Top: The distribution of sites from the PREDICTS database and the level of total N deposition. The size of the point represents the number of sites per study (Nsites). The change from blue to orange indicates the increase in the total amount of atmospheric N deposition. N deposition values were loge-transformed, with N deposition ranging from 0.8 mg N m−2 yr−1 to 7960.0 mg N m−2 yr−1. Bottom: The response of arthropod species richness (bottom left) and total abundance (bottom right) to the interaction of N deposition and land use. Likelihood ratio test of the interactive effect of N deposition and land use: species richness = 35.62, p < 0.001; total abundance = 30.68, p < 0.001. Values represent the percentage difference compared with Primary vegetation sites with the 2.5th percentile value of total N deposition. The lines with different colors represent the median predicted value for each land-use type, with shaded areas representing the 95% confidence intervals. The results are predicted across 95% of the range of N deposition values for each land-use type.
#NitrogenDeposition reduces #arthropod species richness & abundance, threatening #biodiversity. This study shows that natural & semi-natural habitats can buffer against these losses, emphasizing their #conservation value in mitigating N deposition’s adverseeffects @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4o3RKOO
