Effects of land use and climate on carbon and nitrogen pool partitioning in European mountain grasslands

Abstract

European mountain grasslands are increasingly affected by land-use changes and climate, which have been suggested to exert important controls on grassland carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools. However, so far there has been no synthetic study on whether and how land-use changes and climate interactively affect the partitioning of these pools amongst the different grassland compartments. We analyzed the partitioning of C and N pools of 36 European mountain grasslands differing in land-use and climate with respect to above- and belowground phytomass, litter and topsoil (top 23 cm). We found that a reduction of management intensity and the abandonment of hay meadows and pastures increased above-ground phytomass, root mass and litter as well as their respective C and N pools, concurrently decreasing the fractional contribution of the topsoil to the total organic carbon pool. These changes were strongly driven by the cessation of cutting and grazing, a shift in plant functional groups and a related reduction in litter quality. Across all grasslands studied, variation in the impact of land management on the topsoil N pool and C/N-ratio were mainly explained by soil clay content combined with pH. Across the grasslands, below-ground phytomass as well as phytomass- and litter C concentrations were inversely related to the mean annual temperature; furthermore, C/N-ratios of phytomass and litter increased with decreasing mean annual precipitation. Within the topsoil compartment, C concentrations decreased from colder to warmer sites, and increased with increasing precipitation. Climate generally influenced effects of land use on C and N pools mainly through mean annual temperature and less through mean annual precipitation. We conclude that site-specific conditions need to be considered for understanding the effects of land use and of current and future climate changes on grassland C and N pools.