Brunet, Jörg
- Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Research article2012Peer reviewedOpen access
Driving factors behind the eutrophication signal in understorey plant communities of deciduous temperate forests
Verheyen, Kris; Baeten, Lander; De Frenne, Pieter; Bernhardt-Römermann, Markus; Brunet, Jörg; Cornelis, Johnny; Decocq, Guillaume; Dierschke, Hartmut; Eriksson, Ove; Hédl, Radim; Heinken, Thilo; Hermy, Martin; Hommel, Patrick; Kirby, Keith J; Naaf, Tobias; Peterken, George; Petřík, Petr; Pfadenhauer, Jörg; Van Calster, Hans; Walther, Gian-Reto;
Show more authors
Abstract
4. Synthesis. Our multi-site approach clearly demonstrates that one should be cautious when drawing conclusions about the impact of atmospheric N deposition based on the interpretation of plant community shifts in single sites or regions due to other, concurrent, ecological changes. Even though the effects of chronically increased N deposition on the forest plant communities are apparently obscured by the effects of canopy changes, the accumulated N might still have a significant impact. However, more research is needed to assess whether this N time bomb will indeed explode when canopies will open up again.
Keywords
atmospheric deposition; determinants of plant community diversity and structure; Ellenberg indicator values; forest herbs; forest management; large herbivores; north-western Europe; resurveys; (semi-)permanent plots
Published in
Journal of Ecology
2012, Volume: 100, number: 2, pages: 352-365
Publisher: WILEY-BLACKWELL
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use
Publication identifier
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01928.x
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/56357