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3. Data and R code used in: Plant geographic distribution influences chemical defenses in native and introduced Plantago lanceolata populations [Dataset]

Author

Medina-van Berkum, P., Schmöckel, E., Bischoff, A., Carrasco-Farias, N., Catford, J.A., Feldmann, Reinart, Groten, K., Henry, H.A.L., Bucharova, A., Hänniger, S., Luong, J.C., Meis, J., Oetama, V.S.P., Pärtel, M., Power, S.A., Villellas, J., Welk, E., Wingler, A., Rothe, B., Gershenzon, J., Reichelt, M., Roscher, Christiane, Unsicker, S.B., Medina-van Berkum, P., Schmöckel, E., Bischoff, A., Carrasco-Farias, N., Catford, J.A., Feldmann, Reinart, Groten, K., Henry, H.A.L., Bucharova, A., Hänniger, S., Luong, J.C., Meis, J., Oetama, V.S.P., Pärtel, M., Power, S.A., Villellas, J., Welk, E., Wingler, A., Rothe, B., Gershenzon, J., Reichelt, M., Roscher, Christiane, and Unsicker, S.B.

Abstract

Plants growing outside their native range may be confronted by new regimes of herbivory, but how this affects plant chemical defense profiles has rarely been studied. Using Plantago lanceolata as a model species, we investigated whether introduced populations show significant differences from native populations in several growth and chemical defense traits. Plantago lanceolata (ribwort plantain) is an herbaceous plant species native to Europe and Western Asia that has been introduced to numerous countries worldwide. We sampled seeds from nine native and ten introduced populations that covered a broad geographic and environmental range and performed a common garden experiment in a greenhouse, in which we infested half of the plants in each population with caterpillars of the generalist herbivore Spodoptera littoralis. We then measured size-related and resource-allocation traits as well as the levels of constitutive and induced chemical defense compounds in roots and shoots of P. lanceolata. When we considered the environmental characteristics of the site of origin, our results revealed that populations from introduced ranges were characterized by an increase of chemical defense compounds without compromising plant biomass. The concentrations of iridoid glycosides and verbascoside, the major anti-herbivore defense compounds of P. lanceolata, were higher in introduced populations than in native populations. In addition, introduced populations exhibited greater rates of herbivore-induced volatile organic compound emission and diversity, and similar chemical diversity based on untargeted analyses of leaf methanol extracts. In general, the geographic origin of the populations had a significant influence on morphological and chemical plant traits, suggesting that P. lanceolata populations are not only adapted to different environments in their native range, but also in their introduced range.

Published
2024

4. Extreme drought impacts have been underestimated in grasslands and shrublands globally

Author

Smith, M.D., Wilkins, K.D., Holdrege, M.C., Wilfahrt, P., Collins, S.L., Knapp, A.K., Sala, O.E., Dukes, J.S., Phillips, R.P., Yahdjian, L., Gherardi, L.A., Ohlert, T., Beier, C., Fraser, L.H., Jentsch, A., Loik, M.E., Maestre, F.T., Power, S.A., Yu, Q., Felton, A.J., Munson, S.M., Luo, Y., Abdoli, H., Abedi, M., Alados, C.L., Alberti, J., Alon, M., An, H., Anacker, B., Anderson, M., Auge, Harald, Bachle, S., Bahalkeh, K., Bahn, M., Batbaatar, A., Bauerle, T., Beard, K.H., Behn, K., Beil, I., Biancari, L., Blindow, I., Bondaruk, V.F., Borer, E.T., Bork, E.W., Bruschetti, C.M., Byrne, K.M., Cahill jr., J.F., Calvo, D.A., Carbognani, M., Cardoni, A., Carlyle, C.N., Castillo-Garcia, M., Chang, S.X., Chieppa, J., Cianciaruso, M.V., Cohen, O., Cordeiro, A.L., Cusack, D.F., Dahlke, S., Daleo, P., D'Antonio, C.M., Dietterich, L.H., Doherty, T.S., Dubbert, M., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Fischer, F.M., Forte, T.G.W., Gebauer, T., Gozalo, B., Greenville, A.C., Guidoni-Martins, K.G., Hannusch, H.J., Haugum, S.V., Hautier, Y., Hefting, M., Henry, H.A.L., Hoss, D., Ingrisch, J., Iribarne, O., Isbell, F., Johnson, Y., Jordan, S., Kelly, E.F., Kimmel, K., Kreyling, J., Kröel-Dulay, G., Kröpfl, A., Kübert, A., Kulmatiski, A., Lamb, E.G., Steenberg Larsen, K., Larson, J., Lawson, J., Leder, C.V., Linstädter, A., Liu, J., Liu, S., Lodge, A., Longo, G., Smith, M.D., Wilkins, K.D., Holdrege, M.C., Wilfahrt, P., Collins, S.L., Knapp, A.K., Sala, O.E., Dukes, J.S., Phillips, R.P., Yahdjian, L., Gherardi, L.A., Ohlert, T., Beier, C., Fraser, L.H., Jentsch, A., Loik, M.E., Maestre, F.T., Power, S.A., Yu, Q., Felton, A.J., Munson, S.M., Luo, Y., Abdoli, H., Abedi, M., Alados, C.L., Alberti, J., Alon, M., An, H., Anacker, B., Anderson, M., Auge, Harald, Bachle, S., Bahalkeh, K., Bahn, M., Batbaatar, A., Bauerle, T., Beard, K.H., Behn, K., Beil, I., Biancari, L., Blindow, I., Bondaruk, V.F., Borer, E.T., Bork, E.W., Bruschetti, C.M., Byrne, K.M., Cahill jr., J.F., Calvo, D.A., Carbognani, M., Cardoni, A., Carlyle, C.N., Castillo-Garcia, M., Chang, S.X., Chieppa, J., Cianciaruso, M.V., Cohen, O., Cordeiro, A.L., Cusack, D.F., Dahlke, S., Daleo, P., D'Antonio, C.M., Dietterich, L.H., Doherty, T.S., Dubbert, M., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Fischer, F.M., Forte, T.G.W., Gebauer, T., Gozalo, B., Greenville, A.C., Guidoni-Martins, K.G., Hannusch, H.J., Haugum, S.V., Hautier, Y., Hefting, M., Henry, H.A.L., Hoss, D., Ingrisch, J., Iribarne, O., Isbell, F., Johnson, Y., Jordan, S., Kelly, E.F., Kimmel, K., Kreyling, J., Kröel-Dulay, G., Kröpfl, A., Kübert, A., Kulmatiski, A., Lamb, E.G., Steenberg Larsen, K., Larson, J., Lawson, J., Leder, C.V., Linstädter, A., Liu, J., Liu, S., Lodge, A., and Longo, G.

Abstract

Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of short-term (~1 y) drought events—the most common duration of drought—globally. Yet the impact of this intensification of drought on ecosystem functioning remains poorly resolved. This is due in part to the widely disparate approaches ecologists have employed to study drought, variation in the severity and duration of drought studied, and differences among ecosystems in vegetation, edaphic and climatic attributes that can mediate drought impacts. To overcome these problems and better identify the factors that modulate drought responses, we used a coordinated distributed experiment to quantify the impact of short-term drought on grassland and shrubland ecosystems. With a standardized approach, we imposed ~a single year of drought at 100 sites on six continents. Here we show that loss of a foundational ecosystem function—aboveground net primary production (ANPP)—was 60% greater at sites that experienced statistically extreme drought (1-in-100-y event) vs. those sites where drought was nominal (historically more common) in magnitude (35% vs. 21%, respectively). This reduction in a key carbon cycle process with a single year of extreme drought greatly exceeds previously reported losses for grasslands and shrublands. Our global experiment also revealed high variability in drought response but that relative reductions in ANPP were greater in drier ecosystems and those with fewer plant species. Overall, our results demonstrate with unprecedented rigor that the global impacts of projected increases in drought severity have been significantly underestimated and that drier and less diverse sites are likely to be most vulnerable to extreme drought.

Published
2024

5. Plant geographic distribution influences chemical defences in native and introduced Plantago lanceolata populations

Author

Medina-van Berkum, P., Schmöckel, E., Bischoff, A., Carrasco-Farias, N., Catford, J.A., Feldmann, Reinart, Groten, K., Henry, H.A.L., Bucharova, A., Hänniger, S., Luong, J.C., Meis, J., Oetama, V.S.P., Pärtel, M., Power, S.A., Villellas, J., Welk, E., Wingler, A., Rothe, B., Gershenzon, J., Reichelt, M., Roscher, Christiane, Unsicker, S.B., Medina-van Berkum, P., Schmöckel, E., Bischoff, A., Carrasco-Farias, N., Catford, J.A., Feldmann, Reinart, Groten, K., Henry, H.A.L., Bucharova, A., Hänniger, S., Luong, J.C., Meis, J., Oetama, V.S.P., Pärtel, M., Power, S.A., Villellas, J., Welk, E., Wingler, A., Rothe, B., Gershenzon, J., Reichelt, M., Roscher, Christiane, and Unsicker, S.B.

Abstract

Plants growing outside their native range may be confronted by new regimes of herbivory, but how this affects plant chemical defense profiles has rarely been studied. Using Plantago lanceolata as a model species, we investigated whether introduced populations show significant differences from native populations in several growth and chemical defense traits. Plantago lanceolata (ribwort plantain) is an herbaceous plant species native to Europe and Western Asia that has been introduced to numerous countries worldwide. We sampled seeds from nine native and ten introduced populations that covered a broad geographic and environmental range and performed a common garden experiment in a greenhouse, in which we infested half of the plants in each population with caterpillars of the generalist herbivore Spodoptera littoralis. We then measured size-related and resource-allocation traits as well as the levels of constitutive and induced chemical defense compounds in roots and shoots of P. lanceolata. When we considered the environmental characteristics of the site of origin, our results revealed that populations from introduced ranges were characterized by an increase of chemical defense compounds without compromising plant biomass. The concentrations of iridoid glycosides and verbascoside, the major anti-herbivore defense compounds of P. lanceolata, were higher in introduced populations than in native populations. In addition, introduced populations exhibited greater rates of herbivore-induced volatile organic compound emission and diversity, and similar chemical diversity based on untargeted analyses of leaf methanol extracts. In general, the geographic origin of the populations had a significant influence on morphological and chemical plant traits, suggesting that P. lanceolata populations are not only adapted to different environments in their native range, but also in their introduced range.

Published
2024

7. Nutrient addition drives declines in grassland species richness primarily via enhanced species loss

Author

Muehleisen, A., Carmen, A., Shaw, G., Madelon, A., Lina, B., Reed, A., LaForgia, M., Borer, E.T., Seabloom, Eric W., Bakker, J.D., Arnillas, C.A., Biederman, L.A., Chen, Q.Q., Cleland, E.E., Fay, P.A., Hagenah, N., Harpole, W.S., Hautier, Y., Henning, Jeremiah A., Knops, J., Komatsu, K.J., MacDougall, A.S., Ladeuceur, E, McCulley, R., Moore, J., Ohlert, T., Power, S.A., Stevens, Carly, Wilfahrt, P.A., Hallett, L., Muehleisen, A., Carmen, A., Shaw, G., Madelon, A., Lina, B., Reed, A., LaForgia, M., Borer, E.T., Seabloom, Eric W., Bakker, J.D., Arnillas, C.A., Biederman, L.A., Chen, Q.Q., Cleland, E.E., Fay, P.A., Hagenah, N., Harpole, W.S., Hautier, Y., Henning, Jeremiah A., Knops, J., Komatsu, K.J., MacDougall, A.S., Ladeuceur, E, McCulley, R., Moore, J., Ohlert, T., Power, S.A., Stevens, Carly, Wilfahrt, P.A., and Hallett, L.

Abstract

Declines in grassland diversity in response to nutrient addition are a general consequence of global change. This decline in species richness may be driven by multiple underlying processes operating at different time-scales. Nutrient addition can reduce diversity by enhancing the rate of local extinction via competitive exclusion, or by reducing the rate of colonization by constraining the pool of species able to colonize under new conditions. Partitioning net change into extinction and colonization rates will better delineate the long-term effect of global change in grasslands. We synthesized changes in richness in response to experimental fertilization with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium with micronutrients across 30 grasslands. We quantified changes in local richness, colonization, and extinction over 8–10 years of nutrient addition, and compared these rates against control conditions to isolate the effect of nutrient addition from background dynamics. Total richness at steady state in the control plots was the sum of equal, relatively high rates of local colonization and extinction. On aggregate, 30%–35% of initial species were lost and the same proportion of new species were gained at least once over a decade. Absolute turnover increased with site-level richness but was proportionately greater at lower-richness sites relative to starting richness. Loss of total richness with nutrient addition, especially N in combination with P or K, was driven by enhanced rates of extinction with a smaller contribution from reduced colonization. Enhanced extinction and reduced colonization were disproportionately among native species, perennials, and forbs. Reduced colonization plateaued after the first few (<5) years after nutrient addition, while enhanced extinction continued throughout the first decade. Synthesis. Our results indicate a high rate of colonizations and extinctions underlying the richness of ambient communities and that nutrient enhancement drives overall

Published
2023

8. Plant geographic distribution influences chemical defenses in native and introduced Plantago lanceolata populations

Author

Medina-van Berkum, P., Schmöckel, E., Bischoff, A., Carrasco-Farias, N., Catford, J.A., Feldmann, Reinart, Groten, K., Henry, H.A.L., Lampei Bucharova, A., Hänniger, S., Luong, J.C., Meis, J., Oetama, V.S.P., Pärtel, M., Power, S.A., Villellas, J., Welk, E., Wingler, A., Rothe, B., Gershenzon, J., Reichelt, M., Roscher, Christiane, Unsicker, S.B., Medina-van Berkum, P., Schmöckel, E., Bischoff, A., Carrasco-Farias, N., Catford, J.A., Feldmann, Reinart, Groten, K., Henry, H.A.L., Lampei Bucharova, A., Hänniger, S., Luong, J.C., Meis, J., Oetama, V.S.P., Pärtel, M., Power, S.A., Villellas, J., Welk, E., Wingler, A., Rothe, B., Gershenzon, J., Reichelt, M., Roscher, Christiane, and Unsicker, S.B.

Abstract

Plants growing outside their native range may be confronted by new regimes of herbivory, but how this affects plant chemical defense profiles has rarely been studied. Using Plantago lanceolata as a model species, we investigated whether introduced populations show significant differences from native populations in several growth and chemical defense traits. Plantago lanceolata (ribwort plantain) is an herbaceous plant species native to Europe and Western Asia that has been introduced to numerous countries worldwide. We sampled seeds from nine native and ten introduced populations that covered a broad geographic and environmental range and performed a common garden experiment in a greenhouse, in which we infested half of the plants in each population with caterpillars of the generalist herbivore Spodoptera littoralis. We then measured size-related and resource-allocation traits as well as the levels of constitutive and induced chemical defense compounds in roots and shoots of P. lanceolata. When we considered the environmental characteristics of the site of origin, our results revealed that populations from introduced ranges were characterized by an increase of chemical defense compounds without compromising plant biomass. The concentrations of iridoid glycosides and verbascoside, the major anti-herbivore defense compounds of P. lanceolata, were higher in introduced populations than in native populations. In addition, introduced populations exhibited greater rates of herbivore-induced volatile organic compound emission and diversity, and similar chemical diversity based on untargeted analyses of leaf methanol extracts. In general, the geographic origin of the populations had a significant influence on morphological and chemical plant traits, suggesting that P. lanceolata populations are not only adapted to different environments in their native range, but also in their introduced range.

Published
2023

9. Nutrient addition impacts grassland productivity responses to dry and wet climate extremes despite functional diversity loss

Author

Chen, Q., Wang, S., Seabloom, E.W., Isbell, F., Borer, E.T., Bakker, J.D., Bharath, S., Roscher, Christiane, Peri, P.L., Power, S.A., Donohue, I., Stevens, C., Ebeling, A., Nogueira, C., Caldeira, M.C., MacDougall, A.S., Moore, J.L., Bagchi, S., Jentsch, A., Tedder, M., Kirkman, K., Hautier, Y., Chen, Q., Wang, S., Seabloom, E.W., Isbell, F., Borer, E.T., Bakker, J.D., Bharath, S., Roscher, Christiane, Peri, P.L., Power, S.A., Donohue, I., Stevens, C., Ebeling, A., Nogueira, C., Caldeira, M.C., MacDougall, A.S., Moore, J.L., Bagchi, S., Jentsch, A., Tedder, M., Kirkman, K., and Hautier, Y.

