Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
4427576 | Environmental Pollution | 2007 | 10 Pages |
On an upland moor dominated by pioneer Calluna vulgaris and with an understorey of mosses and lichens, experimental plots were treated with factorial combinations of nitrogen (N) at +0 and +20 kg N ha−1 yr−1, and phosphorus (P) at +0 and +5 kg P ha−1 yr−1. Over the 4-year duration of the experiment, the cover of the Calluna canopy increased in density over time as part of normal phenological development. Moss cover increased initially in response to N addition but then remained static; increases in cover in response to P addition became stronger over time, eventually causing reductions in the cover of the dominant Calluna canopy. Lichen cover virtually disappeared within 4 years in plots receiving +20 kg N ha−1 yr−1 and also in separate plots receiving +10 kg N ha−1 yr−1, but this effect was reversed by the addition of P.