The Addition and Cessation of Inorganic Fertiliser Amendments in Long-Term Managed Grasslands: Impacts on Above and Below-Ground Communities

The Addition and Cessation of Inorganic Fertiliser Amendments in Long-Term Managed Grasslands: Impacts on Above and Below-Ground Communities

In recent times, land use in the United Kingdom has undergone considerable changes because of social and economic pressures, leading to a fine balance between the demands of highly productive intensive systems and practices which are perceived to be more environmentally acceptable. Plant productivity is governed by the supply of nutrients from the soil, which in turn is dependent on the dynamics of organic matter decomposition driven by soil micro-, meso- and macro fauna. Considerable information is available concerning the impact of inorganic fertiliser additions on communities of macro-fauna and flora, but the effects on specific microbial communities in soils are less clear. The effects of withholding inorganic nitrogen (N) are much less studied. The present study investigated the impact on plant and soil communities of either adding or withholding N from long-term managed plots.