Abstract

Eutrophication impacts grassland diversity such as species richness, functional trait diversity and composition, but whether and how these changes affect ecosystem functional stability under increasing climate extremes is unknown. We quantify the direct and diversity-mediated effects of nutrient addition on functional stability of productivity as measured by resistance during and recovery after dry and wet growing seasons, and temporal invariability across 19 grasslands spanning four continents. We use leaf traits measured in the field to construct slow-fast leaf economic spectrum and calculate functional trait composition and diversity of the slow-fast trait. Nutrient addition increased resistance during dry growing seasons mainly through its direct effects. It also increased resistance during wet growing seasons directly, but these positive effects were weakened by indirect negative effects through reducing slow-fast functional diversity. Nutrient addition had weak effects on recovery after dry growing seasons, but it decreased recovery after wet growing seasons mainly through its direct effects. Nutrient addition increased temporal invariability through resistance, but decreased it through recovery and reducing species richness, leading to overall weak net effects. Thus, processes and influencing pathways independent of plant diversity should be carefully taken into account in understanding ecosystem stability in response to increasing global changes.

Published
2023

10. Multidimensional responses of ecological stability to eutrophication in grasslands

Author

Chen, Q., Wang, S., Borer, E.T., Bakker, J.D., Seabloom, E.W., Harpole, William Stanley ; orcid:0000-0002-3404-9174, Eisenhauer, N., Lekberg, Y., Buckley, Y.M., Catford, J.A., Roscher, Christiane, Donohue, I., Power, S.A., Daleo, P., Ebeling, A., Knops, J.M.H., Martina, J.P., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Morgan, J.W., Risch, A.C., Caldeira, M.C., Bugalho, M.N., Virtanen, R., Barrio, I.C., Niu, Y., Jentsch, A., Stevens, C.J., Alberti, M., Hautier, Y., Chen, Q., Wang, S., Borer, E.T., Bakker, J.D., Seabloom, E.W., Harpole, William Stanley ; orcid:0000-0002-3404-9174, Eisenhauer, N., Lekberg, Y., Buckley, Y.M., Catford, J.A., Roscher, Christiane, Donohue, I., Power, S.A., Daleo, P., Ebeling, A., Knops, J.M.H., Martina, J.P., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Morgan, J.W., Risch, A.C., Caldeira, M.C., Bugalho, M.N., Virtanen, R., Barrio, I.C., Niu, Y., Jentsch, A., Stevens, C.J., Alberti, M., and Hautier, Y.

Abstract

Eutrophication usually impacts biodiversity, species composition, and functioning of grassland communities. Whether such effects propagate to influence the stability of these community aspects is unknown. Using standardized experiments across 55 global grasslands, we quantified the effects of nutrient addition on five stability facets (i.e., temporal invariability and resistance during and recovery after dry and wet growing seasons) for three community aspects (i.e., aboveground biomass, community composition, and species richness). Nutrient addition reduced the temporal invariability and resistance of species richness and community composition, but not biomass, during dry and wet growing seasons. Temporal invariability and resistance during, but not recovery after, dry and wet growing seasons were strongly positively correlated in both ambient and eutrophic conditions. This indicates that maintaining and restoring the stability of plant communities requires increasing resistance rather than recovery. Harnessing the complexity of ecological stability provides new insights for grassland ecosystem sustainability in a changing world.

Published
2023

11. Data package for NutNet project: Compositional variation in grassland plant communities (60 sites, 2007-2020) ver 1

Author

Bakker, J.D., Price, J.N., Henning, J.A., Batzer, E.E., Ohlert, T.J., Wainwright, C.E., Adler, P.B., Alberti, J., Arnillas, C.A., Biederman, L.A., Borer, E.T., Brudvig, L.A., Buckley, Y.M., Bugalho, M.N., Cadotte, M.W., Caldeira, M.C., Catford, J.A., Chen, Q., Crawley, M.J., Daleo, P., Dickman, C.R., Donohue, I., DuPre, M.E., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Fay, P.A., Gruner, D.S., Haider, S., Hautier, Y., Jentsch, A., Kirkman, K., Knops, J.M.H., Lannes, L.S., MacDougall, A.S., McCulley, R.L., Mitchell, R.M., Moore, J.L., Morgan, J.W., Mortensen, B., Venterink, H.O., Peri, P.L., Power, S.A., Prober, S.M., Roscher, Christiane, Sankaran, M., Seabloom, E.W., Smith, M.D., Stevens, C., Sullivan, L.L., Tedder, M., Veen, G.F.C., Virtanen, R., Wardle, G.M., Bakker, J.D., Price, J.N., Henning, J.A., Batzer, E.E., Ohlert, T.J., Wainwright, C.E., Adler, P.B., Alberti, J., Arnillas, C.A., Biederman, L.A., Borer, E.T., Brudvig, L.A., Buckley, Y.M., Bugalho, M.N., Cadotte, M.W., Caldeira, M.C., Catford, J.A., Chen, Q., Crawley, M.J., Daleo, P., Dickman, C.R., Donohue, I., DuPre, M.E., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Fay, P.A., Gruner, D.S., Haider, S., Hautier, Y., Jentsch, A., Kirkman, K., Knops, J.M.H., Lannes, L.S., MacDougall, A.S., McCulley, R.L., Mitchell, R.M., Moore, J.L., Morgan, J.W., Mortensen, B., Venterink, H.O., Peri, P.L., Power, S.A., Prober, S.M., Roscher, Christiane, Sankaran, M., Seabloom, E.W., Smith, M.D., Stevens, C., Sullivan, L.L., Tedder, M., Veen, G.F.C., Virtanen, R., and Wardle, G.M.

Abstract

Human activities are altering ecological communities around the globe. Understanding the implications of these changes requires that we consider the composition of those communities. However, composition can be summarized by many metrics which in turn are influenced by different ecological processes. For example, incidence-based metrics strongly reflect species gains or losses, while abundance-based metrics are minimally affected by changes in the abundance of small or uncommon species. Furthermore, metrics might be correlated with different predictors. We used a globally distributed experiment to examine variation in species composition within 60 grasslands on six continents. Each site had an identical experimental and sampling design: 24 plots × 4 years. We expressed compositional variation within each site—not across sites—using abundance- and incidence-based metrics of the magnitude of dissimilarity (Bray–Curtis and Sorensen, respectively), abundance- and incidence-based measures of the relative importance of replacement (balanced variation and species turnover, respectively), and species richness at two scales (per plot-year [alpha] and per site [gamma]). Average compositional variation among all plot-years at a site was high and similar to spatial variation among plots in the pretreatment year, but lower among years in untreated plots. For both types of metrics, most variation was due to replacement rather than nestedness. Differences among sites in overall within-site compositional variation were related to several predictors. Environmental heterogeneity (expressed as the CV of total aboveground plant biomass in unfertilized plots of the site) was an important predictor for most metrics. Biomass production was a predictor of species turnover and of alpha diversity but not of other metrics. Continentality (measured as annual temperature range) was a strong predictor of Sorensen dissimilarity. Metrics of compositional variation are moderately correlated: knowin

Published
2023

12. Drivers of the microbial metabolic quotient across global grasslands

Author

Risch, A.C., Zimmermann, S., Schütz, M., Borer, E.T., Broadbent, A.A.D., Caldeira, M.C., Davies, K.F., Eisenhauer, N., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Fay, P.A., Hagedorn, F., Knops, J.M.H., Lembrechts, J.J., MacDougall, A.S., McCulley, R.L., Melbourne, B.A., Moore, J.L., Power, S.A., Seabloom, E.W., Silviera, M.L., Virtanen, R., Yahdjian, L., Ochoa-Hueso, R., Risch, A.C., Zimmermann, S., Schütz, M., Borer, E.T., Broadbent, A.A.D., Caldeira, M.C., Davies, K.F., Eisenhauer, N., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Fay, P.A., Hagedorn, F., Knops, J.M.H., Lembrechts, J.J., MacDougall, A.S., McCulley, R.L., Melbourne, B.A., Moore, J.L., Power, S.A., Seabloom, E.W., Silviera, M.L., Virtanen, R., Yahdjian, L., and Ochoa-Hueso, R.

Abstract

Aim The microbial metabolic quotient (MMQ; mg CO2-C/mg MBC/h), defined as the amount of microbial CO2 respired (MR; mg CO2-C/kg soil/h) per unit of microbial biomass C (MBC; mg C/kg soil), is a key parameter for understanding the microbial regulation of the carbon (C) cycle, including soil C sequestration. Here, we experimentally tested hypotheses about the individual and interactive effects of multiple nutrient addition (nitrogen + phosphorus + potassium + micronutrients) and herbivore exclusion on MR, MBC and MMQ across 23 sites (five continents). Our sites encompassed a wide range of edaphoclimatic conditions; thus, we assessed which edaphoclimatic variables affected MMQ the most and how they interacted with our treatments. Location Australia, Asia, Europe, North/South America. Time period 2015–2016. Major taxa Soil microbes. Methods Soils were collected from plots with established experimental treatments. MR was assessed in a 5-week laboratory incubation without glucose addition, MBC via substrate-induced respiration. MMQ was calculated as MR/MBC and corrected for soil temperatures (MMQsoil). Using linear mixed effects models (LMMs) and structural equation models (SEMs), we analysed how edaphoclimatic characteristics and treatments interactively affected MMQsoil. Results MMQsoil was higher in locations with higher mean annual temperature, lower water holding capacity and lower soil organic C concentration, but did not respond to our treatments across sites as neither MR nor MBC changed. We attributed this relative homeostasis to our treatments to the modulating influence of edaphoclimatic variables. For example, herbivore exclusion, regardless of fertilization, led to greater MMQsoil only at sites with lower soil organic C (< 1.7%). Main conclusions Our results pinpoint the main variables related to MMQsoil across grasslands and emphasize the importance of the local edaphoclimatic conditions in controlling the response of the C cycle to anthropogenic stre

Published
2023

13. Environmental heterogeneity modulates the effect of biodiversity on the spatial variability of grassland biomass

Author

Daleo, Pedro, Alberti, E., Chaneton, Enrique J., Iribarne, Oscar, Tognetti, Pedro M., Bakker, J.D., Borer, E.T., Bruschetti, M., MacDougall, A.S., Pascual, Jesús, Sankaran, Mahesh, Seabloom, Eric W., Wang, S., Bagchi, S., Brudvig, Lars A., Catford, Jane A., Dickman, C. R., Dickson, T.L., Donohue, I., Eisenhauer, Nico, Gruner, D., Haider, S., Jentsch, Anke, Knops, Johannes M. H., Lekberg, Y., McCulley, Rebecca L., Moore, J.L., Mortensen, Brent, Ohlert, Timothy, Pärtel, M, Peri, P.L., Power, S.A., Risch, A., Rocca, C., Smith, N., Stevens, Carly, Tamme, R., Veen, G.F., Wilfahrt, P.A., Hautier, Yann, Daleo, Pedro, Alberti, E., Chaneton, Enrique J., Iribarne, Oscar, Tognetti, Pedro M., Bakker, J.D., Borer, E.T., Bruschetti, M., MacDougall, A.S., Pascual, Jesús, Sankaran, Mahesh, Seabloom, Eric W., Wang, S., Bagchi, S., Brudvig, Lars A., Catford, Jane A., Dickman, C. R., Dickson, T.L., Donohue, I., Eisenhauer, Nico, Gruner, D., Haider, S., Jentsch, Anke, Knops, Johannes M. H., Lekberg, Y., McCulley, Rebecca L., Moore, J.L., Mortensen, Brent, Ohlert, Timothy, Pärtel, M, Peri, P.L., Power, S.A., Risch, A., Rocca, C., Smith, N., Stevens, Carly, Tamme, R., Veen, G.F., Wilfahrt, P.A., and Hautier, Yann

Abstract

Plant productivity varies due to environmental heterogeneity, and theory suggests that plant diversity can reduce this variation. While there is strong evidence of diversity effects on temporal variability of productivity, whether this mechanism extends to variability across space remains elusive. Here we determine the relationship between plant diversity and spatial variability of productivity in 83 grasslands, and quantify the effect of experimentally increased spatial heterogeneity in environmental conditions on this relationship. We found that communities with higher plant species richness (alpha and gamma diversity) have lower spatial variability of productivity as reduced abundance of some species can be compensated for by increased abundance of other species. In contrast, high species dissimilarity among local communities (beta diversity) is positively associated with spatial variability of productivity, suggesting that changes in species composition can scale up to affect productivity. Experimentally increased spatial environmental heterogeneity weakens the effect of plant alpha and gamma diversity, and reveals that beta diversity can simultaneously decrease and increase spatial variability of productivity. Our findings unveil the generality of the diversity-stability theory across space, and suggest that reduced local diversity and biotic homogenization can affect the spatial reliability of key ecosystem functions.

Published
2023

14. Drivers of soil microbial and detritivore activity across global grasslands

Author

Siebert, J., Sünnemann, M., Hautier, Y., Risch, A.C., Bakker, J.D., Biederman, L., Blumenthal, D.M., Borer, E.T., Bugalho, M.N., Broadbent, A.A.D., Caldeira, M.C., Cleland, E., Davies, K.F., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Hagenah, N., Knops, J.M.H., MacDougall, A.S., McCulley, R.L., Moore, J.L., Power, S.A., Price, J.N., Seabloom, E.W., Standish, R., Stevens, C.J., Zimmermann, S., Eisenhauer, N., Siebert, J., Sünnemann, M., Hautier, Y., Risch, A.C., Bakker, J.D., Biederman, L., Blumenthal, D.M., Borer, E.T., Bugalho, M.N., Broadbent, A.A.D., Caldeira, M.C., Cleland, E., Davies, K.F., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Hagenah, N., Knops, J.M.H., MacDougall, A.S., McCulley, R.L., Moore, J.L., Power, S.A., Price, J.N., Seabloom, E.W., Standish, R., Stevens, C.J., Zimmermann, S., and Eisenhauer, N.

Abstract

Covering approximately 40% of land surfaces, grasslands provide critical ecosystem services that rely on soil organisms. However, the global determinants of soil biodiversity and functioning remain underexplored. In this study, we investigate the drivers of soil microbial and detritivore activity in grasslands across a wide range of climatic conditions on five continents. We apply standardized treatments of nutrient addition and herbivore reduction, allowing us to disentangle the regional and local drivers of soil organism activity. We use structural equation modeling to assess the direct and indirect effects of local and regional drivers on soil biological activities. Microbial and detritivore activities are positively correlated across global grasslands. These correlations are shaped more by global climatic factors than by local treatments, with annual precipitation and soil water content explaining the majority of the variation. Nutrient addition tends to reduce microbial activity by enhancing plant growth, while herbivore reduction typically increases microbial and detritivore activity through increased soil moisture. Our findings emphasize soil moisture as a key driver of soil biological activity, highlighting the potential impacts of climate change, altered grazing pressure, and eutrophication on nutrient cycling and decomposition within grassland ecosystems.

Published
2023

15. The positive effect of plant diversity on soil carbon depends on climate

Author

Spohn, M., Bagchi, S., Biederman, L.A., Borer, E.T., Bråthen, K.A., Bugalho, M.N., Caldeira, M.C., Catford, J.A., Collins, S.L., Eisenhauer, N., Hagenah, N., Haider, S., Hautier, Y., Knops, J.M.H., Koerner, S.E., Laanisto, L., Lekberg, Y., Martina, J.P., Martinson, H., McCulley, R.L., Peri, P.L., Macek, P., Power, S.A., Risch, A.C., Roscher, Christiane, Seabloom, E.W., Stevens, C., Veen, G.F.C., Virtanen, R., Yahdjian, L., Spohn, M., Bagchi, S., Biederman, L.A., Borer, E.T., Bråthen, K.A., Bugalho, M.N., Caldeira, M.C., Catford, J.A., Collins, S.L., Eisenhauer, N., Hagenah, N., Haider, S., Hautier, Y., Knops, J.M.H., Koerner, S.E., Laanisto, L., Lekberg, Y., Martina, J.P., Martinson, H., McCulley, R.L., Peri, P.L., Macek, P., Power, S.A., Risch, A.C., Roscher, Christiane, Seabloom, E.W., Stevens, C., Veen, G.F.C., Virtanen, R., and Yahdjian, L.

Abstract

Little is currently known about how climate modulates the relationship between plant diversity and soil organic carbon and the mechanisms involved. Yet, this knowledge is of crucial importance in times of climate change and biodiversity loss. Here, we show that plant diversity is positively correlated with soil carbon content and soil carbon-to-nitrogen ratio across 84 grasslands on six continents that span wide climate gradients. The relationships between plant diversity and soil carbon as well as plant diversity and soil organic matter quality (carbon-to-nitrogen ratio) are particularly strong in warm and arid climates. While plant biomass is positively correlated with soil carbon, plant biomass is not significantly correlated with plant diversity. Our results indicate that plant diversity influences soil carbon storage not via the quantity of organic matter (plant biomass) inputs to soil, but through the quality of organic matter. The study implies that ecosystem management that restores plant diversity likely enhances soil carbon sequestration, particularly in warm and arid climates.

