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Understanding how global change drivers (GCDs) affect aboveground net primary production (ANPP) through time is essential to predicting the reliability and maintenance of ecosystem function and services in the future. While GCDs, such as drought, warming and elevated nutrients, are known to affect mean ANPP, less is known about how they affect inter-annual variability in ANPP. We examined 27 global change experiments located in 11 different herbaceous ecosystems that varied in both abiotic and biotic conditions, to investigate changes in the mean and temporal variability of ANPP (measured as the coefficient of variation) in response to different GCD manipulations, including resource additions, warming, and irrigation. From this comprehensive data synthesis, we found that GCD treatments increased mean ANPP. However, GCD manipulations both increased and decreased temporal variability of ANPP (24% of comparisons), with no net effect overall. These inconsistent effects on temporal variation in ANPP can, in part, be attributed to site characteristics, such as mean annual precipitation and temperature as well as plant community evenness. For example, decreases in temporal variability in ANPP with the GCD treatments occurred in wetter and warmer sites with lower plant community evenness. Further, the addition of several nutrients simultaneously increased the sensitivity of ANPP to interannual variation in precipitation. Based on this analysis, we expect that GCDs will likely affect the magnitude more than the reliability over time of ecosystem production in the future.

Nitrogen (N) addition and precipitation increment can greatly influence soil phosphorus (P) dynamics, with much emphasis on total and available P, yet little is known about their interactive effects on soil mineral‐bound inorganic P (Pᵢ) fractions under different historical land uses of grasslands and old fields. Thus, we compared (i) plant readily available P, (ii) less available Pᵢ (sum of NH₄F‐extractable Pᵢ, NaOH‐Na₂CO₃‐extractable Pᵢ and NaHCO₃‐extracted Pᵢ), (iii) refractory forms of Pᵢ (NH₄Ac‐extractable Pᵢ, H₂SO₄‐extractable Pᵢ and Na₃(citrate)‐dithionite‐extractable Pᵢ) and (iv) organic P under the same urea and water treatments in an old‐field grassland with a semi‐arid steppe. Soil total P remained unchanged with 10‐year urea addition in both sites, with lower organic P but higher Pᵢ concentrations in the old field. Urea addition promoted transformation of refractory Pᵢ into less available Pᵢ in both sites, which potentially was related to higher plant productivity and thus enhanced plant P accumulation. Specifically, urea addition increased less available Pᵢ fractions by as much as 42%, but decreased refractory Pᵢ fractions by as much as 24%, for two sites under ambient precipitation. Water addition decreased less available Pᵢ in the steppe under higher urea addition rates, whereas it increased less available and refractory Pᵢ but only in the control plot of the old field. Irrespective of urea and water treatments, the old field had a higher Pᵢ pool, which could replenish plant readily available P in the longer term and be less prone to P‐limitation than the steppe. We conclude that conversion of semi‐arid steppe to farmland causes long‐term increases in the soil Pᵢ pool, possibly by enhancing organic P mineralization and anthropogenic fertilization during cultivation. Urea addition accelerated soil P cycling via promoting refractory Pᵢ, transforming into less available Pᵢ, with the process being strongly mediated by water availability, whereas the projected precipitation increment could decrease less available Pᵢ via promoting plant P uptake and P leaching out of the plant–soil system. HIGHLIGHTS: Urea addition promoted transformation of refractory Pᵢ into less available Pᵢ fractions. Water addition counteracted the positive urea effect on NH₄F‐Pᵢ in both steppe and old field. Less responsive organic P suggested that Pᵢ fractions were more essential in soil P cycling. Water addition decreased NH₄F‐Pᵢ in both sites, potentially due to higher plant uptake and leaching. Conversion of steppe to farmland increased the soil Pᵢ pool by enhancing organic P mineralization.

A field experiment was conducted to assess the role of nitrogen (N) and water addition in shaping soil fungal communities and co-occurrence networks in temperate grassland, northern China. We measured soil fungal and plant community compositions, and also soil properties including available N, phosphorus, potassium concentrations, soil pH, and soil moisture. Soil fungal co-occurrence networks were constructed using a random matrix theory–based network inference approach. Plant species richness was decreased by N addition but increased by water addition, whereas fungal richness was decreased by N addition. The fungal community composition was significantly changed by both N addition and water addition. Soil fungal α diversity and β diversity were explained by a combination of variations in plant species richness and plant functional composition, and also by changes in soil pH via the soil acidification pathway induced by N and water addition. The fungal co-occurrence networks were more complex and clustered under water addition than that in ambient precipitation. Our results suggested that plant functional composition, plant species richness, and soil acidification should be incorporated into ecosystem models for predicting soil fungal communities under future climate changes in terrestrial ecosystems.

Nitrogen (N) deposition and increased precipitation induced by anthropogenic activities were widely reported to promote plant productivity in terrestrial ecosystems. However, few studies have explored the effects of historical resource supplement on plant communities although N deposition was predicted to decrease in the near future and the directional change of precipitation would shift among years. Here, we examined the legacy effects of N deposition and increased precipitation on plant productivity in a semi-arid steppe after cessation of a 13-year N and water addition experiment. We found historical N and water addition generally had positive effects on plant productivity even after the treatments were ceased. However, such legacy effects showed strong inter-annual variation, and the positive effect of N and water addition on productivity were stronger in a wet year (i.e., 2019) than an extremely drought year (i.e., 2018). Although N and water availability decreased rapidly, the independently positive effects of historical N and water input persisted after 2 years of cessation largely due to the stable community composition. The increased plant stature of dominant functional groups largely contributed to the increased current productivity after the historical N and water addition. Together, these findings will facilitate the projection of the primary productivity and carbon cycling under the scenarios of predicted reduce in N deposition and changeable precipitation.

