An unnatural balance of nutrients threatens biodiversity in a survival of the fittest scenario, according to the results of a world-first global experiment published in the prestigious Nature journal. Professor Jennifer Firn, from QUT’s Science and Engineering Faculty, is part of a global network of researchers who have tested the impact increased nutrient levels is having on grasslands across six continents.
The article is titled Addition of multiple limiting resources reduces grassland diversity and was led by Professor Stan Harpole from UFZ and iDIV, Germany.
“As part of the Nutrient Network, researchers tested the Charles Darwin ‘entangled bank’ observation which is used to explain how species can coexist even if they require the same limiting resources.