Data from: Nitrogen deposition and multi-dimensional plant diversity at the landscape scale

Estimating effects of nitrogen (N) deposition is essential for understanding human impacts on biodiversity. However, studies relating atmospheric N deposition to plant diversity are usually restricted to small plots of high conservation value. Here, we used data on 381 randomly selected 1 km2 plots covering most habitat types of Central Europe and an elevational range of 2900 m. We found that high atmospheric N deposition was associated with low values of six measures of plant diversity. The weakest negative relation to N deposition was found in the traditionally measured total species richness. The strongest relation to N deposition was in phylogenetic diversity, with an estimated loss of 19% due to atmospheric N deposition as compared with a homogeneously distributed historic N deposition without human influence, or of 11% as compared with a spatially varying N deposition for the year 1880, during industrialization in Europe. Because phylogenetic plant diversity is often related to ecosystem functioning, we suggest that atmospheric N deposition threatens functioning of ecosystems at the landscape scale.

评估氮沉降（nitrogen deposition）的影响，对于理解人类活动对生物多样性的影响至关重要。然而，现有将大气氮沉降与植物多样性相关联的研究，通常局限于高保护价值的小型样地。本研究选取了381个随机布设的1平方千米样地，覆盖中欧绝大多数生境类型，海拔跨度达2900米。研究结果显示，大气氮沉降水平较高时，植物多样性的六项指标均表现为较低水平。其中与氮沉降负相关性最弱的指标为传统监测的总物种丰富度；相关性最强的则为系统发育多样性（phylogenetic diversity）：相较于无人类影响的均匀分布历史氮沉降情景，大气氮沉降导致系统发育多样性损失约19%；相较于欧洲工业化时期1880年的空间异质性氮沉降情景，损失约11%。鉴于植物系统发育多样性通常与生态系统功能密切相关，本研究认为大气氮沉降正威胁着景观尺度下的生态系统功能。