We examined the effect of nitrogen and water addition on soil carbon pool dynamics in a semi–arid grassland field experiment. Soils were sampled over a four–year period at different soil depths and analyzed for total soil organic carbon (SOC), oxidizable C (OxC), lignin and total nitrogen (TN) in bulk soil and the silt and clay fraction (

Global warming and changes in rainfall patterns may put many ecosystems at risk of drought. These stressors could be particularly destructive in arid systems where species are already water-limited. Understanding plant responses in terms of photosynthesis and growth to drought and rewatering is essential for predicting ecosystem-level responses to climate change. Different drought responses of C3 and C4 species could have important ecological implications affecting interspecific competition and distribution of plant communities in the future. For this study, C4 plant Pennisetum centrasiaticum and C3 plant Calamagrostis pseudophragmites were subjected to progressive drought and subsequent rewatering in order to better understand their differential responses to regional climate changes. We tracked responses in gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, biomass as well as soil water status in order to investigate the ecophysiological responses of these two plant functional types. Similar patterns of photosynthetic regulations were observed during drought and rewatering for both psammophytes. They experienced stomatal restriction and nonstomatal restriction successively during drought. Photosynthetic performance recovered to the levels in well-watered plants after rewatering for 6&ndash, 8 days. The C4 plant, P. centrasiaticum, exhibited the classic CO2-concentrating mechanism and more efficient thermal dissipation in the leaves, which confers more efficient CO2 assimilation and water use efficiency, alleviating drought stress, maintaining their photosynthetic advantage until water deficits became severe and quicker recovery after rewatering. In addition, P. centrasiaticum can allocate a greater proportion of root biomass in case of adequate water supply and a greater proportion of above-ground biomass in case of drought stress. This physiological adaptability and morphological adjustment underline the capacity of C4 plant P. centrasiaticum to withstand drought more efficiently and recover upon rewatering more quickly than C. pseudophragmites and dominate in the Horqin Sandy Land.

Understanding how global change drivers (GCDs) affect aboveground net primary production (ANPP) through time is essential to predicting the reliability and maintenance of ecosystem function and services in the future. While GCDs, such as drought, warming and elevated nutrients, are known to affect mean ANPP, less is known about how they affect inter-annual variability in ANPP. We examined 27 global change experiments located in 11 different herbaceous ecosystems that varied in both abiotic and biotic conditions, to investigate changes in the mean and temporal variability of ANPP (measured as the coefficient of variation) in response to different GCD manipulations, including resource additions, warming, and irrigation. From this comprehensive data synthesis, we found that GCD treatments increased mean ANPP. However, GCD manipulations both increased and decreased temporal variability of ANPP (24% of comparisons), with no net effect overall. These inconsistent effects on temporal variation in ANPP can, in part, be attributed to site characteristics, such as mean annual precipitation and temperature as well as plant community evenness. For example, decreases in temporal variability in ANPP with the GCD treatments occurred in wetter and warmer sites with lower plant community evenness. Further, the addition of several nutrients simultaneously increased the sensitivity of ANPP to interannual variation in precipitation. Based on this analysis, we expect that GCDs will likely affect the magnitude more than the reliability over time of ecosystem production in the future.

As global climate warms and atmospheric nitrogen deposition increases, plants are likely to respond by altering community composition, thus affecting the nutrient cycle. Although it is well-known that feedback between plants and soils is linked by nutrient resorption occurring during senescence, our understanding of how long-term warming and nitrogen deposition (> 10 years) influence nutrient resorption remains limited. In a desert grassland in northern China, we explored the effects of warming and nitrogen fertilization on leaf nutrient resorption for three dominant species during two hydrologically contrasting years (wet with 52% above the long-term mean precipitation of 222 mm, and dry with precipitation 16% below the mean), based on a manipulative experiment initiated in 2006. In the wet year, both warming and nitrogen fertilization significantly increased nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in soils and plants and thus decreased resorption efficiency of both nitrogen and phosphorus with significant interactions, but these effects did not occur in the dry year. Changes in resorption efficiency were associated with plant available nitrogen and phosphorus in soils and water availability. Our study suggests that the responses of nutrient resorption to warming and nitrogen fertilization could be modified by natural precipitation variations in a desert grassland that is sensitive to abrupt changes in weather patterns.

Although much research has explored changes in ecosystem functions associated with global environmental changes, the mechanistic pathways behind the observed changes remain poorly understood. Using an 11‐year experiment that increased growing season precipitation and nitrogen deposition in a temperate steppe, we explored the relative importance of direct and indirect environmental change effects on plant primary productivity. We show that increases in water and nitrogen availability influenced plant productivity via both direct and indirect pathways. While both treatments stimulated plant productivity, changes in plant productivity cannot be explained by observed changes in species or phylogenetic diversity. Instead, the indirect effects of water and nitrogen addition were through their positive effects on plant functional diversity. Importantly, while the increase in one component of functional diversity (community‐level weighted mean of plant stature) resulted in increased productivity, the increase in another component of functional diversity (functional dispersion) resulted in decreased productivity. Synthesis. Our study provides the first evidence for the opposite effects of community‐weighted means and functional dispersion of plant functional traits on grassland productivity and highlights the importance of both traits of dominant species and trait distribution among species in modulating the effects of global changes on ecosystem functions.

Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition can result in soil acidification and reduce soil acid buffering capacity. However, it remains poorly understood how changes in precipitation regimes with elevated atmospheric N deposition affect soil acidification processes in a water-limited grassland. Here, we conducted a 9-year split-plot experiment with water addition as the main factor and N addition as the second factor. Results showed that soil acid buffering capacity significantly decreased with increased N inputs, mainly due to the decline of soil effective cation exchange capacity (ECEC) and exchangeable basic cations (especially Ca 2+ ), indicating an acceleration of soil acidification status in this steppes. Significant interactive N and water effects were detected on the soil acid buffering capacity. Water addition enhanced the soil ECEC and exchangeable base cations and thus alleviated the decrease of soil acid buffering capacity under N addition. Our findings suggested that precipitation can mitigate the impact of increased N deposition on soil acidification in semi-arid grasslands. This knowledge should be used to improve models predicting soil acidification processes in terrestrial ecosystems under changing environmental conditions.

Despite the inarguable importance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in terrestrial ecosystems, we know little about how AMF communities shift in response to climate changes. In this study, we investigated the impacts of seven years of precipitation increment and nitrogen (N) addition on the taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of AMF communities in a temperate steppe of northern China. Phylogenetic patterns were also used to elucidate the ecological processes structuring AMF communities. By 454-pyrosequencing, we detected a total of 71 AMF operational taxonomic units (OTUs), consisting mainly of Glomeraceae . In general, N addition reduced but precipitation increment increased AMF abundance including root colonization and fungal biomass. Nitrogen addition also decreased AMF alpha-diversity, including OTU richness, Chao 1 and Faith's phylogenetic diversity. Moreover, permutational multivariate analysis of variance showed that AMF community composition shifted in response to both N addition and precipitation increment. AMF communities were phylogenetically clustered across all experimental treatments, suggesting that environmental filtering was the primary driver of AMF community assembly. Taken together, these findings supported that both N and precipitation shaped the AMF communities, but not altered the ecological processes responsible for the assembly of AMF communities in the temperate steppe.

It has been predicted that the precipitation and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition will increase in northern China. Though a variety of publications have documented the effects of increased precipitation and N deposition on aboveground plant community, the responses of soil microbial community composition and function to these possible global changes still remain largely unknown. In this study, we take advantage of a long-term (9-year) field experiment that was established in a typical steppe in Inner Mongolia, China. The responses of microbial community composition and soil enzymatic activities to simulated N deposition and increased precipitation were examined. It was found that the low level of N addition showed no influence on the relative abundance of bacteria, but the relatively high N deposition increased the relative abundance of bacteria. The increased precipitation in combination with N addition, estimated at all N levels, significantly decreased the relative abundance of fungi and fungi/bacteria ratio. Increased precipitation played important roles in enhancing microbial activity in this semi-arid region. It was observed that water supply increased the activities of the five of the enzymes determined, including peroxidase (PER), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), β-Glucosidase (BG), protease (PRO) and alkaline phosphomonoesterase (alkaline PME). The activity of cellulase was reduced by long-term increased precipitation treatment, but was stimulated by simulated N deposition, which may due to the changes in litter components under projected climate change. The influences of N deposition on the microbial enzymatic activities might be alleviated (such as PER), strengthened (acid PME), or not affected by the projected precipitation increment. We also found that the overall changes in soil enzymatic activity patterns are more sensitive to environmental changes than the variations in soil microbial community composition, which may be explained by the microbial function redundancy and the limitations of research method. By all accounts, in future scenarios of increased precipitation in combination with N deposition, the proportion of soil fungi would be reduced, and the microbial community composition might be shifted to be bacteria-dominant. We also predicted that with the increasing of N deposition level, the activities of cellulolase would be enhanced, whereas the activities of ligninolytic enzymes (PER and PPO) would be reduced sharply.

Given that plant growth is often water-limited in grasslands, it has been proposed that projected increases in precipitation could increase plant productivity and carbon sequestration. However, the existing evidence for this hypothesis comes primarily from observational studies along natural precipitation gradients or from short-term manipulative experiments. It remains unclear whether long-term increased precipitation persistently stimulates grassland productivity. In the world's largest remaining temperate grassland, we found that experimentally increased precipitation enhanced net primary production, soil-available nitrogen and foliar nitrogen concentrations during the first six years, but it ceased to do so in the following four years, unless nitrogen was simultaneously added with water. The 15N enrichment of plant and soil nitrogen pools in later years indicates increased nitrogen losses, which exacerbated nitrogen limitation and ended the stimulation of productivity by increased precipitation. Changes in species abundance might have contributed little to the changes in water treatment effects. Our study demonstrates that the long-term response of grassland ecosystems to increased precipitation will be mediated by nitrogen availability. Our results also point to a shift from co-limitation by water and nitrogen early to perhaps limitation by nitrogen only later in this temperate grassland, highlighting significant variations in the type of resource limitation induced by climate change.

Precipitation and nitrogen (N) deposition are predicted to increase in northern China. The present paper aimed to better understand how different dominant species in semi-arid grasslands in this region vary in their litter decomposition and nutrient release responses to increases in precipitation and N deposition. Above-ground litter of three dominant species (two grasses, Agropyron cristatum and Stipa krylovii, and one forb, Artemisia frigida) was collected from areas without experimental treatments in a semi-arid grassland in Inner Mongolia. Litter decomposition was studied over three years to determine the effects of water and N addition on litter decomposition rate and nutrient dynamics. Litter mass loss and nutrient release were faster for the forb species than for the two grasses during decomposition. Both water and N addition increased litter mass loss of the grass A. cristatum, while the treatments showed no impacts on that of the forb A. frigida. Supplemental N had time-dependent, positive effects on litter mass loss of the grass S. krylovii. During the three-year decomposition study, the release of N from litter was inhibited by N addition for the three species, and it was promoted by water addition for the two grasses. Across all treatments, N and potassium (K) were released from the litter of all three species, whereas calcium (Ca) was accumulated. Phosphorus (P) and magnesium (Mg) were released from the forb litter but accumulated in the grass litter after three years of decomposition. Our findings revealed that the litter decomposition response to water and N supplementation differed among dominant plant species in a semi-arid grassland, indicating that changes in dominant plant species induced by projected increases in precipitation and N deposition are likely to affect litter decomposition, nutrient cycling, and further biogeochemical cycles in this grassland. The asynchronous nutrient release of different species’ litter found in the present study highlights the complexity of nutrient replenishment from litter decomposition in the temperate steppe under scenarios of enhancing precipitation and N deposition.

Soil organic nitrogen (N) turnover is significantly influenced by elevated N deposition, precipitation and human-caused disturbances, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Identifying the relationships among the soil organic N fractions and N-mineralizing enzymes activities may advance our knowledge of the dynamics of soil organic N. A field experiment was conducted in a semi-arid steppe and an abandoned cropland in northern China to investigate the effects of elevated N deposition and precipitation on soil organic N fractions and their relationships with N-mineralizing enzymes, i.e., protease, amidase, urease and N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) activities. The concentrations of N in various fractions were consistently lower in the abandoned cropland compared with the steppe. Nitrogen addition consistently decreased amino acid N content and activities of urease, protease and amidase in both sites but increased amino sugar N content and NAG activity in the steppe. Water addition decreased hydrolysable ammonium N content but increased amino sugar N content and activities of protease and NAG in both sites. Furthermore, urease and NAG activities were significantly positively correlated with the proportions of amino acid N and amino sugar N and, explained significant proportions of the variations in soil organic N fractions in the steppe. However, soil organic carbon (C), rather than N-mineralizing enzymes, explained greatest proportion of the variations in soil organic N fractions in the abandoned cropland. The concurrent increase of N deposition and precipitation could promote the recovery of soil N (and C) losses in the abandoned cropland resulting from previous agriculture. Furthermore, in the steppe where NH4 + was available at relative high concentrations, enzymatic mineralization was the dominant route involved in potential soil organic N turnover. However, the direct route may be favored over the enzymatic mineralization route with decreasing availability of C relative to N in the abandoned cropland, which is driven by the need for C. These findings confirmed that the forms of N available, and the relative availability of C and N determine N uptake pathways both through enzymatic mineralization route and direct uptake route in the semi-arid grasslands.

