Experimental and observational studies find contrasting responses of soil nutrients to climate change.

ABSTRACT: Manipulative experiments and observations along environmental gradients, the two most common approaches to evaluate the impacts of climate change on nutrient cycling, are generally assumed to produce similar results, but this assumption has rarely been tested. We did so by conducting a meta-analysis and found that soil nutrients responded differentially to drivers of climate change depending on the approach considered. Soil carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus concentrations generally decreased with water addition in manipulative experiments but increased with annual precipitation along environmental gradients. Different patterns were also observed between warming experiments and temperature gradients. Our findings provide evidence of inconsistent results and suggest that manipulative experime

SUBMITTER: Yuan ZY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5453695 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature