The Steinach Grassland Experiment: Soil chemical properties, sward height and plant species composition in three cut alluvial meadow after decades-long fertilizer application

(4) Long-term fertilizer application negatively affected the species richness of vascular plants directly by soil acidification and indirectly by an increase in sward height. The extent to which N application negatively affected species richness was dependent on whether N was applied alone or in combination with other nutrients and whether N application acidified the soil.