A 9-year manipulative experiment with nitrogen (N) and water addition, simulating increasing N deposition and changing precipitation regime, was conducted to investigate the bioavailability of trace elements, iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) in soil, and their uptake by plants under the two environmental change factors in a semi-arid grassland of Inner Mongolia. We measured concentrations of trace elements in soil and in foliage of five common herbaceous species including 3 forbs and 2 grasses. In addition, bioaccumulation factors (BAF, the ratio of the chemical concentration in the organism and the chemical concentration in the growth substrate) and foliar Fe:Mn ratio in each plant was calculated. Our results showed that soil available Fe, Mn and Cu concentrations increased under N addition and were negatively correlated with both soil pH and cation exchange capacity. Water addition partly counteracted the positive effects of N addition on available trace element concentrations in the soil. Foliar Mn, Cu and Zn concentrations increased but Fe concentration decreased with N addition, resulting in foliar elemental imbalances among Fe and other selected trace elements. Water addition alleviated the effect of N addition. Forbs are more likely to suffer from Mn toxicity and Fe deficiency than grass species, indicating more sensitivity to changing elemental bioavailability in soil. Our results suggested that soil acidification due to N deposition may accelerate trace element cycling and lead to elemental imbalance in soil-plant systems of semi-arid grasslands and these impacts of N deposition on semi-arid grasslands were affected by water addition. These findings indicate an important role for soil trace elements in maintaining ecosystem functions associated with atmospheric N deposition and changing precipitation regimes in the future.

Global nitrogen (N) deposition and precipitation change are two important factors influencing the diversity and function of terrestrial ecosystems. While considerable efforts have been devoted to investigate the responses of aboveground plant communities to altered precipitation regimes and N enrichment, the variations of belowground soil microbial communities are not well understood, particularly at the functional gene structure level. Based on a 9-year field experiment established in a typical steppe in Inner Mongolia, China, we examined the impacts of projected N deposition and precipitation increment on soil microbial functional gene composition, and assessed the soil/plant factors associated with the observed impacts. The overall functional gene composition significantly shifted in response to precipitation increment, N deposition and their combinations (all ADONIS P

The intensification of grassland management by nitrogen (N) fertilization and irrigation may threaten the future integrity of fragile semi-arid steppe ecosystems by affecting the concentrations of base cation and micronutrient in soils. We extracted base cations of exchangeable calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), and sodium (Na) and extractable micronutrients of iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) from three soil aggregate sizes classes (microaggregates, 2 mm) from a 9-year N and water field manipulation study. There were significantly more base cations (but not micronutrients) in microaggregates compared to macroaggregates which was related to greater soil organic matter and clay contents. Nitrogen addition significantly decreased exchangeable Ca by up to 33% in large and small macroaggregates and exchangeable Mg by up to 27% in three aggregates but significantly increased extractable Fe, Mn and Cu concentrations (by up to 262%, 150%, and 55%, respectively) in all aggregate size classes. However, water addition only increased exchangeable Na, while available Fe and Mn were decreased by water addition when averaging across all N treatments and aggregate classes. The loss of exchangeable Ca and Mg under N addition and extractable Fe and Mn in soil aggregates under water addition might potentially constrain the productivity of this semi-arid grassland ecosystem.

Fil: Komatsu, Kimberly J. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater. United States. Fil: Avolio, Meghan L. Johns Hopkins University. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Baltimore, United States. Fil: Lemoine, Nathan P. Marquette University. Department of Biological Sciences. Milwaukee, United States. Fil: Chaneton, Enrique José. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA). Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fil: Chaneton, Enrique José. CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA). Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fil: Tognetti, Pedro Maximiliano.Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA). Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fil: Tognetti, Pedro Maximiliano.CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA). Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fil: Yahdjian, María Laura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA). Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fil: Yahdjian, María Laura. CONICET – Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA). Buenos Aires, Argentina. Fil: Isbell, Forest. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior. Saint Paul, United States. Fil: Grman, Emily. Eastern Michigan University. Department of Biology. Ypsilanti, United States. Global change drivers (GCDs) are expected to alter community structure and consequently, the services that ecosystems provide. Yet, few experimental investigations have examined effects of CDs on plant community structure across multiple ecosystem types, and those that do exist present conflicting patterns. In an unprecedented global synthesis of over 100 experiments that manipulated factors linked to GCDs, we show that herbaceous plant community responses depend on experimental manipulation length and number of factors manipulated. We found that plant communities are fairly resistant to experimentally manipulated GCDs in the short term ( minor to 10 y). In contrast, long-term (major or equal to 10 y) experiments show increasing community divergence of treatments from control conditions. Surprisingly, these community responses occurred with similar frequency across the GCD types manipulated in our database. However, community responses were more common when 3 or more GCDs were simultaneously manipulated, suggesting the emergence of additive or synergistic effects of multiple drivers, particularly over long time periods. In half of the cases, GCD manipulations caused a difference in community composition without a corresponding species richness difference, indicating that species reordering or replacement is an important mechanism of community responses to GCDs and should be given greater consideration when examining consequences of GCDs for the biodiversity–ecosystem function relationship. Human activities are currently driving unparalleled global changes worldwide. Our analyses provide the most comprehensive evidence to date that these human activities may have widespread impacts on plant community composition globally, which will increase in frequency over time and be greater in areas where communities face multiple GCDs simultaneously. tbls., grafs.