Published
2023

16. Multidimensional responses of grassland stability to eutrophication

Author

Chen, Q., Wang, S., Borer, E.T., Bakker, J.D., Seabloom, E.W., Harpole, William Stanley, Eisenhauer, N., Lekberg, Y., Buckley, Y.M., Catford, J.A., Roscher, Christiane, Donohue, I., Power, S.A., Daleo, P., Ebeling, A., Knops, J.M.H., Martina, J.P., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Morgan, J.W., Risch, A.C., Caldeira, M.C., Bugalho, M.N., Virtanen, R., Barrio, I.C., Niu, Y., Jentsch, A., Stevens, C.J., Gruner, D.S., MacDougall, A.S., Alberti, J., Hautier, Y., Chen, Q., Wang, S., Borer, E.T., Bakker, J.D., Seabloom, E.W., Harpole, William Stanley, Eisenhauer, N., Lekberg, Y., Buckley, Y.M., Catford, J.A., Roscher, Christiane, Donohue, I., Power, S.A., Daleo, P., Ebeling, A., Knops, J.M.H., Martina, J.P., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Morgan, J.W., Risch, A.C., Caldeira, M.C., Bugalho, M.N., Virtanen, R., Barrio, I.C., Niu, Y., Jentsch, A., Stevens, C.J., Gruner, D.S., MacDougall, A.S., Alberti, J., and Hautier, Y.

Abstract

Eutrophication usually impacts grassland biodiversity, community composition, and biomass production, but its impact on the stability of these community aspects is unclear. One challenge is that stability has many facets that can be tightly correlated (low dimensionality) or highly disparate (high dimensionality). Using standardized experiments in 55 grassland sites from a globally distributed experiment (NutNet), we quantify the effects of nutrient addition on five facets of stability (temporal invariability, resistance during dry and wet growing seasons, recovery after dry and wet growing seasons), measured on three community aspects (aboveground biomass, community composition, and species richness). Nutrient addition reduces the temporal invariability and resistance of species richness and community composition during dry and wet growing seasons, but does not affect those of biomass. Different stability measures are largely uncorrelated under both ambient and eutrophic conditions, indicating consistently high dimensionality. Harnessing the dimensionality of ecological stability provides insights for predicting grassland responses to global environmental change.

Published
2023

17. Compositional variation in grassland plant communities

Author

Bakker, J.D., Price, J.N., Henning, J.A., Batzer, E.E., Ohlert, T.J., Wainwright, C.E., Adler, P.B., Alberti, J., Arnillas, C.A., Biederman, L.A., Borer, E.T., Brudvig, L.A., Buckley, Y.M., Bugalho, M.N., Cadotte, M.W., Caldeira, M.C., Catford, J.A., Chen, Q., Crawley, M.J., Daleo, P., Dickman, C.R., Donohue, I., DuPre, M.E., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Fay, P.A., Gruner, D.S., Haider, S., Hautier, Y., Jentsch, A., Kirkman, K., Knops, J.M.H., Lannes, L.S., MacDougall, A.S., McCulley, R.L., Mitchell, R.M., Moore, J.L., Morgan, J.W., Mortensen, B., Venterink, H.O., Peri, P.L., Power, S.A., Prober, S.M., Roscher, Christiane, Sankaran, M., Seabloom, E.W., Smith, M.D., Stevens, C., Sullivan, L.L., Tedder, M., Veen, G.F.C., Virtanen, R., Wardle, G.M., Bakker, J.D., Price, J.N., Henning, J.A., Batzer, E.E., Ohlert, T.J., Wainwright, C.E., Adler, P.B., Alberti, J., Arnillas, C.A., Biederman, L.A., Borer, E.T., Brudvig, L.A., Buckley, Y.M., Bugalho, M.N., Cadotte, M.W., Caldeira, M.C., Catford, J.A., Chen, Q., Crawley, M.J., Daleo, P., Dickman, C.R., Donohue, I., DuPre, M.E., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Fay, P.A., Gruner, D.S., Haider, S., Hautier, Y., Jentsch, A., Kirkman, K., Knops, J.M.H., Lannes, L.S., MacDougall, A.S., McCulley, R.L., Mitchell, R.M., Moore, J.L., Morgan, J.W., Mortensen, B., Venterink, H.O., Peri, P.L., Power, S.A., Prober, S.M., Roscher, Christiane, Sankaran, M., Seabloom, E.W., Smith, M.D., Stevens, C., Sullivan, L.L., Tedder, M., Veen, G.F.C., Virtanen, R., and Wardle, G.M.

Abstract

Human activities are altering ecological communities around the globe. Understanding the implications of these changes requires that we consider the composition of those communities. However, composition can be summarized by many metrics which in turn are influenced by different ecological processes. For example, incidence-based metrics strongly reflect species gains or losses, while abundance-based metrics are minimally affected by changes in the abundance of small or uncommon species. Furthermore, metrics might be correlated with different predictors. We used a globally distributed experiment to examine variation in species composition within 60 grasslands on six continents. Each site had an identical experimental and sampling design: 24 plots × 4 years. We expressed compositional variation within each site—not across sites—using abundance- and incidence-based metrics of the magnitude of dissimilarity (Bray–Curtis and Sorensen, respectively), abundance- and incidence-based measures of the relative importance of replacement (balanced variation and species turnover, respectively), and species richness at two scales (per plot-year [alpha] and per site [gamma]). Average compositional variation among all plot-years at a site was high and similar to spatial variation among plots in the pretreatment year, but lower among years in untreated plots. For both types of metrics, most variation was due to replacement rather than nestedness. Differences among sites in overall within-site compositional variation were related to several predictors. Environmental heterogeneity (expressed as the CV of total aboveground plant biomass in unfertilized plots of the site) was an important predictor for most metrics. Biomass production was a predictor of species turnover and of alpha diversity but not of other metrics. Continentality (measured as annual temperature range) was a strong predictor of Sorensen dissimilarity. Metrics of compositional variation are moderately correlated: knowin

Published
2023

19. Evolutionary history of grazing and resources determine herbivore exclusion effects on plant diversity

Author

Price, J., Sitters, J., Ohlert, Timothy, Tognetti, P.M., Brown, C, Seabloom, Eric W., Borer, Elizabeth, Prober, S., Bakker, L., MacDougall, Andrew S., Yahdjian, L., Gruner, Daniel S., Olde Venterink, Harry, Barrio, Isabel C., Graff, P., Bagchi, Sumanta, Arnillas, C.A., Bakker, J.D., Blumenthal, Dana M., Boughton, Elizabeth H., Brudvig, Lars A., Bugalho, Miguel N., Cadotte, Marc, Caldeira, M.C., Dickman, C. R., Donohue, Ian, Gregory, S., Hautier, Y., Jónsdóttir, Ingibjörg S., Lannes, L.S., Mcculley, Rebecca, Power, S.A., Risch, A., Schütz, Martin, Standish, Rachel J., Stevens, Carly, Veen, G.F., Virtanen, Risto, Wardle, Glenda M., Price, J., Sitters, J., Ohlert, Timothy, Tognetti, P.M., Brown, C, Seabloom, Eric W., Borer, Elizabeth, Prober, S., Bakker, L., MacDougall, Andrew S., Yahdjian, L., Gruner, Daniel S., Olde Venterink, Harry, Barrio, Isabel C., Graff, P., Bagchi, Sumanta, Arnillas, C.A., Bakker, J.D., Blumenthal, Dana M., Boughton, Elizabeth H., Brudvig, Lars A., Bugalho, Miguel N., Cadotte, Marc, Caldeira, M.C., Dickman, C. R., Donohue, Ian, Gregory, S., Hautier, Y., Jónsdóttir, Ingibjörg S., Lannes, L.S., Mcculley, Rebecca, Power, S.A., Risch, A., Schütz, Martin, Standish, Rachel J., Stevens, Carly, Veen, G.F., Virtanen, Risto, and Wardle, Glenda M.

Published
2022

20. Evolutionary history of grazing and resources determine herbivore exclusion effects on plant diversity

Author

Price, J.N., Sitters, J., Ohlert, T., Tognetti, P.M., Brown, C.S., Seabloom, E.W., Borer, E.T., Prober, S.M., Bakker, E.S., MacDougall, A.S., Yahdjian, L., Gruner, D.S., Olde Venterink, H., Barrio, I.C., Graff, P., Bagchi, S., Arnillas, C.A., Bakker, J.D., Blumenthal, D.M., Boughton, E.H., Brudvig, L.A., Bugalho, M.N., Cadotte, M.W., Caldeira, M.C., Dickman, C.R., Donohue, I., Gregory, S., Hautier, Y., Jónsdóttir, I.S., Lannes, L.S., McCulley, R.L., Moore, J.L., Power, S.A., Risch, A.C., Schutz, M., Standish, R., Stevens, C.J., Veen, G.F., Virtanen, R., Wardle, G.M., Price, J.N., Sitters, J., Ohlert, T., Tognetti, P.M., Brown, C.S., Seabloom, E.W., Borer, E.T., Prober, S.M., Bakker, E.S., MacDougall, A.S., Yahdjian, L., Gruner, D.S., Olde Venterink, H., Barrio, I.C., Graff, P., Bagchi, S., Arnillas, C.A., Bakker, J.D., Blumenthal, D.M., Boughton, E.H., Brudvig, L.A., Bugalho, M.N., Cadotte, M.W., Caldeira, M.C., Dickman, C.R., Donohue, I., Gregory, S., Hautier, Y., Jónsdóttir, I.S., Lannes, L.S., McCulley, R.L., Moore, J.L., Power, S.A., Risch, A.C., Schutz, M., Standish, R., Stevens, C.J., Veen, G.F., Virtanen, R., and Wardle, G.M.

Abstract

Ecological models predict that the effects of mammalian herbivore exclusion on plant diversity depend on resource availability and plant exposure to ungulate grazing over evolutionary time. Using an experiment replicated in 57 grasslands on six continents, with contrasting evolutionary history of grazing, we tested how resources (mean annual precipitation and soil nutrients) determine herbivore exclusion effects on plant diversity, richness and evenness. Here we show that at sites with a long history of ungulate grazing, herbivore exclusion reduced plant diversity by reducing both richness and evenness and the responses of richness and diversity to herbivore exclusion decreased with mean annual precipitation. At sites with a short history of grazing, the effects of herbivore exclusion were not related to precipitation but differed for native and exotic plant richness. Thus, plant species’ evolutionary history of grazing continues to shape the response of the world’s grasslands to changing mammalian herbivory.

Published
2022

21. Data from nutrients and herbivores impact grassland stability across spatial scales through different pathways [Dataset]

Author

Chen, Q., Wang, S., Seabloom, E.W., MacDougall, A.S., Borer, E.T., Bakker, J.D., Donohue, I., Knops, J.M.H., Morgan, J.W., Carroll, O., Crawley, M., Bugalho, M.N., Power, S.A., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Virtanen, Risto, Risch, A.C., Schütz, M., Stevens, C., Caldeira, M.C., Alberti, J., Bagchi, S., Hautier, Y., Chen, Q., Wang, S., Seabloom, E.W., MacDougall, A.S., Borer, E.T., Bakker, J.D., Donohue, I., Knops, J.M.H., Morgan, J.W., Carroll, O., Crawley, M., Bugalho, M.N., Power, S.A., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Virtanen, Risto, Risch, A.C., Schütz, M., Stevens, C., Caldeira, M.C., Alberti, J., Bagchi, S., and Hautier, Y.

Abstract

Nutrients and herbivores are well-known drivers of grassland diversity and stability in local communities. However, whether they interact to impact the stability of aboveground biomass and whether these effects depend on spatial scales remain unknown. It is also unclear whether nutrients and herbivores impact stability via different facets of plant diversity including species richness, evenness, and changes in community composition through time and space. We used a replicated experiment adding nutrients and excluding herbivores for 5 years in 34 global grasslands to explore these questions. We found that both nutrient addition and herbivore exclusion alone reduced stability at the larger spatial scale (aggregated local communities; gamma stability), but through different pathways. Nutrient addition reduced gamma stability primarily by increasing changes in local community composition over time, which was mainly driven by species replacement. Herbivore exclusion reduced gamma stability primarily by decreasing asynchronous dynamics among local communities (spatial asynchrony). Their interaction weakly increased gamma stability by increasing spatial asynchrony. Our findings indicate that disentangling the processes operating at different spatial scales may improve conservation and management aiming at maintaining the ability of ecosystems to reliably provide functions and services for humanity.

Published
2022

22. Linking changes in species composition and biomass in a globally distributed grassland experiment

Author

Ladeuceur, E, Blowes, S, Chase, J, Clark, A., Grabowski, M, Alberti, Juan, Arnillas, C.A., Bharath, Siddharth, Borer, E.T., Brudvig, Lars A., Cadotte, Marc, Chen, Q.Q., Collins, Scott, Dickman, C. R., Donohue, C, Du, GZ, Ebling, A, Eisenhauer, N., Fay, P.A., Hagenah, N., Hautier, Y., Anke, J, Jonsottir, I.S., Komatsu, K.J., MacDougall, A.S., Martina, J.P., Moore, J., Morgan, J., Peri, Paolo, Power, S.A., Zhengwei, R, Risch, A., Roscher, C., Schuchardt, C, Seabloom, Eric W., Stevens, Carly, Veen, C, Virtanen, R, Wardle, Glenda M., Wilfahrt, P.A., Harpole, W.S., Ladeuceur, E, Blowes, S, Chase, J, Clark, A., Grabowski, M, Alberti, Juan, Arnillas, C.A., Bharath, Siddharth, Borer, E.T., Brudvig, Lars A., Cadotte, Marc, Chen, Q.Q., Collins, Scott, Dickman, C. R., Donohue, C, Du, GZ, Ebling, A, Eisenhauer, N., Fay, P.A., Hagenah, N., Hautier, Y., Anke, J, Jonsottir, I.S., Komatsu, K.J., MacDougall, A.S., Martina, J.P., Moore, J., Morgan, J., Peri, Paolo, Power, S.A., Zhengwei, R, Risch, A., Roscher, C., Schuchardt, C, Seabloom, Eric W., Stevens, Carly, Veen, C, Virtanen, R, Wardle, Glenda M., Wilfahrt, P.A., and Harpole, W.S.

Published
2022

23. Long-term N-addition alters the community structure of functionally important N-cycling soil microorganisms across global grasslands

Author

Frey, B., Moser, B., Tytgat, B., Zimmermann, S., Alberti, J., Biederman, L.A., Borer, E.T., Broadbent, A.A.D., Caldeira, M.C., Davies, K.F., Eisenhauer, N., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Fay, P.A., Hagedorn, F., Hautier, Y., MacDougall, A.S., McCulley, R.L., Moore, J.L., Nepel, M., Power, S.A., Seabloom, E.W., Vázquez, E., Virtanen, R., Yahdjian, L., Risch, A.C., Frey, B., Moser, B., Tytgat, B., Zimmermann, S., Alberti, J., Biederman, L.A., Borer, E.T., Broadbent, A.A.D., Caldeira, M.C., Davies, K.F., Eisenhauer, N., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Fay, P.A., Hagedorn, F., Hautier, Y., MacDougall, A.S., McCulley, R.L., Moore, J.L., Nepel, M., Power, S.A., Seabloom, E.W., Vázquez, E., Virtanen, R., Yahdjian, L., and Risch, A.C.

Abstract

Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) input is known to alter the soil microbiome, but how N enrichment influences the abundance, alpha-diversity and community structure of N-cycling functional microbial communities in grasslands remains poorly understood. Here, we collected soils from plant communities subjected to up to 9 years of annual N-addition (10 g N m−2 per year using urea as a N-source) and from unfertilized plots (control) in 30 grasslands worldwide spanning a large range of climatic and soil conditions. We focused on three key microbial groups responsible for two essential processes of the global N cycle: N2 fixation (soil diazotrophs) and nitrification (AOA: ammonia-oxidizing archaea and AOB: ammonia-oxidizing bacteria). We targeted soil diazotrophs, AOA and AOB using Illumina MiSeq sequencing and measured the abundance (gene copy numbers) using quantitative PCR. N-addition shifted the structure of the diazotrophic communities, although their alpha-diversity and abundance were not affected. AOA and AOB responded differently to N-addition. The abundance and alpha-diversity of AOB increased, and their community structure shifted with N-addition. In contrast, AOA were not affected by N-addition. AOA abundance outnumbered AOB in control plots under conditions of low N availability, whereas N-addition favoured copiotrophic AOB. Overall, N-addition showed a low impact on soil diazotrophs and AOA while effects for AOB communities were considerable. These results reveal that long-term N-addition has important ecological implications for key microbial groups involved in two critical soil N-cycling processes. Increased AOB abundance and community shifts following N-addition may change soil N-cycling, as larger population sizes may promote higher rates of ammonia oxidation and subsequently increase N loss via gaseous and soil N-leaching. These findings bring us a step closer to predicting the responses and feedbacks of microbial-mediated N-cycling processes

Published
2022

24. Nutrient addition drives declines in grassland species richness primarily via enhanced species loss

Author

Muehleisen, A.J., Watkins, C.R.E., Altmire, G.R., Shaw, E.A., Case, M.F., Aoyama, L., Brambila, A., Reed, P.B., LaForgia, M., Borer, E.T., Seabloom, E.W., Bakker, J.D., Amillas, C.A., Biederman, L., Chen, Q., Cleland, E.E., Fay, P.A., Hagenah, N., Harpole, William Stanley, Hautier, Y., Henning, J.A., Knops, J.M.H., Komatsu, K.J., Ladouceur, Emma, MacDougall, A., McCulley, R.L., Moore, J.L., Ohlert, T., Power, S.A., Stevens, C.J., Wilfahrt, P., Hallett, L.M., Muehleisen, A.J., Watkins, C.R.E., Altmire, G.R., Shaw, E.A., Case, M.F., Aoyama, L., Brambila, A., Reed, P.B., LaForgia, M., Borer, E.T., Seabloom, E.W., Bakker, J.D., Amillas, C.A., Biederman, L., Chen, Q., Cleland, E.E., Fay, P.A., Hagenah, N., Harpole, William Stanley, Hautier, Y., Henning, J.A., Knops, J.M.H., Komatsu, K.J., Ladouceur, Emma, MacDougall, A., McCulley, R.L., Moore, J.L., Ohlert, T., Power, S.A., Stevens, C.J., Wilfahrt, P., and Hallett, L.M.

