EEMB/ES 171 Chapin et al. 1986. The American Naturalist 1. What is the difference between nutrient supply and limitation? The difference between nutrient supply and limitation is that nutrient supply is the availability of nutrients to plants. Nutrient limitation on the other hand refers to the limitation of productivity in an individual plant or monospecific stand because of an inadequate supply of an essential nutrient in the soil.2. How can you experimentally test a plant community’s nutrient limitation? You can experimentally test a plant community’s nutrient limitation by assessing plants’ response to the addition of nutrients that are large enough to saturate chemical and microbial immobilization processes and still meet the nutrient requirements of plants. 3. Why might low nutrient supply not equal nutrient limitation for a plant community? Low nutrient supply may not equal nutrient limitation for a plant community because perhaps the essential nutrients the plants needs for productivity are not limited. There may be an inadequate supply of other non-essential elements, which would have very little to no effect on the productivity of a plant community. Also because within a given vegetation type, differences in plant age, age-specific growth rates, and responsiveness to nutrient supply complicate comparisons to nutrient limitation. 4. Explain Fig. 3 Figure 3 in the article shows production by three different tree species under two different environmental conditions. It shows the tree species along a nutrient gradient under natural conditions and when released from nutrient limitation. Alongside this is the figure of the predicted pattern of nutrient limitation based off ofthe predictions in the first part of the figure as well as the predicted pattern ofEEMB/ES 171 Chapin et al. 1986. The American Naturalist nutrient limitation based off of a natural nutrient gradient given gradual changes in species