Ongoing increases in anthropogenic nitrogen (N) inputs have largely affected soil carbon (C) and nutrient cycling in most terrestrial ecosystems. Numerous studies have concerned the effects of elevated N inputs on soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved inorganic N (DIN), available phosphorus (AP), exchangeable calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg), and available iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn). However, few have emphasized the stoichiometric traits of these soil parameters, especially within different soil aggregate fractions. In a semiarid grassland of Inner Mongolia, we studied the effect of N addition on the ratios of DOC : DIN, DOC : AP, DIN : AP, exchangeable Ca : Mg, available Fe : Mn within three soil aggregate classes of large macroaggregates (> 2000 µm), small macroaggregates (250–2000 µm), and microaggregates (

Evidence for impacts of environmental changes on belowground net primary production (BNPP) from long-term experiments is rather scarce. We aimed to understand how long-term changes in water and nitrogen availability affect production and vertical allocation of roots in semi-arid grasslands and its consequence on carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles. We investigated changes of BNPP and its vertical allocation along the soil profile to 40 cm in depth in response to simultaneous increases in water and N availability over 11 years in an old-field grassland in northern China. Water addition increased BNPP in all soil layers (0–10 cm, 10–20 cm, and 20–40 cm), and enhanced the percentage BNPP in the upper soils but decreased that in 10–20 cm soil layer. Nitrogen addition decreased BNPP in 10–20 cm and 20–40 cm soil layers as well as total BNPP in 0–40 cm, and increased the percentage BNPP in the upper soil layer but decreased that in 10–20 cm soil layer. Water addition increased soil total C and N concentrations in 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm soil layers, while N addition only marginally decreased soil C:N ratio in 0–10 cm and 20–40 cm soil layers. Both soil total N concentration and soil C:N ratio were closely related to BNPP. Our results highlight the importance of environmental factors, especially water availability, in determining BNPP, and in turn controlling soil nutrient accumulation in semi-arid grasslands, although the specific mechanisms remain unclear. The projected increase in precipitation in those semi-arid grasslands would enhance soil C and N sequestration. The increased allocation of BNPP in upper soils with long-term precipitation increment and N deposition may accelerate the cycles of C and N in these ecosystems, and thus increase the risk of soil C and N loss.

Information on the relationships between phosphatase activities and organic phosphorus (P) turnover is fundamental to understanding soil P dynamics but remains poorly understood. An 8-year field study was conducted in a steppe and an abandoned cropland under semi-arid grasslands to explore the effects of nitrogen (N) and P additions on P composition in soil as determined by 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and associated phosphatase activities. Results showed that the phosphate monoester content, soil acid phosphomonoesterase, alkaline phosphomonoesterase, and phosphodiesterase activities were higher in the steppe than in the abandoned cropland soil. Nitrogen addition significantly suppressed phosphatase activities. Phosphorus addition significantly increased acid phosphomonoesterase, alkaline phosphomonoesterase, and phosphodiesterase activities in the steppe but significantly decreased them in the abandoned cropland. Structural equation modeling revealed that both phosphodiesterase and alkaline phosphomonoesterase activities showed significant negative effects on diesters and monoesters in the steppe, but there were no significant effects of phosphatase activities on organic P composition in the abandoned cropland. Our findings highlight the variation of dominant mechanisms involved in organic P turnover with land use change. Phosphorus deficiency in the steppe appeared to promote the production of phosphatases and the subsequent biochemical mineralization of organic P. While in the abandoned cropland, previous cultivation resulted in a proportionally greater loss of soil organic carbon than that of organic P, indicating that organic P was mineralized as a result of biological mineralization of organic matter.

Previous studies have demonstrated that higher nitrogen (N) and water availability affect both above- and below-ground communities, soil carbon and N pools, and microbial activity in semi-arid grasslands of Inner Mongolia. However, how soil phosphorus (P) and sulfur (S) pools, and related soil enzyme activities (as indicators of P and S cycles) respond to long-term N and water addition has still remained unclear. Since 2005, a field experiment with urea and water amendments has been conducted to examine their effects on total and available P and S concentrations and alkaline phosphomonoesterase (PME) and aryl-sulfatase (ArS) activities in three soil aggregate fractions: large macroaggregates (>2 mm), small macroaggregates (0.25–2 mm), and microaggregates (

Increased nitrogen (N) input into the ecosystem, which is mainly caused by anthropogenic activities, is usually not paralleled by a similar increase in phosphorus (P) input, and thus, can shift the ecosystem from N limitation to P limitation. Although the effects of N enrichment on ecosystem components have been intensively evaluated, the impacts of altered P resource availability and the interactive effects of N and P on the biomass, composition, and function of soil microbial communities are not well understood. Here, based on a 9-year field experiment, we investigated the responses of soil biotic and abiotic properties to N and P addition in a semi-arid calcareous grassland in northern China. We documented a significant increase in the relative abundance of bacteria (copiotrophic group in a broad ecological meaning) and a decrease in the relative abundance of fungi (oligotrophic) and the fungi/bacteria (F/B) ratio under N addition. The proportion of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) decreased under both N addition and P addition. N addition and P addition inhibited N-acquisition enzymes (protease, PRO) and P-acquisition enzymes (alkaline phosphomonoesterases, Alka PME), respectively. N fertilization inhibited most of the soil enzymatic activities by reducing soil pH and microbial biomass. P addition alleviated the negative impacts of N addition on substrate induced respiration (SIR), peroxidase (PER), and Alka PME, likely by reducing the available N content in soils, but strengthened the effects of N on the soil total carbon (TC) content, which might contribute to increased plant productivity. We also found that the overall changes in soil microbial enzyme profiles in response to nutrient addition were mainly caused by eutrophication (changes in NO3−-N and Olsen-P), whereas variations in the broad community structure were driven by soil acidification. Overall, the application of N and P in this natural steppe will cause serious environmental issues and impact ecosystem service and function through changing the compositional and functional profiles of soil microbial communities.

