Elsa E. Cleland, Chris M. Clark, Scott L. Collins, Joseph E. Fargione, Laura Gough, Katherine L. Gross, Daniel G. Milchunas, Steven C. Pennings, William D. Bowman, Ingrid C. Burke, William K. Lauenroth, G. Philip Robertson, Juliet C. Simpson, David Tilman, and Katharine N. Suding. 2008. Species responses to nitrogen fertilization in herbaceous plant communities, and associated species traits. Ecology 89:1175.

Data Paper

Ecological Archives E089-070-D1.

Copyright

Authors
Data File
Abstract
Metadata

Author(s)

Elsa E. Cleland
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis
University of California Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California 93101 USA
E-mail: cleland@nceas.ucsb.edu

Chris M. Clark
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior
University of Minnesota
St. Paul, Minnesota 55108 USA
Present address: School of Life Sciences
Arizona State University
Tempe, Arizona 85287 USA

Scott L. Collins
Department of Biology
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque,New Mexico 87131 USA

Joseph E. Fargione
The Nature Conservancy Midwestern Resource Office
1101 West River Parkway Suite 200
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415 USA

Laura Gough
Department of Biology
University of Texas
Arlington, Texas 76019 USA

Katherine L. Gross
W. K. Kellogg Biological Station
Michigan State University
Hickory Corners, Michigan 49060 USA

Daniel G. Milchunas
Forest, Rangeland, and Watershed Stewardship Department and Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado 80523 USA

Steven C. Pennings
Department of Biology and Biochemistry
University of Houston
Houston, Texas 77204 USA

William D. Bowman
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of Colorado
Boulder, Colorado 80309 USA

Ingrid C. Burke
Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Natural Resources Ecology Laboratory
Department of Forest, Rangeland, and Watershed Stewardship
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado 80523 USA

William K. Lauenroth
Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Natural Resources Ecology Laboratory
Department of Forest, Rangeland, and Watershed Stewardship
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado 80523 USA

G. Philip Robertson
W. K. Kellogg Biological Station
Michigan State University
Hickory Corners, Michigan 49060 USA

Juliet C. Simpson
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology
University of California Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California 93106 USA
Present address: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island 02912 USA

David Tilman
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior
University of Minnesota
St. Paul, Minnesota 55108 USA

Katharine N. Suding
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
University of California Irvine
Irvine, California 92697 USA

Data File

Fertsyntraitsall_Jan27_2008.txt

Abstract

This synthetic data set contains plant species relative abundance measures from 35 nitrogen (N) fertilization experiments conducted at 10 sites across North America. The data set encompasses the fertilization responses of 575 taxa from 1159 experimental plots. The methodology varied among experiments, in particular with regard to the type and amount of N added, plot size, species composition measure (biomass harvest, pin count, or percent cover), additional experimental manipulations, and experimental duration. At each site, each species has been classified according to a number of easily identified categorical functional traits, including life history, life form, the number of cotyledons, height relative to the canopy, potential for clonal growth, and nativity to the United States. Additional data are available for many sites, indicated by references to publications and web sites. Analyses of these data have shown that N enrichment significantly alters community composition in ways that are predictable on the basis of plant functional traits as well as environmental context. This data set could be used to answer a variety of questions about how plant community composition and structure respond to environmental changes.

Key words: database; fertilization; functional trait; nitrogen; plant community; synthesis.

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