Abstract

(1) Declines in grassland diversity in response to nutrient addition are a general consequence of global change. This decline in species richness may be driven by multiple underlying processes operating at different timescales. Nutrient addition can reduce diversity by enhancing the rate of local extinction via competitive exclusion, or by reducing the rate of colonization by constraining the pool of species able to colonize under new conditions. Partitioning net change into extinction and colonization rates will better delineate the long-term effect of global change in grasslands. (2) We synthesized changes in richness in response to experimental fertilization with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium with micronutrients across 30 grasslands. We quantified changes in local richness, colonization, and extinction over 8-10 years of nutrient addition, and compared these rates against control conditions to isolate the effect of nutrient addition from background dynamics. (3) Total richness at steady state in the control plots was the sum of equal, relatively high rates of local colonization and extinction. On aggregate, 30-35% of initial species were lost and the same proportion of new species were gained at least once over a decade. Absolute turnover increased with site-level richness, but was proportionately greater at lower richness sites relative to starting richness. Loss of total richness with nutrient addition, especially N in combination with P or K, was driven by enhanced rates of extinction with a smaller contribution from reduced colonization. Enhanced extinction and reduced colonization were disproportionately among native species, perennials, and forbs. Reduced colonization plateaued after the first few (< 5) years after nutrient addition, while enhanced extinction continued throughout the first decade. (4) Synthesis. Our results indicate a high rate of colonizations and extinctions underlying the richness of ambient communities, and that nutrient enh

Published
2022

25. Linking changes in species composition and biomass in a globally distributed grassland experiment

Author

Ladouceur, Emma, Blowes, S.A., Chase, J.M., Clark, Adam Thomas, Garbowski, Magda, Alberti, J., Arnillas, C.A., Bakker, J.D., Barrio, I.C., Bharath, S., Borer, E.T., Brudvig, L.A., Cadotte, M.W., Chen, Q., Collins, S.L., Dickman, C.R., Donohue, I., Du, G., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Fay, P.A., Hagenah, N., Hautier, Y., Jentsch, A., Jónsdóttir, I.S., Komatsu, K., MacDougall, A., Martina, J.P., Moore, J.L., Morgan, J.W., Peri, P.L., Power, S.A., Ren, Z., Risch, A.C., Roscher, Christiane, Schuchardt, M.A., Seabloom, E.W., Stevens, C.J., Veen, G.F.C., Virtanen, R., Wardle, G.M., Wilfahrt, P.A., Harpole, William Stanley, Ladouceur, Emma, Blowes, S.A., Chase, J.M., Clark, Adam Thomas, Garbowski, Magda, Alberti, J., Arnillas, C.A., Bakker, J.D., Barrio, I.C., Bharath, S., Borer, E.T., Brudvig, L.A., Cadotte, M.W., Chen, Q., Collins, S.L., Dickman, C.R., Donohue, I., Du, G., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Fay, P.A., Hagenah, N., Hautier, Y., Jentsch, A., Jónsdóttir, I.S., Komatsu, K., MacDougall, A., Martina, J.P., Moore, J.L., Morgan, J.W., Peri, P.L., Power, S.A., Ren, Z., Risch, A.C., Roscher, Christiane, Schuchardt, M.A., Seabloom, E.W., Stevens, C.J., Veen, G.F.C., Virtanen, R., Wardle, G.M., Wilfahrt, P.A., and Harpole, William Stanley

Abstract

Global change drivers, such as anthropogenic nutrient inputs, are increasing globally. Nutrient deposition simultaneously alters plant biodiversity, species composition and ecosystem processes like aboveground biomass production. These changes are underpinned by species extinction, colonisation and shifting relative abundance. Here, we use the Price equation to quantify and link the contributions of species that are lost, gained or that persist to change in aboveground biomass in 59 experimental grassland sites. Under ambient (control) conditions, compositional and biomass turnover was high, and losses (i.e. local extinctions) were balanced by gains (i.e. colonisation). Under fertilisation, the decline in species richness resulted from increased species loss and decreases in species gained. Biomass increase under fertilisation resulted mostly from species that persist and to a lesser extent from species gained. Drivers of ecological change can interact relatively independently with diversity, composition and ecosystem processes and functions such as aboveground biomass due to the individual contributions of species lost, gained or persisting.

Published
2022

26. Nutrients and herbivores impact grassland stability across spatial scales through different pathways

Author

Chen, Q., Wang, S., Seabloom, E.W., MacDougall, A.S., Borer, E.T., Bakker, J.D., Donohue, I., Knops, J.M.H., Morgan, J.W., Carroll, O., Crawley, M., Bugalho, M.N., Power, S.A., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Virtanen, R., Risch, A.C., Schütz, M., Stevens, C., Caldeira, M.C., Bagchi, S., Alberti, J., Hautier, Y., Chen, Q., Wang, S., Seabloom, E.W., MacDougall, A.S., Borer, E.T., Bakker, J.D., Donohue, I., Knops, J.M.H., Morgan, J.W., Carroll, O., Crawley, M., Bugalho, M.N., Power, S.A., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Virtanen, R., Risch, A.C., Schütz, M., Stevens, C., Caldeira, M.C., Bagchi, S., Alberti, J., and Hautier, Y.

Abstract

Nutrients and herbivores are well-known drivers of grassland diversity and stability in local communities. However, whether they interact to impact the stability of aboveground biomass and whether these effects depend on spatial scales remain unknown. It is also unclear whether nutrients and herbivores impact stability via different facets of plant diversity including species richness, evenness, and changes in community composition through time and space. We used a replicated experiment adding nutrients and excluding herbivores for 5 years in 34 global grasslands to explore these questions. We found that both nutrient addition and herbivore exclusion alone reduced stability at the larger spatial scale (aggregated local communities; gamma stability), but through different pathways. Nutrient addition reduced gamma stability primarily by increasing changes in local community composition over time, which was mainly driven by species replacement. Herbivore exclusion reduced gamma stability primarily by decreasing asynchronous dynamics among local communities (spatial asynchrony). Their interaction weakly increased gamma stability by increasing spatial asynchrony. Our findings indicate that disentangling the processes operating at different spatial scales may improve conservation and management aiming at maintaining the ability of ecosystems to reliably provide functions and services for humanity.

Published
2022

27. Altered precipitation and root herbivory affect the productivity and composition of a mesic grassland

Author

Biología, Barnett, Kirk L., Johnson, Scott N., Facey, Sarah L., Gibson‑Forty, Eleanor V. J., Ochoa Hueso, Raúl, Power, S.A., Biología, Barnett, Kirk L., Johnson, Scott N., Facey, Sarah L., Gibson‑Forty, Eleanor V. J., Ochoa Hueso, Raúl, and Power, S.A.

Abstract

Background Climate change models predict changes in the amount, frequency and seasonality of precipitation events, all of which have the potential to affect the structure and function of grassland ecosystems. While previous studies have examined plant or herbivore responses to these perturbations, few have examined their interactions; even fewer have included belowground herbivores. Given the ecological, economic and biodiversity value of grasslands, and their importance globally for carbon storage and agriculture, this is an important knowledge gap. To address this, we conducted a precipitation manipulation experiment in a former mesic pasture grassland comprising a mixture of C-4 grasses and C-3 grasses and forbs, in southeast Australia. Rainfall treatments included a control [ambient], reduced amount [50% ambient] and reduced frequency [ambient rainfall withheld for three weeks, then applied as a single deluge event] manipulations, to simulate predicted changes in both the size and frequency of future rainfall events. In addition, half of all experimental plots were inoculated with adult root herbivores (Scarabaeidae beetles). Results We found strong seasonal dependence in plant community responses to both rainfall and root herbivore treatments. The largest effects were seen in the cool season with lower productivity, cover and diversity in rainfall-manipulated plots, while root herbivore inoculation increased the relative abundance of C-3, compared to C-4, plants. Conclusions This study highlights the importance of considering not only the seasonality of plant responses to altered rainfall, but also the important role of interactions between abiotic and biotic drivers of vegetation change when evaluating ecosystem-level responses to future shifts in climatic conditions.

Published
2021

28. AusTraits, a curated plant trait database for the Australian flora

Author

Falster, D., Gallagher, R., Wenk, E.H., Wright, I.J., Indiarto, D., Andrew, S.C., Baxter, C., Lawson, J., Allen, S., Fuchs, A., Monro, A., Kar, F., Adams, M.A., Ahrens, C.W., Alfonzetti, M., Angevin, T., Apgaua, D.M.G., Arndt, S., Atkin, O.K., Atkinson, J., Auld, T., Baker, A., von Balthazar, M., Bean, A., Blackman, C.J., Bloomfield, K., Bowman, D.M.J.S., Bragg, J., Brodribb, T. J., Buckton, G., Burrows, G., Caldwell, E., Camac, J., Carpenter, R., Catford, J.A., Cawthray, G.R., Cernusak, L.A., Chandler, G., Chapman, A.R., Cheal, D., Cheesman, A.W., Chen, S-C, Choat, B., Clinton, B., Clode, P.L., Coleman, H., Cornwell, W.K., Cosgrove, M., Crisp, M., Cross, E., Crous, K.Y., Cunningham, S., Curran, T., Curtis, E., Daws, M.I., DeGabriel, J.L., Denton, M.D., Dong, N., Du, P., Duan, H., Duncan, D.H., Duncan, R.P., Duretto, M., Dwyer, J.M., Edwards, C., Esperon-Rodriguez, M., Evans, J.R., Everingham, S.E., Farrell, C., Firn, J., Fonseca, C.R., French, B.J., Frood, D., Funk, J.L., Geange, S.R., Ghannoum, O., Gleason, S.M., Gosper, C.R., Gray, E., Groom, P.K., Grootemaat, S., Gross, C., Guerin, G., Guja, L., Hahs, A.K., Harrison, M.T., Hayes, P.E., Henery, M., Hochuli, D., Howell, J., Huang, G., Hughes, L., Huisman, J., Ilic, J., Jagdish, A., Jin, D., Jordan, G., Jurado, E., Kanowski, J., Kasel, S., Kellermann, J., Kenny, B., Kohout, M., Kooyman, R.M., Kotowska, M.M., Lai, H.R., Laliberté, E., Lambers, H., Lamont, B.B., Lanfear, R., van Langevelde, F., Laughlin, D.C., Laugier-Kitchener, B-A, Laurance, S., Lehmann, C.E.R., Leigh, A., Leishman, M.R., Lenz, T., Lepschi, B., Lewis, J.D., Lim, F., Liu, U., Lord, J., Lusk, C.H., Macinnis-Ng, C., McPherson, H., Magallón, S., Manea, A., López-Martinez, A., Mayfield, M., McCarthy, J.K., Meers, T., van der Merwe, M., Metcalfe, D.J., Milberg, P., Mokany, K., Moles, A.T., Moore, B.D., Moore, N., Morgan, J.W., Morris, W., Muir, A., Munroe, S., Nicholson, Á., Nicolle, D., Nicotra, A.B., Niinemets, Ü., North, T., O’Reilly-Nugent, A., O’Sullivan, O.S., Oberle, B., Onoda, Y., Ooi, M.K.J., Osborne, C.P., Paczkowska, G., Pekin, B., Guilherme Pereira, C., Pickering, C., Pickup, M., Pollock, L.J., Poot, P., Powell, J.R., Power, S.A., Prentice, I.C., Prior, L., Prober, S.M., Read, J., Reynolds, V., Richards, A.E., Richardson, B., Roderick, M.L., Rosell, J.A., Rossetto, M., Rye, B., Rymer, P.D., Sams, M.A., Sanson, G., Sauquet, H., Schmidt, S., Schönenberger, J., Schulze, E-D, Sendall, K., Sinclair, S., Smith, B., Smith, R., Soper, F., Sparrow, B., Standish, R.J., Staples, T.L., Stephens, R., Szota, C., Taseski, G., Tasker, E., Thomas, F., Tissue, D.T., Tjoelker, M.G., Tng, D.Y.P., de Tombeur, F., Tomlinson, K., Turner, N.C., Veneklaas, E.J., Venn, S., Vesk, P., Vlasveld, C., Vorontsova, M.S., Warren, C.A., Warwick, N., Weerasinghe, L.K., Wells, J., Westoby, M., White, M., Williams, N.S.G., Wills, J., Wilson, P.G., Yates, C., Zanne, A.E., Zemunik, G., Ziemińska, K., Falster, D., Gallagher, R., Wenk, E.H., Wright, I.J., Indiarto, D., Andrew, S.C., Baxter, C., Lawson, J., Allen, S., Fuchs, A., Monro, A., Kar, F., Adams, M.A., Ahrens, C.W., Alfonzetti, M., Angevin, T., Apgaua, D.M.G., Arndt, S., Atkin, O.K., Atkinson, J., Auld, T., Baker, A., von Balthazar, M., Bean, A., Blackman, C.J., Bloomfield, K., Bowman, D.M.J.S., Bragg, J., Brodribb, T. J., Buckton, G., Burrows, G., Caldwell, E., Camac, J., Carpenter, R., Catford, J.A., Cawthray, G.R., Cernusak, L.A., Chandler, G., Chapman, A.R., Cheal, D., Cheesman, A.W., Chen, S-C, Choat, B., Clinton, B., Clode, P.L., Coleman, H., Cornwell, W.K., Cosgrove, M., Crisp, M., Cross, E., Crous, K.Y., Cunningham, S., Curran, T., Curtis, E., Daws, M.I., DeGabriel, J.L., Denton, M.D., Dong, N., Du, P., Duan, H., Duncan, D.H., Duncan, R.P., Duretto, M., Dwyer, J.M., Edwards, C., Esperon-Rodriguez, M., Evans, J.R., Everingham, S.E., Farrell, C., Firn, J., Fonseca, C.R., French, B.J., Frood, D., Funk, J.L., Geange, S.R., Ghannoum, O., Gleason, S.M., Gosper, C.R., Gray, E., Groom, P.K., Grootemaat, S., Gross, C., Guerin, G., Guja, L., Hahs, A.K., Harrison, M.T., Hayes, P.E., Henery, M., Hochuli, D., Howell, J., Huang, G., Hughes, L., Huisman, J., Ilic, J., Jagdish, A., Jin, D., Jordan, G., Jurado, E., Kanowski, J., Kasel, S., Kellermann, J., Kenny, B., Kohout, M., Kooyman, R.M., Kotowska, M.M., Lai, H.R., Laliberté, E., Lambers, H., Lamont, B.B., Lanfear, R., van Langevelde, F., Laughlin, D.C., Laugier-Kitchener, B-A, Laurance, S., Lehmann, C.E.R., Leigh, A., Leishman, M.R., Lenz, T., Lepschi, B., Lewis, J.D., Lim, F., Liu, U., Lord, J., Lusk, C.H., Macinnis-Ng, C., McPherson, H., Magallón, S., Manea, A., López-Martinez, A., Mayfield, M., McCarthy, J.K., Meers, T., van der Merwe, M., Metcalfe, D.J., Milberg, P., Mokany, K., Moles, A.T., Moore, B.D., Moore, N., Morgan, J.W., Morris, W., Muir, A., Munroe, S., Nicholson, Á., Nicolle, D., Nicotra, A.B., Niinemets, Ü., North, T., O’Reilly-Nugent, A., O’Sullivan, O.S., Oberle, B., Onoda, Y., Ooi, M.K.J., Osborne, C.P., Paczkowska, G., Pekin, B., Guilherme Pereira, C., Pickering, C., Pickup, M., Pollock, L.J., Poot, P., Powell, J.R., Power, S.A., Prentice, I.C., Prior, L., Prober, S.M., Read, J., Reynolds, V., Richards, A.E., Richardson, B., Roderick, M.L., Rosell, J.A., Rossetto, M., Rye, B., Rymer, P.D., Sams, M.A., Sanson, G., Sauquet, H., Schmidt, S., Schönenberger, J., Schulze, E-D, Sendall, K., Sinclair, S., Smith, B., Smith, R., Soper, F., Sparrow, B., Standish, R.J., Staples, T.L., Stephens, R., Szota, C., Taseski, G., Tasker, E., Thomas, F., Tissue, D.T., Tjoelker, M.G., Tng, D.Y.P., de Tombeur, F., Tomlinson, K., Turner, N.C., Veneklaas, E.J., Venn, S., Vesk, P., Vlasveld, C., Vorontsova, M.S., Warren, C.A., Warwick, N., Weerasinghe, L.K., Wells, J., Westoby, M., White, M., Williams, N.S.G., Wills, J., Wilson, P.G., Yates, C., Zanne, A.E., Zemunik, G., and Ziemińska, K.