Theoretical and observational studies have suggested that environmental variations would change compositional similarity between plant communities. However, this topic has rarely been examined via experiments involving direct manipulation of resources utilized by plant communities. A 9-year field manipulation experiment was conducted to examine the effects of nitrogen addition and increased water on community similarity between a steppe and an old field in the semiarid region of northern China. Over the experimental period, nitrogen addition reduced community similarity between the steppe and the old field, whereas water addition enhanced community similarity. These treatment effects were closely related to changes in diversity characteristics as well as abundance of functional groups and dominant species of plant communities. These results highlight the importance of resource availability in regulating the trajectory of ecosystem succession, and suggest that the increase in atmospheric nitrogen deposition in northern China will contribute to divergence between the steppe and the old field, whereas the increase in growing-season precipitation may encourage convergence between the two grasslands with respect to species composition during succession. Thus the decrease in community similarity caused by nitrogen enrichment may be counteracted, at least partially, by precipitation increase under changing atmosphere and climate.

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) play vital roles in plant growth and development. Yet how climate regimes and soil fertility influence plant N and P stoichiometry is not well understood, especially in the belowground plant parts. Here we investigated plant aboveground and belowground N and P concentrations ([N] and [P]) and their stoichiometry in three dominant genera along a 2200 km long climatic gradient in northern China. Results showed that temperature explained more variation of [N] and [P] in C4 plants, whereas precipitation exerted a stronger influence on [N] and [P] in C3 plants. Both plant aboveground and belowground [N] and [P] increased with decreasing precipitation, and increasing temperatures yet were negatively correlated with soil [N] and [P]. Plant N:P ratios were unrelated with all climate and soil variables. Plant aboveground and belowground [N] followed an allometric scaling relationship, but the allocation of [P] was isometric. These results imply that internal processes stabilize plant N:P ratios and hence tissue N:P ratios may not be an effective parameter for predicting plant nutrient limitation. Our results also imply that past positive relationships between plant and nutrient stocks may be challenged under changing climatic conditions. While any modeling would need to be able to replicate currently observed relationships, it is conceivable that some relationships, such as those between temperature or rainfall and carbon:nutrient ratios, should be different under changing climatic conditions.

A novel all-optical cantilever-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy technique for trace gas detection in the open environment is proposed. A cantilever is set off-beam to “listen to” the photoacoustic signal, and an improved quadrature-point stabilization Fabry–Perot demodulation unit is used to pick up the vibration signal of the acoustic transducer instead of a complicated Michelson interferometer. The structure parameters of the cantilever are optimized to make the sensing system work more stably and reliably using a finite element method, which is then fabricated by surface micro-machining technology. Finally, related experiments are carried out to detect the absorption of water vapor at one atmosphere in the open environment. It was found that the normalized noise-equivalent absorption coefficient obtained by a traditional Fabry–Perot demodulation unit is $$3.38 \times 10^{-7}\,\hbox {cm}^{-1}\cdot \hbox {W}\cdot \hbox {Hz}^{-1/2}$$ , while that by a quadrature- point stabilization Fabry–Perot demodulation unit is $$1.08 \times 10^{-7}\,\hbox {cm}^{-1}\cdot \hbox {W}\cdot \hbox {Hz}^{-1/2}$$ , which indicates that the sensitivity is increased by a factor of 3.1 using improved cantilever-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy.

The long-term productivity of a soil is greatly influenced by cation exchange capacity (CEC). Moreover, interactions between dominant base cations and other nutrients are important for the health and stability of grassland ecosystems. Soil exchangeable base cations and cation ratios were examined in a 11-year experiment with sheep manure application rates 0–1,500 g/(m2·a) in a semi-arid steppe in Inner Mongolia of China, aiming to clarify the relationships of base cations with soil pH, buffer capacity and fertility. Results showed that CEC and contents of exchangeable calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), potassium (K+) and sodium (Na+) were significantly increased, and Ca2+ saturation tended to decrease, while K+ saturation tended to increase with the increases of sheep manure application rates. The Ca2+/Mg2+ and Ca2+/K+ ratios decreased, while Mg2+, K+ and Na+ saturations increased with increasing manure application rates. Both base cations and CEC were significantly and positively correlated with soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil pH. The increases of SOC and soil pH would be the dominant factors that contribute to the increase of cations in soil. On a comparison with the initial soil pH before the experiment, we deduced that sheep manure application could partly buffer soil pH decrease potentially induced by atmospheric deposition of nitrogen and sulfur. Our results indicate that sheep manure application is beneficial to the maintenance of base cations and the buffering of soil acidification, and therefore can improve soil fertility in the semi-arid steppes of northeastern China.

Soil microorganisms secrete enzymes used to metabolize carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) from the organic materials typically found in soil. Because of the connection with the active microbial biomass, soil enzyme activities can be used to investigate microbial nutrient cycling including the microbial response to environmental changes, transformation rates and to address the location of the most active biomass. In a 9-year field study on global change scenarios related to increasing N inputs (ambient to 15 g N m � 2 yr � 1 ) and precipitation (ambient to 180 mm yr � 1 ), we tested the activities of soil bglucosidase (BG), N-acetyl-glucosaminidase (NAG) and acid phosphomonoesterase (PME) for three soil aggregate classes: large macroaggregates (>2000 mm), small macroaggregates (250e2000 mm) and microaggregates (

Background and Aims Given that plant growth is often water limited in drylands, it has been proposed that water seems to influence productivity by altering physiological/ metabolic responses and nutrient availability in short term. It is unclear, however, whether water mediates a positive plant-soil feedback and whether the feedback drives variations in plant productivity. Methods A 4-year field experiment was performed to examine the effects of water and nitrogen (N) addition on nutrient concentrations in soil and plant, nutrient resorption and potential return, in a temperate grassland in northern China. Results Water addition enhanced plant N and phosphorus (P) concentrations but reduced plant N and P resorption efficiency, leading to the increased potential N and P return to soil via litterfall. Enhanced nutrient potential return likely contributed to an increase of plant productivity in the following year. These “fertilization effects” caused by water addition were similar to those by N addition. Conclusions Our study suggests that the positive plantsoil feedback induced by increased precipitation may have a role in water-induced increases in productivity, and highlights the “fertilization effect” of water addition in a semiarid grassland in short term.

