Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1038/s41598-025-16501-8
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Plant communities converge to resource-dependent transient states during succession on old fields
Author Stadler, J.; Brandl, R.; Klotz, S.
Source Titel Scientific Reports
Year 2025
Department BZF
Volume 15
Page From art. 31070
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Supplements https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41598-025-16501-8/MediaObjects/41598_2025_16501_MOESM1_ESM.docx
Keywords Community composition; Fertilisation; Indicator species; Trajectory analysis; Transient stable states
Abstract The community composition of plants during succession may follow trajectories driven by the resource-dependent coexistence of plant species. This predicts the convergence of trajectories to resource-dependent transient or stable states. Here, we report the analyses of yearly vegetation surveys between 1987 and 2022 from two pairs of experimental plots on which agricultural use ceased in 1986. On one plot of each pair, nutrients (N, P, K) were added in an amount similar to the Park Grass Experiment at Rothamsted. We found a decrease in species richness with ongoing secondary succession. After 15 years of succession, species richness levelled off and was ≈ 50% lower for surveys on the fertilised plots. An indicator species analysis found five species characterising the fertilised plots and almost 30 species characterising the non-fertilised plots. As expected, the mean N Ellenberg indicator values of the species typical for fertilised plots were higher (mean 6.3) than for those typical for non-fertilised plots (mean 4.4). Furthermore, the stable state was transient, as indicated by the increase in the distance of plots from their respective medians of the ordination scores after an additional 10-year period.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=31209
Stadler, J., Brandl, R., Klotz, S. (2025):
Plant communities converge to resource-dependent transient states during succession on old fields
Sci. Rep. 15 , art. 31070 10.1038/s41598-025-16501-8