Abstract

We introduce the AusTraits database - a compilation of values of plant traits for taxa in the Australian flora (hereafter AusTraits). AusTraits synthesises data on 448 traits across 28,640 taxa from field campaigns, published literature, taxonomic monographs, and individual taxon descriptions. Traits vary in scope from physiological measures of performance (e.g. photosynthetic gas exchange, water-use efficiency) to morphological attributes (e.g. leaf area, seed mass, plant height) which link to aspects of ecological variation. AusTraits contains curated and harmonised individual- and species-level measurements coupled to, where available, contextual information on site properties and experimental conditions. This article provides information on version 3.0.2 of AusTraits which contains data for 997,808 trait-by-taxon combinations. We envision AusTraits as an ongoing collaborative initiative for easily archiving and sharing trait data, which also provides a template for other national or regional initiatives globally to fill persistent gaps in trait knowledge.

Published
2021

29. Temporal rarity is a better predictor of local extinction risk than spatial rarity

Author

Wilfahrt, P.A., Asmus, A.L., Seabloom, E.W., Henning, J.A., Adler, P., Arnillas, C.A., Bakker, J.D., Biederman, L., Brudvig, L.A., Cadotte, M., Daleo, P., Eskelinen, A., Firn, J., Harpole, W.S., Hautier, Y., Kirkman, K.P., Komatsu, K.J., Laungani, R., MacDougall, A., McCulley, R.L., Moore, J.L., Morgan, J.W., Mortensen, B., Ochoa Hueso, R., Ohlert, T., Power, S.A., Price, J., Risch, A.C., Schuetz, M., Shoemaker, L., Stevens, C., Strauss, A.T., Tognetti, P.M., Virtanen, R., Borer, E.T., Wilfahrt, P.A., Asmus, A.L., Seabloom, E.W., Henning, J.A., Adler, P., Arnillas, C.A., Bakker, J.D., Biederman, L., Brudvig, L.A., Cadotte, M., Daleo, P., Eskelinen, A., Firn, J., Harpole, W.S., Hautier, Y., Kirkman, K.P., Komatsu, K.J., Laungani, R., MacDougall, A., McCulley, R.L., Moore, J.L., Morgan, J.W., Mortensen, B., Ochoa Hueso, R., Ohlert, T., Power, S.A., Price, J., Risch, A.C., Schuetz, M., Shoemaker, L., Stevens, C., Strauss, A.T., Tognetti, P.M., Virtanen, R., and Borer, E.T.

Abstract

Spatial rarity is often used to predict extinction risk, but rarity can also occur temporally. Perhaps more relevant in the context of global change is whether a species is core to a community (persistent) or transient (intermittently present), with transient species often susceptible to human activities that reduce niche space. Using 5–12 yr of data on 1,447 plant species from 49 grasslands on five continents, we show that local abundance and species persistence under ambient conditions are both effective predictors of local extinction risk following experimental exclusion of grazers or addition of nutrients; persistence was a more powerful predictor than local abundance. While perturbations increased the risk of exclusion for low persistence and abundance species, transient but abundant species were also highly likely to be excluded from a perturbed plot relative to ambient conditions. Moreover, low persistence and low abundance species that were not excluded from perturbed plots tended to have a modest increase in abundance following perturbance. Last, even core species with high abundances had large decreases in persistence and increased losses in perturbed plots, threatening the long-term stability of these grasslands. Our results demonstrate that expanding the concept of rarity to include temporal dynamics, in addition to local abundance, more effectively predicts extinction risk in response to environmental change than either rarity axis predicts alone.

Published
2021

30. Opposing community assembly patterns for dominant and jonnondominant plant species in herbaceous ecosystems globally

Author

Arnillas, C.A., Borer, E.T., Seabloom, E.W., Alberti, J., Báez, S., Bakker, J.D., Boughton, E.H., Buckley, Y.M., Bugalho, M.N., Donohue, I., Dwyer, J., Eskelinen, A., Firn, J., Gridzak, R., Hagenah, N., Hautier, Y., Helm, A., Jentsch, A., Knops, J.M.H., Komatsu, K.J., Laanisto, L., Laungani, R., McCulley, R., Moore, J.L., Morgan, J.W., Peri, P.L., Power, S.A., Price, J., Sankaran, M., Schamp, B., Speziale, K., Standish, R., Virtanen, R., Cadotte, M.W., Arnillas, C.A., Borer, E.T., Seabloom, E.W., Alberti, J., Báez, S., Bakker, J.D., Boughton, E.H., Buckley, Y.M., Bugalho, M.N., Donohue, I., Dwyer, J., Eskelinen, A., Firn, J., Gridzak, R., Hagenah, N., Hautier, Y., Helm, A., Jentsch, A., Knops, J.M.H., Komatsu, K.J., Laanisto, L., Laungani, R., McCulley, R., Moore, J.L., Morgan, J.W., Peri, P.L., Power, S.A., Price, J., Sankaran, M., Schamp, B., Speziale, K., Standish, R., Virtanen, R., and Cadotte, M.W.

Abstract

Biotic and abiotic factors interact with dominant plants—the locally most frequent or with the largest coverage—and nondominant plants differently, partially because dominant plants modify the environment where nondominant plants grow. For instance, if dominant plants compete strongly, they will deplete most resources, forcing nondominant plants into a narrower niche space. Conversely, if dominant plants are constrained by the environment, they might not exhaust available resources but instead may ameliorate environmental stressors that usually limit nondominants. Hence, the nature of interactions among nondominant species could be modified by dominant species. Furthermore, these differences could translate into a disparity in the phylogenetic relatedness among dominants compared to the relatedness among nondominants. By estimating phylogenetic dispersion in 78 grasslands across five continents, we found that dominant species were clustered (e.g., co-dominant grasses), suggesting dominant species are likely organized by environmental filtering, and that nondominant species were either randomly assembled or overdispersed. Traits showed similar trends for those sites (<50%) with sufficient trait data. Furthermore, several lineages scattered in the phylogeny had more nondominant species than expected at random, suggesting that traits common in nondominants are phylogenetically conserved and have evolved multiple times. We also explored environmental drivers of the dominant/nondominant disparity. We found different assembly patterns for dominants and nondominants, consistent with asymmetries in assembly mechanisms. Among the different postulated mechanisms, our results suggest two complementary hypotheses seldom explored: (1) Nondominant species include lineages adapted to thrive in the environment generated by dominant species. (2) Even when dominant species reduce resources to nondominant ones, dominant species could have a stronger positive effect on some nondominant

Published
2021

31. Nutrient enrichment increases invertebrate herbivory and pathogen damage in grasslands

Author

Ebeling, A., Strauss, A.T., Adler, P., Arnillas, C.A., Barrio, I.C., Biedermann, L.A., Borer, E.T., Bugalho, M.N., Caldeira, M.C., Cadotte, M.W., Daleo, P., Eisenhauer, N., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Fay, P.A., Firn, J., Graff, P., Hagenah, N., Haider, S., Komatsu, K.J., McCulley, R.L., Mitchell, C.E., Moore, J., Pascual, J., Peri, P.L., Power, S.A., Prober, S.M., Risch, A.C., Roscher, Christiane, Sankaran, M., Seabloom, E.W., Schielzeth, H., Schütz, M., Speziale, K.L., Tedder, M., Virtanen, R., Blumenthal, D.M., Ebeling, A., Strauss, A.T., Adler, P., Arnillas, C.A., Barrio, I.C., Biedermann, L.A., Borer, E.T., Bugalho, M.N., Caldeira, M.C., Cadotte, M.W., Daleo, P., Eisenhauer, N., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Fay, P.A., Firn, J., Graff, P., Hagenah, N., Haider, S., Komatsu, K.J., McCulley, R.L., Mitchell, C.E., Moore, J., Pascual, J., Peri, P.L., Power, S.A., Prober, S.M., Risch, A.C., Roscher, Christiane, Sankaran, M., Seabloom, E.W., Schielzeth, H., Schütz, M., Speziale, K.L., Tedder, M., Virtanen, R., and Blumenthal, D.M.

Abstract

Plant damage by invertebrate herbivores and pathogens influences the dynamics of grassland ecosystems, but anthropogenic changes in nitrogen and phosphorus availability can modify these relationships.Using a globally-distributed experiment, we describe leaf damage on 153 plant taxa from twenty-seven grasslands worldwide, under ambient conditions and with experimentally elevated nitrogen and phosphorus.Invertebrate damage significantly increased with nitrogen addition, especially in grasses and non-leguminous forbs. Pathogen damage increased with nitrogen in grasses and legumes but not forbs. Effects of phosphorus were generally weaker. Damage was higher in grasslands with more precipitation, but climatic conditions did not change effects of nutrients on leaf damage. On average, invertebrate damage was relatively higher on legumes and pathogen damage was relatively higher on grasses. Community-weighted mean damage reflected these functional group patterns, with no effects of N on community-weighted pathogen damage (due to opposing responses of grasses and forbs) but stronger effects of N on community-weighted invertebrate damage (due to consistent responses of grasses and forbs).Synthesis: As human-induced inputs of nitrogen and phosphorus continue to increase, understanding their impacts on invertebrate and pathogen damage becomes increasingly important. Our results demonstrate that eutrophication frequently increases plant damage and that damage increases with precipitation across a wide array of grasslands. Invertebrate and pathogen damage in grasslands is likely to increase in the future, with potential consequences for plant, invertebrate and pathogen communities, as well as the transfer of energy and nutrients across trophic levels.

Published
2021

32. The fate of carbon in a mature forest under carbon dioxide enrichment

Author

Jiang, M., Medlyn, B.E., Drake, J.E., Duursma, R.A., Anderson, I.C., Barton, C.V.M., Boer, M.M., Carrillo, Y., Castañeda-Gómez, L., Collins, L., Crous, K.Y., De Kauwe, M.G., Dos Santos, B.M., Emmerson, K.M., Facey, S.L., Gherlenda, A.N., Gimeno, T.E., Hasegawa, S., Johnson, S.N., Kännaste, A., Macdonald, C.A., Mahmud, K., Moore, B.D., Nazaries, L., Neilson, E.H.J., Nielsen, U.N., Niinemets, Ü., Noh, N.J., Ochoa-Hueso, R., Pathare, V.S., Pendall, E., Pihlblad, J., Piñeiro, J., Powell, J.R., Power, S.A., Reich, P.B., Renchon, A.A., Riegler, M., Rinnan, R., Rymer, P.D., Salomón, R.L., Singh, B.K., Smith, B., Tjoelker, M.G., Walker, J.K.M., Wujeska-Klause, A., Yang, J., Zaehle, S., Ellsworth, D.S., Jiang, M., Medlyn, B.E., Drake, J.E., Duursma, R.A., Anderson, I.C., Barton, C.V.M., Boer, M.M., Carrillo, Y., Castañeda-Gómez, L., Collins, L., Crous, K.Y., De Kauwe, M.G., Dos Santos, B.M., Emmerson, K.M., Facey, S.L., Gherlenda, A.N., Gimeno, T.E., Hasegawa, S., Johnson, S.N., Kännaste, A., Macdonald, C.A., Mahmud, K., Moore, B.D., Nazaries, L., Neilson, E.H.J., Nielsen, U.N., Niinemets, Ü., Noh, N.J., Ochoa-Hueso, R., Pathare, V.S., Pendall, E., Pihlblad, J., Piñeiro, J., Powell, J.R., Power, S.A., Reich, P.B., Renchon, A.A., Riegler, M., Rinnan, R., Rymer, P.D., Salomón, R.L., Singh, B.K., Smith, B., Tjoelker, M.G., Walker, J.K.M., Wujeska-Klause, A., Yang, J., Zaehle, S., and Ellsworth, D.S.

Abstract

Atmospheric carbon dioxide enrichment (eCO2) can enhance plant carbon uptake and growth1 5, thereby providing an important negative feedback to climate change by slowing the rate of increase of the atmospheric CO2 concentration6. Although evidence gathered from young aggrading forests has generally indicated a strong CO2 fertilization effect on biomass growth3 5, it is unclear whether mature forests respond to eCO2 in a similar way. In mature trees and forest stands7 10, photosynthetic uptake has been found to increase under eCO2 without any apparent accompanying growth response, leaving the fate of additional carbon fixed under eCO2 unclear4,5,7 11. Here using data from the first ecosystem-scale Free-Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) experiment in a mature forest, we constructed a comprehensive ecosystem carbon budget to track the fate of carbon as the forest responded to four years of eCO2 exposure. We show that, although the eCO2 treatment of +150 parts per million (+38 per cent) above ambient levels induced a 12 per cent (+247 grams of carbon per square metre per year) increase in carbon uptake through gross primary production, this additional carbon uptake did not lead to increased carbon sequestration at the ecosystem level. Instead, the majority of the extra carbon was emitted back into the atmosphere via several respiratory fluxes, with increased soil respiration alone accounting for half of the total uptake surplus. Our results call into question the predominant thinking that the capacity of forests to act as carbon sinks will be generally enhanced under eCO2, and challenge the efficacy of climate mitigation strategies that rely on ubiquitous CO2 fertilization as a driver of increased carbon sinks in global forests. © 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

Published
2020

33. Global impacts of fertilization and herbivore removal on soil net nitrogen mineralization are modulated by local climate and soil properties

Author

Risch, Anita C., Zimmermann, S., Moser, B., Schuetz, Martin, Hagedorn, F., Firn, Jennifer, Fay, P.A., Adler, Peter B., Biederman, Lori A., Blair, J.M., Borer, Elizabeth T., Broadbent, Arthur A. D., Brown, C.S., Cadotte, Marc W., Caldeira, Maria, Davies, K.F., di Virgilio, A., Eisenhauer, N., Eskelinen, A., Knops, Johannes M. H., MacDougall, Andrew S., McCulley, Rebecca L., Melbourne, Brett, Moore, J.L., Power, S.A., Prober, Suzanne M., Seabloom, Eric W., Siebert, J., Silveira, Maria, Speziale, K.L., Stevens, Carly, Tognetti, P.M., Virtanen, Risto, Yahdjian, L., Ochoa, H., Risch, Anita C., Zimmermann, S., Moser, B., Schuetz, Martin, Hagedorn, F., Firn, Jennifer, Fay, P.A., Adler, Peter B., Biederman, Lori A., Blair, J.M., Borer, Elizabeth T., Broadbent, Arthur A. D., Brown, C.S., Cadotte, Marc W., Caldeira, Maria, Davies, K.F., di Virgilio, A., Eisenhauer, N., Eskelinen, A., Knops, Johannes M. H., MacDougall, Andrew S., McCulley, Rebecca L., Melbourne, Brett, Moore, J.L., Power, S.A., Prober, Suzanne M., Seabloom, Eric W., Siebert, J., Silveira, Maria, Speziale, K.L., Stevens, Carly, Tognetti, P.M., Virtanen, Risto, Yahdjian, L., and Ochoa, H.

Abstract

Soil nitrogen (N) availability is critical for grassland functioning. However, human activities have increased the supply of biologically limiting nutrients, and changed the density and identity of mammalian herbivores. These anthropogenic changes may alter net soil N mineralization (soil net Nmin), that is, the net balance between N mineralization and immobilization, which could severely impact grassland structure and functioning. Yet, to date, little is known about how fertilization and herbivore removal individually, or jointly, affect soil net Nmin across a wide range of grasslands that vary in soil and climatic properties. Here we collected data from 22 grasslands on five continents, all part of a globally replicated experiment, to assess how fertilization and herbivore removal affected potential (laboratory‐based) and realized (field‐based) soil net Nmin. Herbivore removal in the absence of fertilization did not alter potential and realized soil net Nmin. However, fertilization alone and in combination with herbivore removal consistently increased potential soil net Nmin. Realized soil net Nmin, in contrast, significantly decreased in fertilized plots where herbivores were removed. Treatment effects on potential and realized soil net Nmin were contingent on site‐specific soil and climatic properties. Fertilization effects on potential soil net Nmin were larger at sites with higher mean annual precipitation (MAP) and temperature of the wettest quarter (T.q.wet). Reciprocally, realized soil net Nmin declined most strongly with fertilization and herbivore removal at sites with lower MAP and higher T.q.wet. In summary, our findings show that anthropogenic nutrient enrichment, herbivore exclusion and alterations in future climatic conditions can negatively impact soil net Nmin across global grasslands under realistic field conditions. This is an important context‐dependent knowledge for grassland management worldwide.

Published
2020

34. Microbial processing of plant remains is co‐limited by multiple nutrients in global grasslands

Author

Ochoa‐Hueso, R., Borer, E.T., Seabloom, E.W., Hobbie, S.E., Risch, A.C., Collins, S.L., Alberti, J., Bahamonde, H.A., Brown, C.S., Caldeira, M.C., Daleo, P., Dickman, C.R., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Esch, E.H., Eskelinen, A., Fernández, V., Güsewell, S., Gutierrez‐Larruga, B., Hofmockel, K., Laungani, R., Lind, E., López, A., McCulley, R.L., Moore, J.L., Peri, P.L., Power, S.A., Price, J.N., Prober, S.M., Roscher, C., Sarneel, J.M., Schutz, M., Siebert, J., Standish, R.J., Velasco Ayuso, S., Virtanen, R., Wardle, G.M., Wiehl, G., Yahdjian, L., Zamin, T., Ochoa‐Hueso, R., Borer, E.T., Seabloom, E.W., Hobbie, S.E., Risch, A.C., Collins, S.L., Alberti, J., Bahamonde, H.A., Brown, C.S., Caldeira, M.C., Daleo, P., Dickman, C.R., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Esch, E.H., Eskelinen, A., Fernández, V., Güsewell, S., Gutierrez‐Larruga, B., Hofmockel, K., Laungani, R., Lind, E., López, A., McCulley, R.L., Moore, J.L., Peri, P.L., Power, S.A., Price, J.N., Prober, S.M., Roscher, C., Sarneel, J.M., Schutz, M., Siebert, J., Standish, R.J., Velasco Ayuso, S., Virtanen, R., Wardle, G.M., Wiehl, G., Yahdjian, L., and Zamin, T.

Abstract

Microbial processing of aggregate‐unprotected organic matter inputs is key for soil fertility, long‐term ecosystem carbon and nutrient sequestration and sustainable agriculture. We investigated the effects of adding multiple nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium plus nine essential macro‐ and micro‐nutrients) on decomposition and biochemical transformation of standard plant materials buried in 21 grasslands from four continents. Addition of multiple nutrients weakly but consistently increased decomposition and biochemical transformation of plant remains during the peak‐season, concurrent with changes in microbial exoenzymatic activity. Higher mean annual precipitation and lower mean annual temperature were the main climatic drivers of higher decomposition rates, while biochemical transformation of plant remains was negatively related to temperature of the wettest quarter. Nutrients enhanced decomposition most at cool, high rainfall sites, indicating that in a warmer and drier future fertilized grassland soils will have an even more limited potential for microbial processing of plant remains.

