Giving meaning to Ellenberg nutrient values: National forest soil inventory yields frequency-based scaling
Questions: Ellenberg nutrient values based on indicator plant species composition of vegetation plots (mN) are widely used to measure temporal and spatial patterns of nutrient deficiency and eutrophication. Thewidespread use is in contrast to the lack of direct calibration against soil chemical proxies of nutrient availability. Lack of calibration and range contraction due to averaging of a bounded ordinal scale hinder the interpretation ofmN across studies. Based on a large set of concomitant vegetation–soil data we asked: (1) which is the best single soil predictor of mN, (2) which combination of soil variables best explains mN; and (3) can a meaningful relative scale of mN be provided for comparative purposes? Location: Forests in Germany, sampled in a systematic 8 km 9 8 km grid. Methods: The German National Forest Soil Inventory (NFSI) provides a large, representative sample of joint soil and vegetation plots, which were additionally intersected withmodelled background N deposition. Values of mN of vegetation plots were related to measured 36 soil and three deposition variables by correlation and multiple regression. The distribution of mN was partitioned based on quantiles...
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