Site conditions are more important than abundance for explaining plant invasion impacts on soil nitrogen cycling.

ABSTRACT: Invasive plant species can alter critical ecosystem processes including nitrogen transformations, but it is often difficult to anticipate where in an invaded landscape, these effects will occur. Our predictive ability lags because we lack a framework for understanding the multiple pathways through which environmental conditions mediate invader impacts. Here, we present a framework using structural equation modeling to evaluate the impact of an invasive grass, Microstegium vimineum (M.v.), on nitrogen cycling based on a series of invaded sites that varied in invader biomass and non-M.v. understory biomass, tree basal area, light availability, and soil conditions. Unlike previous studies, we did not find an overall pattern of elevated nitrate concentrations or higher nit

SUBMITTER: Lee MR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10866306 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature