the invasion of two sown species that benefited from particular combinations of the press treatments. The fastest effects to appear were the responses from established species. Many of these responses were negative, likely resulting from reduced niche dimensionality and competitive exclusion by new dominant species. Contrarily, one of the largest community-level effects took well over
Widdig M, Schleuss P-M, Weig AR, et al., 2019, Nitrogen and Phosphorus Additions Alter the Abundance of Phosphorus-Solubilizing Bacteria and Phosphatase Activity in Grassland Soils, FRONTIERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, Vol: 7
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 39
Guignard MS, Crawley MJ, Kovalenko D, et al., 2019, Interactions between plant genome size, nutrients and herbivory by rabbits, molluscs and insects on a temperate grassland, PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, Vol: 286, ISSN: 0962-8452
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 12
Egan G, Zhou X, Wang D, et al., 2018, Long-term effects of grassland management on soil microbial abundance: implications for soil carbon and nitrogen storage, BIOGEOCHEMISTRY, Vol: 141, Pages: 213-228, ISSN: 0168-2563
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 9
Froy H, Borger L, Regan CE, et al., 2018, Declining home range area predicts reduced late-life survival in two wild ungulate populations, ECOLOGY LETTERS, Vol: 21, Pages: 1001-1009, ISSN: 1461-023X
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 21
Egan G, Crawley MJ, Fornara DA, 2018, Effects of long-term grassland management on the carbon and nitrogen pools of different soil aggregate fractions, SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT, Vol: 613, Pages: 810-819, ISSN: 0048-9697
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 56
Heyburn J, McKenzie P, Crawley MJ, et al., 2017, Long-term belowground effects of grassland management: the key role of liming, ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS, Vol: 27, Pages: 2001-2012, ISSN: 1051-0761
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 22
Heyburn J, McKenzie P, Crawley MJ, et al., 2017, Effects of grassland management on plant C:N:P stoichiometry: implications for soil element cycling and storage, ECOSPHERE, Vol: 8, ISSN: 2150-8925
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 39
Heyburn J, McKenzie P, Crawley MJ, et al., 2017, Long-term belowground effects of grassland management: the key role of liming., Ecol Appl, Vol: 27, Pages: 2001-2012, ISSN: 1051-0761
The functioning of human-managed grassland ecosystems strongly depends on how common management practices will affect grassland "belowground compartment" including soil biogeochemistry and plant roots. Key questions remain about how animal grazing, liming (e.g., the addition of CaCO3 to soils), and nutrient fertilization might affect, in the long-term, soil nutrient cycling and multiple root traits. Here we focus on a mesotrophic grassland located in Berkshire, UK, where contrasting levels of rabbit grazing, liming, and different inorganic fertilizers have been applied since 1991. We ask how (1) soil nitrogen (N) availability and cycling, (2) total root mass, (3) root mass decomposition, and (4) arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) root colonization might respond to 22 years of very different management. We found that liming strongly affected total root mass, root decomposition, root AMF colonization as well as soil N availability and cycling and that these effects were mainly driven by liming-induced increases in soil pH. Increases in soil pH were associated with significant (1) decreases in root mass, (2) increases in root mass decomposability and in the mineralization of N in decomposing root detritus, and (3) increases in AMF infection. Soil pH was also significantly related to greater N availability (i.e., soil NO3 levels) and to lower δ15 N natural abundance, which suggests more efficient N uptake by plants in limed soils as we found in our study. The application of multiple nutrients (N, P, K, Mg) also reduced total root mass, while N-only fertilization was associated with greater AMF infection. Surprisingly the long-term impact of grazing was generally weak and not significant on most plant and soil parameters. Despite soil pH affecting most belowground variables, changes in soil pH were not associated with any change in soil C and N stocks. Because liming can improve nutrient cycling (and benefits soil pH and grass yields) without negati
Cenini VL, Fornara DA, McMullan G, et al., 2016, Linkages between extracellular enzyme activities and the carbon and nitrogen content of grassland soils, SOIL BIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY, Vol: 96, Pages: 198-206, ISSN: 0038-0717
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 100
Regan CE, Pilkington JG, Pemberton JM, et al., 2016, Sex differences in relationships between habitat use and reproductive performance in Soay sheep (Ovis aries), ECOLOGY LETTERS, Vol: 19, Pages: 171-179, ISSN: 1461-023X
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 11
Tredennick AT, Adler PB, Grace JB, et al., 2016, Comment on "Worldwide evidence of a unimodal relationship between productivity and plant species richness", SCIENCE, Vol: 351, ISSN: 0036-8075
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 11
