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Results from a decades-long field study in Minnesota reveal the dangerous impact of rising carbon dioxide and nitrogen pollution on grassland biodiversity.
Though it’s well documented that nitrogen pollution decreases the richness of plant species and that rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide are driving climate change, scientists have been unable to determine if rising carbon dioxide levels influence plant diversity or modify the negative effect of nitrogen pollution on diversity.
Studies like this are uncommon because of how challenging it is to evaluate the impact of the gradual rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide by observing changes in vegetation and the extended time required to make the data relevant.