Resistance, recovery and resilience are three important properties of ecological stability, but they have rarely been studied in semi-arid grasslands under global change. We analyzed data from a field experiment conducted in a native grassland in northern China to explore the effects of experimentally enhanced precipitation and N deposition on both absolute and relative measures of community resistance, recovery and resilience--calculated in terms of community cover--after a natural drought. For both absolute and relative measures, communities with precipitation enhancement showed higher resistance and lower recovery, but no change in resilience compared to communities with ambient precipitation in the semi-arid grassland. The manipulated increase in N deposition had little effect on these community stability metrics except for decreased community resistance. The response patterns of these stability metrics to alterations in precipitation and N are generally consistent at community, functional group and species levels. Contrary to our expectations, structural equation modeling revealed that water-driven community resistance and recovery result mainly from changes in community species asynchrony rather than species diversity in the semi-arid grassland. These findings suggest that changes in precipitation regimes may have significant impacts on the response of water-limited ecosystems to drought stress under global change scenarios.

Previous studies have demonstrated positive net primary production effects with increased nitrogen (N) and water availability in Inner Mongolian semi-arid grasslands. However, the responses of soil carbon (C) and N concentrations and soil enzyme activities as indicators of impacts of long-term N (urea) and water addition are still unclear. We tested the effect of 7 years of a N and water addition experiment on soil C, N, and specific soil-bound enzymes in a semi-arid grassland of Inner Mongolia. We determined concentrations of soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil total nitrogen (TN) in both the 0–10 and 10–20 cm soil layers. Concentrations of labile carbon (LC) and inorganic nitrogen (nitrate and ammonium), and soil pH were measured. Additionally, soil dehydrogenase (DHA), β-glucosidase (BG) and acid and alkaline phosphomonoesterase (PME) enzyme activities were determined in the 0–10 cm soil layer. SOC concentration in the 0–10 cm soil layer showed no response to N addition or N plus water addition, but increased with water addition alone by 0.3–15.7 %. N addition significantly increased nitrate by 46.0–138.4 % and ammonium by 19.0–73.3 % in the 0–10 cm soil layer, whereas water addition did not affect them. The activities of DHA and alkaline PME enzymes, as well as soil pH, in the 0–10 cm layer decreased with N addition, however water addition alone caused these enzyme activities to increase. Unlike the surface soil (0–10 cm), the lower soil layer (10–20 cm), was responsive to N and water addition in that SOC and TN concentrations decreased with N addition and increased with water addition. The accumulation of SOC and TN in N and water addition plots may be caused by the input of plant biomass exceeding SOC decomposition. Decrease in microbial activity, derived from decreased DHA and alkaline PME activities might result from suppression effects of lower pH and decreased microbial N supply. Water availability is proved to be more important than N availability for soil C and N accumulation in this semi-arid grassland.

†Background and Aims Leaf longevity is an important plant functional trait that often varies with soil nitrogensupply.Ethyleneisaclassicalplanthormoneinvolvedinthecontrolofsenescenceandabscission,butitsroleinni-trogen-dependentleaf longevity is largely unknown.†MethodsPotandfieldexperimentswereperformedtoexaminetheeffectsofnitrogenadditiononleaflongevityandethyleneproductionintwodominantplantspecies,AgropyroncristatumandStipakrylovii,inatemperatesteppeinnorthern China.†KeyResultsNitrogenadditionincreasedleafethyleneproductionandnitrogenconcentrationbutshortenedleaflon-gevity; the addition of cobalt chloride, an ethylene biosynthesis inhibitor, reduced leaf nitrogen concentration andincreasedleaflongevity.Pathanalysisindicatedthatnitrogenadditionreducedleaflongevitymainlythroughalteringleaf ethylene production.†Conclusions These findings provide the first experimental evidence in support of the involvement of ethylene innitrogen-induced decrease in leaf longevity.Key words: Agropyroncristatum,Stipakrylovii,ethyleneproduction,InnerMongolia,leaflifespan,leafnitrogen,grassland, nitrogen addition.

As the first and rate-limiting step of nitrification, ammonia oxidation can be realized either by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) or archaea (AOA). However, the key factors driving the abundance, community structure and activity of ammonia oxidizers are still unclear, and the relative importance of AOA and AOB in ammonia oxidation is unresolved. In the present study, we examined the effects of long-term (6 years) nitrogen (N) addition and simulated precipitation increment on the abundance and community composition of AOA and AOB based on a field trial in a typical temperate steppe of northern China. We used combined approaches of quantitative PCR, terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and clone library analyses of amoA genes. The study objective was to determine (1) AOA and AOB diversity and activity in response to N addition and increased precipitation and (2) the relative contributions of AOA and AOB to soil ammonia oxidation in the typical temperate steppe. The results showed that the potential nitrification rate (PNR) increased with N addition, but decreased with increased precipitation. Both N addition and increased precipitation significantly increased AOB but not AOA abundance, and a significant correlation was only observed between PNR and AOB amoA gene copies. The T-RFLP analysis showed that both N and precipitation were key factors in shaping the composition of AOB, while AOA were only marginally influenced. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that all AOA clones fell within the soil and sediment lineage while all AOB clones fell within the Nitrosospira. The study suggested that AOA and AOB had distinct physiological characteristics and ecological niches. AOB were shown to be more sensitive to N and precipitation than AOA, and the ammonia oxidation process was therefore supposed to be mainly driven by AOB in this temperate steppe.

As a pioneer leguminous shrub species for vegetation re-establishment, Caragana microphylla is widely distributed in the semi-fixed and fixed sandy lands of the Horqin region, North China. C. microphylla plantations modify organic carbon (SOC), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus dynamics, bulk density and water-holding capacity, and biological activities in soils, but little is known with regard to soil exchange properties. Variation in soil exchangeable base cations was examined under C. microphylla plantations with an age sequence of 0, 5, 10, and 22 years in the Horqin Sandy Land, and at the depth of 0–10, 10–20, and 20–30 cm, respectively. C. microphylla has been planted on the non-vegetated sand dunes with similar physical-chemical soil properties. The results showed that exchangeable calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and potassium (K), and cation exchange capacity (CEC) were significantly increased, and Ca saturation tended to decrease, while Mg and K saturations were increased with the plantation years. No difference was observed for exchangeable sodium (Na) neither with plantation years nor at soil depths. Of all the base cations and soil layers, exchangeable K at the depth of 0–10 cm accumulated most quickly, and it increased by 1.76, 3.16, and 4.25 times, respectively after C. microphylla was planted for 5, 10, and 22 years. Exchangeable Ca, Mg, and K, and CEC were significantly (P