Grace JB, Anderson TM, Seabloom EW, et al., 2016, Integrative modelling reveals mechanisms linking productivity and plant species richness, NATURE, Vol: 529, Pages: 390-+, ISSN: 0028-0836
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 431
Storkey J, Macdonald AJ, Poulton PR, et al., 2015, Grassland biodiversity bounces back from long-term nitrogen addition, NATURE, Vol: 528, Pages: 401-+, ISSN: 0028-0836
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 105
Cenini VL, Fornara DA, McMullan G, et al., 2015, Chronic nitrogen fertilization and carbon sequestration in grassland soils: evidence of a microbial enzyme link, Biogeochemistry, Vol: 126, Pages: 301-313, ISSN: 1573-515X
Chronic nitrogen (N) fertilization can greatly affect soil carbon (C) sequestration by altering biochemical interactions between plant detritus and soil microbes. In lignin-rich forest soils, chronic N additions tend to increase soil C content partly by decreasing the activity of lignin-degrading enzymes. In cellulose-rich grassland soils it is not clear whether cellulose-degrading enzymes are also inhibited by N additions and what consequences this might have on changes in soil C content. Here we address whether chronic N fertilization has affected (1) the C content of light versus heavier soil fractions, and (2) the activity of four extracellular enzymes including the C-acquiring enzyme β-1,4-glucosidase (BG; necessary for cellulose hydrolysis). We found that 19 years of chronic N-only addition to permanent grassland have significantly increased soil C sequestration in heavy but not in light soil density fractions, and this C accrual was associated with a significant increase (and not decrease) of BG activity. Chronic N fertilization may increase BG activity because greater N availability reduces root C:N ratios thus increasing microbial demand for C, which is met by C inputs from enhanced root C pools in N-only fertilized soils. However, BG activity and total root mass strongly decreased in high pH soils under the application of lime (i.e. CaCO3), which reduced the ability of these organo-mineral soils to gain more C per units of N added. Our study is the first to show a potential ‘enzyme link’ between (1) long-term additions of inorganic N to grassland soils, and (2) the greater C content of organo-mineral soil fractions. Our new hypothesis is that the ‘enzyme link’ occurs because (a) BG activity is stimulated by increased microbial C demand relative to N under chronic fertilization, and (b) increased BG activity causes more C from roots and from microbial metabolites to accumulate and stabilize into organo-mineral C fractions. We su
Seabloom EW, Borer ET, Buckley YM, et al., 2015, Plant species' origin predicts dominance and response to nutrient enrichment and herbivores in global grasslands, NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, Vol: 6, ISSN: 2041-1723
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 114
Moore O, Crawley MJ, 2015, Red deer impacts on the montane Racomitrium lanuginosum moss-heath community in north-west Scotland, PLANT ECOLOGY & DIVERSITY, Vol: 8, Pages: 427-436, ISSN: 1755-0874
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 2
Moore O, Crawley MJ, 2015, The impact of red deer on liverwort-rich oceanic heath vegetation, PLANT ECOLOGY & DIVERSITY, Vol: 8, Pages: 437-447, ISSN: 1755-0874
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 2
Orrock JL, Borer ET, Brudvig LA, et al., 2015, A continent-wide study reveals clear relationships between regional abiotic conditions and post-dispersal seed predation, JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, Vol: 42, Pages: 662-670, ISSN: 0305-0270
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 19
Macdonald CA, Crawley MJ, Wright DJ, et al., 2015, Identifying qualitative effects of different grazing types on below-ground communities and function in a long-term field experiment, ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Vol: 17, Pages: 841-854, ISSN: 1462-2912
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 19
Moore O, Standen L, Crawley MJ, 2015, The impact of red deer management on liverworts associated with the mixed hepatic mat community and other terrestrial cryptogams, PLANT ECOLOGY & DIVERSITY, Vol: 8, Pages: 139-145, ISSN: 1755-0874
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 3
Moore O, Crawley MJ, 2015, The impact of red deer management on cryptogam ecology in vegetation typical of north west Scotland, PLANT ECOLOGY & DIVERSITY, Vol: 8, Pages: 127-137, ISSN: 1755-0874
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 1
Milcu A, Bonkowski M, Collins CM, et al., 2015, Aphid honeydew-induced changes in soil biota can cascade up to tree crown architecture, PEDOBIOLOGIA, Vol: 58, Pages: 119-127, ISSN: 0031-4056
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 10
Pearse WD, Chase MW, Crawley MJ, et al., 2015, Beyond the EDGE with EDAM: Prioritising British Plant Species According to Evolutionary Distinctiveness, and Accuracy and Magnitude of Decline., PloS one, Vol: 10, Pages: e0126524-e0126524
Moore O, Crawley MJ, 2014, Effects of red deer exclusion on the corticolous and terricolous cryptogam community of Atlantic woodland, FORESTRY, Vol: 87, Pages: 618-628, ISSN: 0015-752X
- Author Web Link
- Cite
- Citations: 1
This data is extracted from the Web of Science and reproduced under a licence from Thomson Reuters. You may not copy or re-distribute this data in whole or in part without the written consent of the Science business of Thomson Reuters.