Abstract
Replying to H. M. Baulch, E. H. Stanley & E. S. Bernhardt Nature 477, doi:10.1038/nature10418 (2011)
Over the last 20 years, 59 experiments have quantified how the richness of plants and algae influence concentrations of inorganic nitrogen in soil or water1. Of these, 86% have shown that the concentration of nitrogen decreases as biodiversity increases—by an average of 48%. The primary contribution of my study2 was to identify a biological mechanism that is likely to explain these biodiversity effects. Using stream mesocosms, I showed that the impacts of algal diversity on nitrogen dynamics are controlled by niche partitioning—a long presumed, but rarely demonstrated mechanism. Baulch, Stanley and Bernhardt3 have questioned whether my findings have any implications for managing water quality in ‘real’ streams, as I suggested. They argue that nitrogen assimilation by algae cannot influence long-term nitrogen retention due to high turnover of algal biomass and rapid recycling of nitrogen, and they suggest that the only permanent loss of nitrogen from a stream is via denitrification.
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Cardinale, B. Cardinale reply. Nature 477, E3–E4 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10419
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10419
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