Better understanding of plant community structure in relationship to land use history and nitrogen (N) will facilitate grassland conservation and projections of community succession under future N deposition. We conducted a field experiment in northern China to examine the influence of 2-year N addition on species composition and community structure in three temperate grasslands with different land use history: steppe fenced for two years (ST), steppe fenced for five years (SF), and old field grassland fenced for five years (OF). The results showed previous farming reduced species diversity and plant cover, which is mainly caused by decrease in perennial grasses (PG) and forbs (PF). Nitrogen addition increased plant cover, especially the PG cover, but had little effects on species diversity. Nitrogen enrichment also has a tendency to alter community composition by decreasing proportional cover of PF but increasing that of PG and annuals and biennials (AB), suggesting enhanced dominance of PG under increasing N deposition. Irrespective of the short-term (2 years) experimental periods, our findings highlight the dominant role of land use history in structuring plant community, and have valuable implications for grassland conservation and model projections of ecosystem succession under global scenarios of N deposition in the semi-arid grasslands.

† Background and aims Changes in supplies of resources will modify plant functional traits. However, few experimental studies have addressed the effects of nitrogen and water variations, either singly or in combination, on functional traits. † Methods A 2-year field experiment was conducted to test the effects of nitrogen and water addition on leaf longevity and other functional traits of the two dominant (Agropyron cristatum and Stipa krylovii) and three most common species (Cleistogenes squarrosa, Melilotoides ruthenica and Potentilla tanacetifolia) in a temperate steppe in northern China. † Key Results Additional nitrogen and water increased leaf nitrogen content and net photosynthetic rate, and changed other measured functional traits. Leaf longevity decreased significantly with both nitrogen addition (‐6 days in 2007 and ‐ 5.4 days in 2008; both P , 0.001) and watering ( ‐13 days in 2007 and ‐9. 9d ays in 2008; both P , 0.001), and significant differences in leaf longevity were also found among species. Nitrogen and water interacted to affect leaf longevity and other functional traits. Soil water content explained approx. 70 % of the shifts in leaf longevity. Biomass at both species and community level increased under water and nitrogen addition because of the increase in leaf biomass production per individual plant. † Conclusions The results suggest that additional nitrogen and water supplies reduce plant leaf longevity. Soil water availability might play a fundamental role in determining leaf longevity and other leaf functional traits, and its effects can be modified by soil nitrogen availability in semi-arid areas. The different responses of species to resource alterations may cause different global change ramifications under future climate change scenarios.

The ecological role of historical land use has rarely been explored in the context of grassland restoration. We conducted a 4-year field experiment in a steppe and an old field in Inner Mongolia in northern China to examine the influence of historical land use and water availability on ecosystem restoration. Species richness, evenness, and plant cover were higher in the steppe than in the old field. The steppe was more temporally stable compared with the old field in terms of species richness, evenness, plant density, and cover. Water addition increased peak aboveground biomass, belowground net primary productivity, species richness, plant density, and cover in both the steppe and the old field. Water addition also enhanced the stability of ecosystems and the restoration of grassland. Our findings suggested that historical land use determines community structure and influences the process of grassland restoration. Converting grasslands to farmland in semiarid areas can cause the long-term loss of biodiversity and instability of ecosystem with consequent impacts on ecosystem services. The amendment of limited resources is an effective practice to increase the success of ecosystem restoration.

It has been predicted that precipitation and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition will increase in northern China; yet, ecosystem responses to the interactive effects of water and N remain largely unknown. In particular, responses of belowground microbial community to projected global change and their potential linkages to aboveground macro-organisms are rarely studied. In this study, we examined the responses of soil bacterial diversity and community composition to increased precipitation and multi-level N deposition in a temperate steppe in Inner Mongolia, China, and explored the diversity linkages between aboveground and belowground communities. It was observed that N addition caused the significant decrease in bacterial alpha-diversity and dramatic changes in community composition. In addition, we documented strong correlations of alpha- and beta-diversity between plant and bacterial communities in response to N addition. It was found that N enriched the so-called copiotrophic bacteria, but reduced the oligotrophic groups, primarily by increasing the soil inorganic N content and carbon availability and decreasing soil pH. We still highlighted that increased precipitation tended to alleviate the effects of N on bacterial diversity and dampen the plant-microbe connections induced by N. The counteractive effects of N addition and increased precipitation imply that even though the ecosystem diversity and function are predicted to be negatively affected by N deposition in the coming decades; the combination with increased precipitation may partially offset this detrimental effect.

Anthropogenic-driven changes in N and water availability are two of the most important factors determining soil C and N turnover in temperate grassland ecosystems. To gain insight into changes in soil aggregation and C and N dynamics in response to N and water addition, we collected soil samples from a field study conducted for 9 yr in a semiarid steppe grassland in Inner Mongolia, China. Three aggregate size classes (microaggregates, 2000 μm) were isolated and analyzed for their mass proportions, soil organic C (SOC), total N (TN), total extractable inorganic N (TIN), and stable isotope ratio of 13C relative to 12C (δ13C) and stable isotope ratio of 15N relative to 14N (δ15N) values. Water addition on average increased large macroaggregates by 33% and decreased microaggregates by 42%. Nitrogen and water addition interacted significantly and increased TIN concentration but had no impact on SOC or TN. Soil organic C was negatively correlated with δ13C values of large and small macroaggregates under ambient precipitation and within all soil aggregates under water addition. Significant positive correlations between TIN and δ15N values were detected for large macroaggregates and microaggregates under ambient precipitation. Our results suggest that water addition accelerated plant residue incorporation into soil organic matter (SOM) (indicated by depleted 13C values) while N addition potentially increased gaseous N losses (suggested by 15N enrichment without changing soil C and N concentrations). Water, but not N, improved soil structure in this semiarid grassland. Our study provides new insights for using natural abundance 13C and 15N to better understand the sensitivity of SOM within different soil particles to coupled N–water changes under global change scenarios.