Published
2020

35. TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Author

Kattge, J., Bönisch, G., Díaz, S., Lavorel, S., Prentice, I.C., Leadley, P., Tautenhahn, S., Werner, G.D.A., Aakala, T., Abedi, M., Acosta, A.T.R., Adamidis, G.C., Adamson, K., Aiba, M., Albert, C.H., Alcántara, J.M., Alcázar, C.C., Aleixo, I., Ali, H., Amiaud, B., Ammer, C., Amoroso, M.M., Anand, M., Anderson, C., Anten, N., Antos, J., Apgaua, D.M.G., Ashman, T‐L, Asmara, D.H., Asner, G.P., Aspinwall, M., Atkin, O., Aubin, I., Baastrup‐Spohr, L., Bahalkeh, K., Bahn, M., Baker, T., Baker, W.J., Bakker, J.P., Baldocchi, D., Baltzer, J., Banerjee, A., Baranger, A., Barlow, J., Barneche, D.R., Baruch, Z., Bastianelli, D., Battles, J., Bauerle, W., Bauters, M., Bazzato, E., Beckmann, M., Beeckman, H., Beierkuhnlein, C., Bekker, R., Belfry, G., Belluau, M., Beloiu, M., Benavides, R., Benomar, L., Berdugo‐Lattke, M.L., Berenguer, E., Bergamin, R., Bergmann, J., Bergmann Carlucci, M., Berner, L., Bernhardt‐Römermann, M., Bigler, C., Bjorkman, A.D., Blackman, C., Blanco, C., Blonder, B., Blumenthal, D., Bocanegra‐González, K.T., Boeckx, P., Bohlman, S., Böhning‐Gaese, K., Boisvert‐Marsh, L., Bond, W., Bond‐Lamberty, B., Boom, A., Boonman, C.C.F., Bordin, K., Boughton, E.H., Boukili, V., Bowman, D.M.J.S., Bravo, S., Brendel, M.R., Broadley, M.R., Brown, K.A., Bruelheide, H., Brumnich, F., Bruun, H.H., Bruy, D., Buchanan, S.W., Bucher, S.F., Buchmann, N., Buitenwerf, R., Bunker, D.E., Bürger, J., Burrascano, S., Burslem, D.F.R.P., Butterfield, B.J., Byun, C., Marques, M., Scalon, M.C., Caccianiga, M., Cadotte, M., Cailleret, M., Camac, J., Camarero, J.J., Campany, C., Campetella, G., Campos, J.A., Cano‐Arboleda, L., Canullo, R., Carbognani, M., Carvalho, F., Casanoves, F., Castagneyrol, B., Catford, J.A., Cavender‐Bares, J., Cerabolini, B.E.L., Cervellini, M., Chacón‐Madrigal, E., Chapin, K., Chapin, F.S., Chelli, S., Chen, S‐C, Chen, A., Cherubini, P., Chianucci, F., Choat, B., Chung, K‐S, Chytrý, M., Ciccarelli, D., Coll, L., Collins, C.G., Conti, L., Coomes, D., Cornelissen, J.H.C., Cornwell, W.K., Corona, P., Coyea, M., Craine, J., Craven, D., Cromsigt, J.P.G.M., Csecserits, A., Cufar, K., Cuntz, M., Silva, A.C., Dahlin, K.M., Dainese, M., Dalke, I., Dalle Fratte, M., Dang‐Le, A.T., Danihelka, J., Dannoura, M., Dawson, S., Beer, A.J., De Frutos, A., De Long, J.R., Dechant, B., Delagrange, S., Delpierre, N., Derroire, G., Dias, A.S., Diaz‐Toribio, M.H., Dimitrakopoulos, P.G., Dobrowolski, M., Doktor, D., Dřevojan, P., Dong, N., Dransfield, J., Dressler, S., Duarte, L., Ducouret, E., Dullinger, S., Durka, W., Duursma, R., Dymova, O., E‐Vojtkó, A., Eckstein, R.L., Ejtehadi, H., Elser, J., Emilio, T., Engemann, K., Erfanian, M.B., Erfmeier, A., Esquivel‐Muelbert, A., Esser, G., Estiarte, M., Domingues, T.F., Fagan, W.F., Fagúndez, J., Falster, D.S., Fan, Y., Fang, J., Farris, E., Fazlioglu, F., Feng, Y., Fernandez‐Mendez, F., Ferrara, C., Ferreira, J., Fidelis, A., Finegan, B., Firn, J., Flowers, T.J., Flynn, D.F.B., Fontana, V., Forey, E., Forgiarini, C., François, L., Frangipani, M., Frank, D., Frenette‐Dussault, C., Freschet, G.T., Fry, E.L., Fyllas, N.M., Mazzochini, G.G., Gachet, S., Gallagher, R., Ganade, G., Ganga, F., García‐Palacios, P., Gargaglione, V., Garnier, E., Garrido, J.L., Gasper, A.L., Gea‐Izquierdo, G., Gibson, D., Gillison, A.N., Giroldo, A., Glasenhardt, M‐C, Gleason, S., Gliesch, M., Goldberg, E., Göldel, B., Gonzalez‐Akre, E., Gonzalez‐Andujar, J.L., González‐Melo, A., González‐Robles, A., Graae, B.J., Granda, E., Graves, S., Green, W.A., Gregor, T., Gross, N., Guerin, G.R., Günther, A., Gutiérrez, A.G., Haddock, L., Haines, A., Hall, J., Hambuckers, A., Han, W., Harrison, S.P., Hattingh, W., Hawes, J.E., He, T., He, P., Heberling, J.M., Helm, A., Hempel, S., Hentschel, J., Hérault, B., Hereş, A‐M, Herz, K., Heuertz, M., Hickler, T., Hietz, P., Higuchi, P., Hipp, A.L., Hirons, A., Hock, M., Hogan, J.A., Holl, K., Honnay, O., Hornstein, D., Hou, E., Hough‐Snee, N., Hovstad, K.A., Ichie, T., Igić, B., Illa, E., Isaac, M., Ishihara, M., Ivanov, L., Ivanova, L., Iversen, C.M., Izquierdo, J., Jackson, R.B., Jackson, B., Jactel, H., Jagodzinski, A.M., Jandt, U., Jansen, S., Jenkins, T., Jentsch, A., Jespersen, J.R.P., Jiang, G‐F, Johansen, J.L., Johnson, D., Jokela, E.J., Joly, C.A., Jordan, G.J., Joseph, G.S., Junaedi, D., Junker, R.R., Justes, E., Kabzems, R., Kane, J., Kaplan, Z., Kattenborn, T., Kavelenova, L., Kearsley, E., Kempel, A., Kenzo, T., Kerkhoff, A., Khalil, M.I., Kinlock, N.L., Kissling, W.D., Kitajima, K., Kitzberger, T., Kjøller, R., Klein, T., Kleyer, M., Klimešová, J., Klipel, J., Kloeppel, B., Klotz, S., Knops, J.M.H., Kohyama, T., Koike, F., Kollmann, J., Komac, B., Komatsu, K., König, C., Kraft, N.J.B., Kramer, K.., Kreft, H., Kühn, I., Kumarathunge, D., Kuppler, J., Kurokawa, H., Kurosawa, Y., Kuyah, S., Laclau, J‐P, Lafleur, B., Lallai, E., Lamb, E., Lamprecht, A., Larkin, D.J., Laughlin, D., Le Bagousse‐Pinguet, Y., Maire, G., Roux, P.C., Roux, E., Lee, T., Lens, F., Lewis, S.L., Lhotsky, B., Li, Y., Li, X., Lichstein, J.W., Liebergesell, M., Lim, J.Y., Lin, Y‐S, Linares, J.C., Liu, C., Liu, D., Liu, U., Livingstone, S., Llusià, J., Lohbeck, M., López‐García, Á., Lopez‐Gonzalez, G., Lososová, Z., Louault, F., Lukács, B.A., Lukeš, P., Luo, Y.J., Lussu, M., Ma, S., Maciel Rabelo Pereira, C., Mack, M., Maire, V., Mäkelä, A., Mäkinen, H., Malhado, A.C.M., Mallik, A., Manning, P., Manzoni, S., Marchetti, Z., Marchino, L., Marcilio‐Silva, V., Marcon, E., Marignani, M., Markesteijn, L., Martin, A., Martínez‐Garza, C., Martínez‐Vilalta, J., Mašková, T., Mason, K., Mason, N., Massad, T.J., Masse, J., Mayrose, I., McCarthy, J., McCormack, M.L., McCulloh, K., McFadden, I.R., McGill, B.J., McPartland, M.Y., Medeiros, J.S., Medlyn, B., Meerts, P., Mehrabi, Z., Meir, P., Melo, F.P.L., Mencuccini, M., Meredieu, C., Messier, J., Mészáros, I., Metsaranta, J., Michaletz, S.T., Michelaki, C., Migalina, S., Milla, R., Miller, J.E.D., Minden, V., Ming, R., Mokany, K., Moles, A.T., Molnár, A., Molofsky, J., Molz, M., Montgomery, R.A., Monty, A., Moravcová, L., Moreno‐Martínez, A., Moretti, M., Mori, A.S., Mori, S., Morris, D., Morrison, J., Mucina, L., Mueller, S., Muir, C.D., Müller, S.C., Munoz, F., Myers‐Smith, I.H., Myster, R.W., Nagano, M., Naidu, S., Narayanan, A., Natesan, B., Negoita, L., Nelson, A.S., Neuschulz, E.L., Ni, J., Niedrist, G., Nieto, J., Niinemets, Ü., Nolan, R., Nottebrock, H., Nouvellon, Y., Novakovskiy, A., Nystuen, K.O., O'Grady, A., O'Hara, K., O'Reilly‐Nugent, A., Oakley, S., Oberhuber, W., Ohtsuka, T., Oliveira, R., Öllerer, K., Olson, M.E., Onipchenko, V., Onoda, Y., Onstein, R.E., Ordonez, J.C., Osada, N., Ostonen, I., Ottaviani, G., Otto, S., Overbeck, G.E., Ozinga, W.A., Pahl, A.T., Paine, C.E.T., Pakeman, R.J., Papageorgiou, A.C., Parfionova, E., Pärtel, M., Patacca, M., Paula, S., Paule, J., Pauli, H., Pausas, J.G., Peco, B., Penuelas, J., Perea, A., Peri, P.L., Petisco‐Souza, A.C., Petraglia, A., Petritan, A.M., Phillips, O.L., Pierce, S., Pillar, V.D., Pisek, J., Pomogaybin, A., Poorter, H., Portsmuth, A., Poschlod, P., Potvin, C., Pounds, D., Powell, A.S., Power, S.A., Prinzing, A., Puglielli, G., Pyšek, P., Raevel, V., Rammig, A., Ransijn, J., Ray, C.A., Reich, P.B., Reichstein, M., Reid, D.E. B., Réjou‐Méchain, M., Dios, V.R., Ribeiro, S., Richardson, S., Riibak, K., Rillig, M.C., Riviera, F., Robert, E.M.R., Roberts, S., Robroek, B., Roddy, A., Rodrigues, A.V., Rogers, A., Rollinson, E., Rolo, V., Römermann, C., Ronzhina, D., Roscher, C., Rosell, J.A., Rosenfield, M.F., Rossi, C., Roy, D.B., Royer‐Tardif, S., Rüger, N., Ruiz‐Peinado, R., Rumpf, S.B., Rusch, G.M., Ryo, M., Sack, L., Saldaña, A., Salgado‐Negret, B., Salguero‐Gomez, R., Santa‐Regina, I., Santacruz‐García, A.C., Santos, J., Sardans, J., Schamp, B., Scherer‐Lorenzen, M., Schleuning, M., Schmid, B., Schmidt, M., Schmitt, S., Schneider, J.V., Schowanek, S.D., Schrader, J., Schrodt, F., Schuldt, B., Schurr, F., Selaya Garvizu, G., Semchenko, M., Seymour, C., Sfair, J.C., Sharpe, J.M., Sheppard, C.S., Sheremetiev, S., Shiodera, S., Shipley, B., Shovon, T.A., Siebenkäs, A., Sierra, C., Silva, V., Silva, M., Sitzia, T., Sjöman, H., Slot, M., Smith, N.G., Sodhi, D., Soltis, P., Soltis, D., Somers, B., Sonnier, G., Sørensen, M.V., Sosinski, E.E., Soudzilovskaia, N.A., Souza, A.F., Spasojevic, M., Sperandii, M.G., Stan, A.B., Stegen, J., Steinbauer, K., Stephan, J.G., Sterck, F., Stojanovic, D.B., Strydom, T., Suarez, M.L., Svenning, J‐C, Svitková, I., Svitok, M., Svoboda, M., Swaine, E., Swenson, N., Tabarelli, M., Takagi, K., Tappeiner, U., Tarifa, R., Tauugourdeau, S., Tavsanoglu, C., Beest, M., Tedersoo, L., Thiffault, N., Thom, D., Thomas, E., Thompson, K., Thornton, P.E., Thuiller, W., Tichý, L., Tissue, D., Tjoelker, M.G., Tng, D.Y.P., Tobias, J., Török, P., Tarin, T., Torres‐Ruiz, J.M., Tóthmérész, B., Treurnicht, M., Trivellone, V., Trolliet, F., Trotsiuk, V., Tsakalos, J.L., Tsiripidis, I., Tysklind, N., Umehara, T., Usoltsev, V., Vadeboncoeur, M., Vaezi, J., Valladares, F., Vamosi, J., Bodegom, P.M., Breugel, M., Van Cleemput, E., Weg, M., Merwe, S., Plas, F., Sande, M.T., Kleunen, M., Van Meerbeek, K., Vanderwel, M., Vanselow, K.A., Vårhammar, A., Varone, L., Vasquez Valderrama, M.Y., Vassilev, K., Vellend, M., Veneklaas, E.J., Verbeeck, H., Verheyen, K., Vibrans, A., Vieira, I., Villacís, J., Violle, C., Vivek, P., Wagner, K., Waldram, M., Waldron, A., Walker, A.P., Waller, M., Walther, G., Wang, H., Wang, F., Wang, W., Watkins, H., Watkins, J., Weber, U., Weedon, J.T., Wei, L., Weigelt, P., Weiher, E., Wells, A.W., Wellstein, C., Wenk, E., Westoby, M., Westwood, A., White, P.J., Whitten, M., Williams, M., Winkler, D.E., Winter, K., Womack, C., Wright, I.J., Wright, S.J., Wright, J., Pinho, B.X., Ximenes, F., Yamada, T., Yamaji, K., Yanai, R., Yankov, N., Yguel, B., Zanini, K.J., Zanne, A.E., Zelený, D., Zhao, Y‐P, Zheng, J., Ziemińska, K., Zirbel, C.R., Zizka, G., Zo‐Bi, I.C., Zotz, G., Wirth, C., Kattge, J., Bönisch, G., Díaz, S., Lavorel, S., Prentice, I.C., Leadley, P., Tautenhahn, S., Werner, G.D.A., Aakala, T., Abedi, M., Acosta, A.T.R., Adamidis, G.C., Adamson, K., Aiba, M., Albert, C.H., Alcántara, J.M., Alcázar, C.C., Aleixo, I., Ali, H., Amiaud, B., Ammer, C., Amoroso, M.M., Anand, M., Anderson, C., Anten, N., Antos, J., Apgaua, D.M.G., Ashman, T‐L, Asmara, D.H., Asner, G.P., Aspinwall, M., Atkin, O., Aubin, I., Baastrup‐Spohr, L., Bahalkeh, K., Bahn, M., Baker, T., Baker, W.J., Bakker, J.P., Baldocchi, D., Baltzer, J., Banerjee, A., Baranger, A., Barlow, J., Barneche, D.R., Baruch, Z., Bastianelli, D., Battles, J., Bauerle, W., Bauters, M., Bazzato, E., Beckmann, M., Beeckman, H., Beierkuhnlein, C., Bekker, R., Belfry, G., Belluau, M., Beloiu, M., Benavides, R., Benomar, L., Berdugo‐Lattke, M.L., Berenguer, E., Bergamin, R., Bergmann, J., Bergmann Carlucci, M., Berner, L., Bernhardt‐Römermann, M., Bigler, C., Bjorkman, A.D., Blackman, C., Blanco, C., Blonder, B., Blumenthal, D., Bocanegra‐González, K.T., Boeckx, P., Bohlman, S., Böhning‐Gaese, K., Boisvert‐Marsh, L., Bond, W., Bond‐Lamberty, B., Boom, A., Boonman, C.C.F., Bordin, K., Boughton, E.H., Boukili, V., Bowman, D.M.J.S., Bravo, S., Brendel, M.R., Broadley, M.R., Brown, K.A., Bruelheide, H., Brumnich, F., Bruun, H.H., Bruy, D., Buchanan, S.W., Bucher, S.F., Buchmann, N., Buitenwerf, R., Bunker, D.E., Bürger, J., Burrascano, S., Burslem, D.F.R.P., Butterfield, B.J., Byun, C., Marques, M., Scalon, M.C., Caccianiga, M., Cadotte, M., Cailleret, M., Camac, J., Camarero, J.J., Campany, C., Campetella, G., Campos, J.A., Cano‐Arboleda, L., Canullo, R., Carbognani, M., Carvalho, F., Casanoves, F., Castagneyrol, B., Catford, J.A., Cavender‐Bares, J., Cerabolini, B.E.L., Cervellini, M., Chacón‐Madrigal, E., Chapin, K., Chapin, F.S., Chelli, S., Chen, S‐C, Chen, A., Cherubini, P., Chianucci, F., Choat, B., Chung, K‐S, Chytrý, M., Ciccarelli, D., Coll, L., Collins, C.G., Conti, L., Coomes, D., Cornelissen, J.H.C., Cornwell, W.K., Corona, P., Coyea, M., Craine, J., Craven, D., Cromsigt, J.P.G.M., Csecserits, A., Cufar, K., Cuntz, M., Silva, A.C., Dahlin, K.M., Dainese, M., Dalke, I., Dalle Fratte, M., Dang‐Le, A.T., Danihelka, J., Dannoura, M., Dawson, S., Beer, A.J., De Frutos, A., De Long, J.R., Dechant, B., Delagrange, S., Delpierre, N., Derroire, G., Dias, A.S., Diaz‐Toribio, M.H., Dimitrakopoulos, P.G., Dobrowolski, M., Doktor, D., Dřevojan, P., Dong, N., Dransfield, J., Dressler, S., Duarte, L., Ducouret, E., Dullinger, S., Durka, W., Duursma, R., Dymova, O., E‐Vojtkó, A., Eckstein, R.L., Ejtehadi, H., Elser, J., Emilio, T., Engemann, K., Erfanian, M.B., Erfmeier, A., Esquivel‐Muelbert, A., Esser, G., Estiarte, M., Domingues, T.F., Fagan, W.F., Fagúndez, J., Falster, D.S., Fan, Y., Fang, J., Farris, E., Fazlioglu, F., Feng, Y., Fernandez‐Mendez, F., Ferrara, C., Ferreira, J., Fidelis, A., Finegan, B., Firn, J., Flowers, T.J., Flynn, D.F.B., Fontana, V., Forey, E., Forgiarini, C., François, L., Frangipani, M., Frank, D., Frenette‐Dussault, C., Freschet, G.T., Fry, E.L., Fyllas, N.M., Mazzochini, G.G., Gachet, S., Gallagher, R., Ganade, G., Ganga, F., García‐Palacios, P., Gargaglione, V., Garnier, E., Garrido, J.L., Gasper, A.L., Gea‐Izquierdo, G., Gibson, D., Gillison, A.N., Giroldo, A., Glasenhardt, M‐C, Gleason, S., Gliesch, M., Goldberg, E., Göldel, B., Gonzalez‐Akre, E., Gonzalez‐Andujar, J.L., González‐Melo, A., González‐Robles, A., Graae, B.J., Granda, E., Graves, S., Green, W.A., Gregor, T., Gross, N., Guerin, G.R., Günther, A., Gutiérrez, A.G., Haddock, L., Haines, A., Hall, J., Hambuckers, A., Han, W., Harrison, S.P., Hattingh, W., Hawes, J.E., He, T., He, P., Heberling, J.M., Helm, A., Hempel, S., Hentschel, J., Hérault, B., Hereş, A‐M, Herz, K., Heuertz, M., Hickler, T., Hietz, P., Higuchi, P., Hipp, A.L., Hirons, A., Hock, M., Hogan, J.A., Holl, K., Honnay, O., Hornstein, D., Hou, E., Hough‐Snee, N., Hovstad, K.A., Ichie, T., Igić, B., Illa, E., Isaac, M., Ishihara, M., Ivanov, L., Ivanova, L., Iversen, C.M., Izquierdo, J., Jackson, R.B., Jackson, B., Jactel, H., Jagodzinski, A.M., Jandt, U., Jansen, S., Jenkins, T., Jentsch, A., Jespersen, J.R.P., Jiang, G‐F, Johansen, J.L., Johnson, D., Jokela, E.J., Joly, C.A., Jordan, G.J., Joseph, G.S., Junaedi, D., Junker, R.R., Justes, E., Kabzems, R., Kane, J., Kaplan, Z., Kattenborn, T., Kavelenova, L., Kearsley, E., Kempel, A., Kenzo, T., Kerkhoff, A., Khalil, M.I., Kinlock, N.L., Kissling, W.D., Kitajima, K., Kitzberger, T., Kjøller, R., Klein, T., Kleyer, M., Klimešová, J., Klipel, J., Kloeppel, B., Klotz, S., Knops, J.M.H., Kohyama, T., Koike, F., Kollmann, J., Komac, B., Komatsu, K., König, C., Kraft, N.J.B., Kramer, K.., Kreft, H., Kühn, I., Kumarathunge, D., Kuppler, J., Kurokawa, H., Kurosawa, Y., Kuyah, S., Laclau, J‐P, Lafleur, B., Lallai, E., Lamb, E., Lamprecht, A., Larkin, D.J., Laughlin, D., Le Bagousse‐Pinguet, Y., Maire, G., Roux, P.C., Roux, E., Lee, T., Lens, F., Lewis, S.L., Lhotsky, B., Li, Y., Li, X., Lichstein, J.W., Liebergesell, M., Lim, J.Y., Lin, Y‐S, Linares, J.C., Liu, C., Liu, D., Liu, U., Livingstone, S., Llusià, J., Lohbeck, M., López‐García, Á., Lopez‐Gonzalez, G., Lososová, Z., Louault, F., Lukács, B.A., Lukeš, P., Luo, Y.J., Lussu, M., Ma, S., Maciel Rabelo Pereira, C., Mack, M., Maire, V., Mäkelä, A., Mäkinen, H., Malhado, A.C.M., Mallik, A., Manning, P., Manzoni, S., Marchetti, Z., Marchino, L., Marcilio‐Silva, V., Marcon, E., Marignani, M., Markesteijn, L., Martin, A., Martínez‐Garza, C., Martínez‐Vilalta, J., Mašková, T., Mason, K., Mason, N., Massad, T.J., Masse, J., Mayrose, I., McCarthy, J., McCormack, M.L., McCulloh, K., McFadden, I.R., McGill, B.J., McPartland, M.Y., Medeiros, J.S., Medlyn, B., Meerts, P., Mehrabi, Z., Meir, P., Melo, F.P.L., Mencuccini, M., Meredieu, C., Messier, J., Mészáros, I., Metsaranta, J., Michaletz, S.T., Michelaki, C., Migalina, S., Milla, R., Miller, J.E.D., Minden, V., Ming, R., Mokany, K., Moles, A.T., Molnár, A., Molofsky, J., Molz, M., Montgomery, R.A., Monty, A., Moravcová, L., Moreno‐Martínez, A., Moretti, M., Mori, A.S., Mori, S., Morris, D., Morrison, J., Mucina, L., Mueller, S., Muir, C.D., Müller, S.C., Munoz, F., Myers‐Smith, I.H., Myster, R.W., Nagano, M., Naidu, S., Narayanan, A., Natesan, B., Negoita, L., Nelson, A.S., Neuschulz, E.L., Ni, J., Niedrist, G., Nieto, J., Niinemets, Ü., Nolan, R., Nottebrock, H., Nouvellon, Y., Novakovskiy, A., Nystuen, K.O., O'Grady, A., O'Hara, K., O'Reilly‐Nugent, A., Oakley, S., Oberhuber, W., Ohtsuka, T., Oliveira, R., Öllerer, K., Olson, M.E., Onipchenko, V., Onoda, Y., Onstein, R.E., Ordonez, J.C., Osada, N., Ostonen, I., Ottaviani, G., Otto, S., Overbeck, G.E., Ozinga, W.A., Pahl, A.T., Paine, C.E.T., Pakeman, R.J., Papageorgiou, A.C., Parfionova, E., Pärtel, M., Patacca, M., Paula, S., Paule, J., Pauli, H., Pausas, J.G., Peco, B., Penuelas, J., Perea, A., Peri, P.L., Petisco‐Souza, A.C., Petraglia, A., Petritan, A.M., Phillips, O.L., Pierce, S., Pillar, V.D., Pisek, J., Pomogaybin, A., Poorter, H., Portsmuth, A., Poschlod, P., Potvin, C., Pounds, D., Powell, A.S., Power, S.A., Prinzing, A., Puglielli, G., Pyšek, P., Raevel, V., Rammig, A., Ransijn, J., Ray, C.A., Reich, P.B., Reichstein, M., Reid, D.E. B., Réjou‐Méchain, M., Dios, V.R., Ribeiro, S., Richardson, S., Riibak, K., Rillig, M.C., Riviera, F., Robert, E.M.R., Roberts, S., Robroek, B., Roddy, A., Rodrigues, A.V., Rogers, A., Rollinson, E., Rolo, V., Römermann, C., Ronzhina, D., Roscher, C., Rosell, J.A., Rosenfield, M.F., Rossi, C., Roy, D.B., Royer‐Tardif, S., Rüger, N., Ruiz‐Peinado, R., Rumpf, S.B., Rusch, G.M., Ryo, M., Sack, L., Saldaña, A., Salgado‐Negret, B., Salguero‐Gomez, R., Santa‐Regina, I., Santacruz‐García, A.C., Santos, J., Sardans, J., Schamp, B., Scherer‐Lorenzen, M., Schleuning, M., Schmid, B., Schmidt, M., Schmitt, S., Schneider, J.V., Schowanek, S.D., Schrader, J., Schrodt, F., Schuldt, B., Schurr, F., Selaya Garvizu, G., Semchenko, M., Seymour, C., Sfair, J.C., Sharpe, J.M., Sheppard, C.S., Sheremetiev, S., Shiodera, S., Shipley, B., Shovon, T.A., Siebenkäs, A., Sierra, C., Silva, V., Silva, M., Sitzia, T., Sjöman, H., Slot, M., Smith, N.G., Sodhi, D., Soltis, P., Soltis, D., Somers, B., Sonnier, G., Sørensen, M.V., Sosinski, E.E., Soudzilovskaia, N.A., Souza, A.F., Spasojevic, M., Sperandii, M.G., Stan, A.B., Stegen, J., Steinbauer, K., Stephan, J.G., Sterck, F., Stojanovic, D.B., Strydom, T., Suarez, M.L., Svenning, J‐C, Svitková, I., Svitok, M., Svoboda, M., Swaine, E., Swenson, N., Tabarelli, M., Takagi, K., Tappeiner, U., Tarifa, R., Tauugourdeau, S., Tavsanoglu, C., Beest, M., Tedersoo, L., Thiffault, N., Thom, D., Thomas, E., Thompson, K., Thornton, P.E., Thuiller, W., Tichý, L., Tissue, D., Tjoelker, M.G., Tng, D.Y.P., Tobias, J., Török, P., Tarin, T., Torres‐Ruiz, J.M., Tóthmérész, B., Treurnicht, M., Trivellone, V., Trolliet, F., Trotsiuk, V., Tsakalos, J.L., Tsiripidis, I., Tysklind, N., Umehara, T., Usoltsev, V., Vadeboncoeur, M., Vaezi, J., Valladares, F., Vamosi, J., Bodegom, P.M., Breugel, M., Van Cleemput, E., Weg, M., Merwe, S., Plas, F., Sande, M.T., Kleunen, M., Van Meerbeek, K., Vanderwel, M., Vanselow, K.A., Vårhammar, A., Varone, L., Vasquez Valderrama, M.Y., Vassilev, K., Vellend, M., Veneklaas, E.J., Verbeeck, H., Verheyen, K., Vibrans, A., Vieira, I., Villacís, J., Violle, C., Vivek, P., Wagner, K., Waldram, M., Waldron, A., Walker, A.P., Waller, M., Walther, G., Wang, H., Wang, F., Wang, W., Watkins, H., Watkins, J., Weber, U., Weedon, J.T., Wei, L., Weigelt, P., Weiher, E., Wells, A.W., Wellstein, C., Wenk, E., Westoby, M., Westwood, A., White, P.J., Whitten, M., Williams, M., Winkler, D.E., Winter, K., Womack, C., Wright, I.J., Wright, S.J., Wright, J., Pinho, B.X., Ximenes, F., Yamada, T., Yamaji, K., Yanai, R., Yankov, N., Yguel, B., Zanini, K.J., Zanne, A.E., Zelený, D., Zhao, Y‐P, Zheng, J., Ziemińska, K., Zirbel, C.R., Zizka, G., Zo‐Bi, I.C., Zotz, G., and Wirth, C.

Abstract

Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits—almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.

Published
2020

36. Nutrients cause grassland biomass to outpace herbivory

Author

Borer, Elizabeth T., Harpole, W. Stanley, Adler, Peter B., Arnillas, Carlos A., Bugalho, M.N., Cadotte, Marc W., Caldeira, Maria, Campana, S., Dickman, Chris R., Dickson, T.L., Donohue, Ian, Eskelinen, A., Firn, Jennifer, Graf, P., Gruner, Daniel S., Heckman, Robert W., Koltz, A.M., Komatsu, K.J., Lannes, L.S., MacDougall, Andrew S., Martina, J.P., Moore, J.L., Mortensen, Brent, Ochoa-Hueso, Raul, Olde Venterink, H., Power, S.A., Price, J., Risch, Anita C., Sankaran, Mahesh, Schütz, Martin, Sitters, J., Stevens, Carly, Virtanen, R, Wilfahrt, Peter, Seabloom, Eric W., Borer, Elizabeth T., Harpole, W. Stanley, Adler, Peter B., Arnillas, Carlos A., Bugalho, M.N., Cadotte, Marc W., Caldeira, Maria, Campana, S., Dickman, Chris R., Dickson, T.L., Donohue, Ian, Eskelinen, A., Firn, Jennifer, Graf, P., Gruner, Daniel S., Heckman, Robert W., Koltz, A.M., Komatsu, K.J., Lannes, L.S., MacDougall, Andrew S., Martina, J.P., Moore, J.L., Mortensen, Brent, Ochoa-Hueso, Raul, Olde Venterink, H., Power, S.A., Price, J., Risch, Anita C., Sankaran, Mahesh, Schütz, Martin, Sitters, J., Stevens, Carly, Virtanen, R, Wilfahrt, Peter, and Seabloom, Eric W.

