Hemiparasitic litter additions alter gross nitrogen turnover in temperate semi-natural grassland soils
Hemiparasitic plants accumulate nutrients in their leaves and therefore produce high-quality litter with faster decomposition and nutrient release rates compared to non-parasitic litter. Higher levels of plant-available nitrogen (N) in the presence of hemiparasitic plants have been attributed to this 'litter effect', but effects on N dynamics in the soil remain unstudied. We tested the hypothesis