Article published in Journal of Arid Environments

An article examining the role of P availability on plant nutrition and above ground herbaceous productivity has been published in the Journal of Arid Environments

An article authored by Lydia O’Halloran, Hank Shugart, Lixin Wang, Kelly, Susan Ringrose, and Barney Kgope has appeared in the Journal of Arid Environments. The paper describes the results of a nutrient addition experiment that was performed as part of Lydia’s dissertation research. The experiment tested nutrient controls on aboveground herbaceous primary productivity (ANPP) across a series of sites in the Kalahari region of Botswana. This particular paper focuses on P limitation across these sites. Surprisingly, while the results demonstrate higher levels of P in treatment plots, there were no detectable shifts in ANPP. While it’s impossible to tell for sure, I suspect that the hidden effects of higher P availability were morel likely due to shifts in seed biomass and/or belowground allocation.

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