This work highlights the response of plant community to two important limited-resources: water and nitrogen (N) in Dry Mixed Grass Prairie Ecoregion. The field study with a randomized complete block design in Swift Current Research and Development Centre (SCRDC) of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) examined the effects of water and N addition on the aboveground biomass for grass, non-grass plants and plant community. This poster reports the data collected in 2016 (May to October precipitation: 523.1mm). In this study, water treatments included one control (natural precipitation) and two water supplementation from May to August (supplying 15% and 30% of the monthly precipitation). The N addition treatment was supplied with 28.6g/m� NH4NO3 (10g/m� N) at the end of May. Aboveground biomass of grass increased 91.9% and aboveground biomass of plant community increased 88.9% with N addition. Under N addition treatment, aboveground biomass of grasses and plant community was improved 32.0% and 36.1% with supplying water (30% of the monthly precipitation), respectively. However, no significant differences were detected for aboveground biomass of non-grass plant among different water treatments and N addition treatment. Consequently, under the climate conditions with excess precipitation, the effect of water supplementation is weak on grasses and non-grass plants. In addition, the response of grasses to N addition was more sensitive than that of non-grass plants. The N addition with sufficient soil moisture can effectively improve the productivity of plant community in Dry Mixed Grass Prairie Ecoregion.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.