DPP01 Drought experiment nested within the phosphorus plots experiment at Konza Prairie

We explore how nutrient-altered tallgrass prairie responds to drought. Seven years of nutrient treatments (control, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and N+P) resulted in significantly different plant communities. Within this experimental context we imposed a three-year drought followed by three years of recovery from drought. We hypothesized (1) the plant functional types would have different responses to drought; (2) the different community types would vary in their resistance to drought; and (3) the control and P treated plots, where N is limited, will have a greater increase in standing biomass production in the previously droughted plots compared to the non-droughted plots.

本研究探究了养分调控的高草草原（tallgrass prairie）对干旱胁迫的响应。实验开展了为期7年的养分调控处理，设置包括对照组、氮（N）处理组、磷（P）处理组以及氮磷复合（N+P）处理组，最终形成了群落组成存在显著差异的植物群落。在此实验框架下，我们施加了为期3年的干旱胁迫处理，并随后开展了为期3年的干旱恢复阶段。我们提出以下3项假说：（1）不同植物功能型（plant functional types）对干旱胁迫的响应存在差异；（2）不同群落类型的干旱抗性各不相同；（3）在氮受限的对照组与磷处理组样地中，经历过干旱胁迫的样地，其现存生物量产量的增幅将显著高于未经历干旱胁迫的对应样地。