Abstract

Human activities are transforming grassland biomass via changing climate, elemental nutrients, and herbivory. Theory predicts that food-limited herbivores will consume any additional biomass stimulated by nutrient inputs (‘consumer-controlled’). Alternatively, nutrient supply is predicted to increase biomass where herbivores alter community composition or are limited by factors other than food (‘resource-controlled’). Using an experiment replicated in 58 grasslands spanning six continents, we show that nutrient addition and vertebrate herbivore exclusion each caused sustained increases in aboveground live biomass over a decade, but consumer control was weak. However, at sites with high vertebrate grazing intensity or domestic livestock, herbivores consumed the additional fertilization-induced biomass, supporting the consumer-controlled prediction. Herbivores most effectively reduced the additional live biomass at sites with low precipitation or high ambient soil nitrogen. Overall, these experimental results suggest that grassland biomass will outstrip wild herbivore control as human activities increase elemental nutrient supply, with widespread consequences for grazing and fire risk.

Published
2020

37. General destabilizing effects of eutrophication on grassland productivity at multiple spatial scales

Author

Hautier, Yann, Zhang, P., Loreau, Michel, Wilcox, Kevin, Seabloom, Eric W., Borer, Elizabeth T., Byrnes, Jarrett, Koerner, Sally, Komatsu, Kimberly, Lefcheck, Jonathan, Hector, Andrew, Adler, Peter B., Alberti, Juan, Arnillas, Carlos A., Bakker, J.D., Brudvig, Lars A., Bugalho, M.N., Cadotte, Marc W., Caldeira, Maria, Carroll, Oliver, Crawley, Michael J., Collins, Scott, Daleo, Pedro, Dee, Laura, Eisenhauer, N., Isbell, Forest, Knops, Johannes M. H., MacDougall, Andrew S., McCulley, Rebecca L., Moore, J.L., Morgan, J.W., Mori, Akira S., Peri, P.L., Pos, E., Power, S.A., Price, Jodie, Reich, Peter B., Risch, Anita C., Roscher, Christiane, Sankaran, Mahesh, Schütz, Martin, Smith, Melinda, Stevens, Carly, Tognetti, P.M., Virtanen, R, Wardle, Glenda M., Wilfahrt, Peter, Wang, Shaopeng, Hautier, Yann, Zhang, P., Loreau, Michel, Wilcox, Kevin, Seabloom, Eric W., Borer, Elizabeth T., Byrnes, Jarrett, Koerner, Sally, Komatsu, Kimberly, Lefcheck, Jonathan, Hector, Andrew, Adler, Peter B., Alberti, Juan, Arnillas, Carlos A., Bakker, J.D., Brudvig, Lars A., Bugalho, M.N., Cadotte, Marc W., Caldeira, Maria, Carroll, Oliver, Crawley, Michael J., Collins, Scott, Daleo, Pedro, Dee, Laura, Eisenhauer, N., Isbell, Forest, Knops, Johannes M. H., MacDougall, Andrew S., McCulley, Rebecca L., Moore, J.L., Morgan, J.W., Mori, Akira S., Peri, P.L., Pos, E., Power, S.A., Price, Jodie, Reich, Peter B., Risch, Anita C., Roscher, Christiane, Sankaran, Mahesh, Schütz, Martin, Smith, Melinda, Stevens, Carly, Tognetti, P.M., Virtanen, R, Wardle, Glenda M., Wilfahrt, Peter, and Wang, Shaopeng

Abstract

Eutrophication is a widespread environmental change that usually reduces the stabilizing effect of plant diversity on productivity in local communities. Whether this effect is scale dependent remains to be elucidated. Here, we determine the relationship between plant diversity and temporal stability of productivity for 243 plant communities from 42 grasslands across the globe and quantify the effect of chronic fertilization on these relationships. Unfertilized local communities with more plant species exhibit greater asynchronous dynamics among species in response to natural environmental fluctuations, resulting in greater local stability (alpha stability). Moreover, neighborhood communities that have greater spatial variation in plant species composition within sites (higher beta diversity) have greater spatial asynchrony of productivity among communities, resulting in greater stability at the larger scale (gamma stability). Importantly, fertilization consistently weakens the contribution of plant diversity to both of these stabilizing mechanisms, thus diminishing the positive effect of biodiversity on stability at differing spatial scales. Our findings suggest that preserving grassland functional stability requires conservation of plant diversity within and among ecological communities.

Published
2020

38. Global impacts of fertilization and herbivore removal on soil net nitrogen mineralization are modulated by local climate and soil properties

Author

Risch, A.C., Zimmermann, S., Moser, B., Schütz, M., Hagedorn, F., Firn, J., Fay, P.A., Adler, P.B., Biederman, L.A., Blair, J.M., Borer, E.T., Broadbent, A.A.D., Brown, C.S., Cadotte, M.W., Caldeira, M.C., Davies, K.F., di Virgilio, A., Eisenhauer, N., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Knops, J.M.H., MacDougall, A.S., McCulley, R.L., Melbourne, B.A., Moore, J.L., Power, S.A., Prober, S.M., Seabloom, E.W., Siebert, J., Silveira, M.L., Speziale, K.L., Stevens, C.J., Tognetti, P.M., Virtanen, R., Yahdjian, L., Ochoa‐Hueso, R., Risch, A.C., Zimmermann, S., Moser, B., Schütz, M., Hagedorn, F., Firn, J., Fay, P.A., Adler, P.B., Biederman, L.A., Blair, J.M., Borer, E.T., Broadbent, A.A.D., Brown, C.S., Cadotte, M.W., Caldeira, M.C., Davies, K.F., di Virgilio, A., Eisenhauer, N., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Knops, J.M.H., MacDougall, A.S., McCulley, R.L., Melbourne, B.A., Moore, J.L., Power, S.A., Prober, S.M., Seabloom, E.W., Siebert, J., Silveira, M.L., Speziale, K.L., Stevens, C.J., Tognetti, P.M., Virtanen, R., Yahdjian, L., and Ochoa‐Hueso, R.

Abstract

Soil nitrogen (N) availability is critical for grassland functioning. However, human activities have increased the supply of biologically‐limiting nutrients, and changed the density and identity of mammalian herbivores. These anthropogenic changes may alter net soil N mineralization (soil net Nmin), i.e., the net balance between N mineralization and immobilization, which could severely impact grassland structure and functioning. Yet, to date, little is known about how fertilization and herbivore removal individually, or jointly, affect soil net Nmin across a wide range of grasslands that vary in soil and climatic properties. Here, we collected data from 22 grasslands on five continents, all part of a globally replicated experiment, to assess how fertilization and herbivore removal affected potential (laboratory‐based) and realized (field‐based) soil net Nmin. Herbivore removal in the absence of fertilization did not alter potential and realized soil net Nmin. However, fertilization alone and in combination with herbivore removal consistently increased potential soil net Nmin. Realized soil net Nmin, in contrast, significantly decreased in fertilized plots where herbivores were removed. Treatment effects on potential and realized soil net Nmin were contingent on site‐specific soil and climatic properties. Fertilization effects on potential soil net Nmin were larger at sites with higher mean annual precipitation (MAP) and temperature of the wettest quarter (T.q.wet). Reciprocally, realized soil net Nmin declined most strongly with fertilization and herbivore removal at sites with lower MAP and higher T.q.wet. In summary, our findings show that anthropogenic nutrient enrichment, herbivore exclusion, and alterations in future climatic conditions can negatively impact soil net Nmin across global grasslands under realistic field conditions. This is important context‐dependent knowledge for grassland management worldwide.

Published
2020

39. General destabilizing effects of eutrophication on grassland productivity at multiple spatial scales

Author

Hautier, Y., Zhang, P., Loreau, M., Wilcox, K.R., Seabloom, E.W., Borer, E.T., Byrnes, J.E.K., Koerner, S.E., Komatsu, K.J., Lefcheck, J.S., Hector, A., Adler, P.B., Alberti, J., Arnillas, C.A., Bakker, J.D., Brudvig, L.A., Bugalho, M.N., Cadotte, M., Caldeira, M.C., Carroll, O., Crawley, M., Collins, S.L., Daleo, P., Dee, L.E., Eisenhauer, N., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Fay, P.A., Gilbert, B., Hansar, A., Isbell, F., Knops, J.M.H., MacDougall, A.S., McCulley, R.L., Moore, J.L., Morgan, J.W., Mori, A.S., Peri, P.L., Pos, E.T., Power, S.A., Price, J.N., Reich, P.B., Risch, A.C., Roscher, Christiane, Sankaran, M., Schütz, M., Smith, M., Stevens, C., Tognetti, P.M., Virtanen, R., Wardle, G.M., Wilfahrt, P.A., Wang, S., Hautier, Y., Zhang, P., Loreau, M., Wilcox, K.R., Seabloom, E.W., Borer, E.T., Byrnes, J.E.K., Koerner, S.E., Komatsu, K.J., Lefcheck, J.S., Hector, A., Adler, P.B., Alberti, J., Arnillas, C.A., Bakker, J.D., Brudvig, L.A., Bugalho, M.N., Cadotte, M., Caldeira, M.C., Carroll, O., Crawley, M., Collins, S.L., Daleo, P., Dee, L.E., Eisenhauer, N., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Fay, P.A., Gilbert, B., Hansar, A., Isbell, F., Knops, J.M.H., MacDougall, A.S., McCulley, R.L., Moore, J.L., Morgan, J.W., Mori, A.S., Peri, P.L., Pos, E.T., Power, S.A., Price, J.N., Reich, P.B., Risch, A.C., Roscher, Christiane, Sankaran, M., Schütz, M., Smith, M., Stevens, C., Tognetti, P.M., Virtanen, R., Wardle, G.M., Wilfahrt, P.A., and Wang, S.

Abstract

Eutrophication is a widespread environmental change that usually reduces the stabilizing effect of plant diversity on productivity in local communities. Whether this effect is scale dependent remains to be elucidated. Here, we determine the relationship between plant diversity and temporal stability of productivity for 243 plant communities from 42 grasslands across the globe and quantify the effect of chronic fertilization on these relationships. Unfertilized local communities with more plant species exhibit greater asynchronous dynamics among species in response to natural environmental fluctuations, resulting in greater local stability (alpha stability). Moreover, neighborhood communities that have greater spatial variation in plant species composition within sites (higher beta diversity) have greater spatial asynchrony of productivity among communities, resulting in greater stability at the larger scale (gamma stability). Importantly, fertilization consistently weakens the contribution of plant diversity to both of these stabilizing mechanisms, thus diminishing the positive effect of biodiversity on stability at differing spatial scales. Our findings suggest that preserving grassland functional stability requires conservation of plant diversity within and among ecological communities.

Published
2020

40. Nutrients cause grassland biomass to outpace herbivory

Author

Borer, E.T., Harpole, William Stanley, Adler, P.B., Arnillas, C.A., Bugalho, M.N., Cadotte, M.W., Caldeira, M.C., Campana, S., Dickman, C.R., Dickson, T.L., Donohue, I., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Firn, J.L., Graff, P., Gruner, D.S., Heckman, R.W., Koltz, A.M., Komatsu, K.J., Lannes, L.S., MacDougall, A.S., Martina, J.P., Moore, J.L., Mortensen, B., Ochoa-Hueso, R., Venterink, H.O., Power, S.A., Price, J.N., Risch, A.C., Sankaran, M., Schütz, M., Sitters, J., Stevens, C.J., Virtanen, R., Wilfahrt, P.A., Seabloom, E.A., Borer, E.T., Harpole, William Stanley, Adler, P.B., Arnillas, C.A., Bugalho, M.N., Cadotte, M.W., Caldeira, M.C., Campana, S., Dickman, C.R., Dickson, T.L., Donohue, I., Eskelinen, Anu Maria, Firn, J.L., Graff, P., Gruner, D.S., Heckman, R.W., Koltz, A.M., Komatsu, K.J., Lannes, L.S., MacDougall, A.S., Martina, J.P., Moore, J.L., Mortensen, B., Ochoa-Hueso, R., Venterink, H.O., Power, S.A., Price, J.N., Risch, A.C., Sankaran, M., Schütz, M., Sitters, J., Stevens, C.J., Virtanen, R., Wilfahrt, P.A., and Seabloom, E.A.

Abstract

Human activities are transforming grassland biomass via changing climate, elemental nutrients, and herbivory. Theory predicts that food-limited herbivores will consume any additional biomass stimulated by nutrient inputs (‘consumer-controlled’). Alternatively, nutrient supply is predicted to increase biomass where herbivores alter community composition or are limited by factors other than food (‘resource-controlled’). Using an experiment replicated in 58 grasslands spanning six continents, we show that nutrient addition and vertebrate herbivore exclusion each caused sustained increases in aboveground live biomass over a decade, but consumer control was weak. However, at sites with high vertebrate grazing intensity or domestic livestock, herbivores consumed the additional fertilization-induced biomass, supporting the consumer-controlled prediction. Herbivores most effectively reduced the additional live biomass at sites with low precipitation or high ambient soil nitrogen. Overall, these experimental results suggest that grassland biomass will outstrip wild herbivore control as human activities increase elemental nutrient supply, with widespread consequences for grazing and fire risk.

Published
2020

43. Soil net nitrogen mineralisation across global grasslands

Author

Risch, A.C., Zimmermann, S., Ochoa-Hueso, R., Schütz, M., Frey, B., Firn, J.L., Fay, P.A., Hagedorn, F., Borer, E.T., Seabloom, E.W., Harpole, W.S., Knops, J.M.H., McCulley, R.L., Broadbent, A.A.D., Stevens, C.J., Silveira, M.L., Adler, P.B., Báez, S., Biederman, L.A., Blair, J.M., Brown, C.S., Caldeira, M.C., Collins, S.L., Daleo, P., di Virgilio, A., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Esch, E., Eskelinen, A., Hagenah, N., Hautier, Y., Kirkman, K.P., MacDougall, A.S., Moore, J.L., Power, S.A., Prober, S.M., Roscher, C., Sankaran, M., Siebert, J., Speziale, K.L., Tognetti, P.M., Virtanen, R., Yahdjian, L., Moser, B., Risch, A.C., Zimmermann, S., Ochoa-Hueso, R., Schütz, M., Frey, B., Firn, J.L., Fay, P.A., Hagedorn, F., Borer, E.T., Seabloom, E.W., Harpole, W.S., Knops, J.M.H., McCulley, R.L., Broadbent, A.A.D., Stevens, C.J., Silveira, M.L., Adler, P.B., Báez, S., Biederman, L.A., Blair, J.M., Brown, C.S., Caldeira, M.C., Collins, S.L., Daleo, P., di Virgilio, A., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Esch, E., Eskelinen, A., Hagenah, N., Hautier, Y., Kirkman, K.P., MacDougall, A.S., Moore, J.L., Power, S.A., Prober, S.M., Roscher, C., Sankaran, M., Siebert, J., Speziale, K.L., Tognetti, P.M., Virtanen, R., Yahdjian, L., and Moser, B.

Abstract

Soil nitrogen mineralisation (Nmin), the conversion of organic into inorganic N, is important for productivity and nutrient cycling. The balance between mineralisation and immobilisation (net Nmin) varies with soil properties and climate. However, because most global-scale assessments of net Nmin are laboratory-based, its regulation under field-conditions and implications for real-world soil functioning remain uncertain. Here, we explore the drivers of realised (field) and potential (laboratory) soil net Nmin across 30 grasslands worldwide. We find that realised Nmin is largely explained by temperature of the wettest quarter, microbial biomass, clay content and bulk density. Potential Nmin only weakly correlates with realised Nmin, but contributes to explain realised net Nmin when combined with soil and climatic variables. We provide novel insights of global realised soil net Nmin and show that potential soil net Nmin data available in the literature could be parameterised with soil and climate data to better predict realised Nmin.

Published
2019

45. The fate of carbon in a mature forest under carbon dioxide enrichment

Author

Jiang, M., primary, Medlyn, B.E., additional, Drake, J.E., additional, Duursma, R.A., additional, Anderson, I.C., additional, Barton, C.V.M., additional, Boer, M.M., additional, Carrillo, Y., additional, Castañeda-Gómez, L., additional, Collins, L., additional, Crous, K.Y., additional, De Kauwe, M.G., additional, Emmerson, K.M., additional, Facey, S.L., additional, Gherlenda, A.N., additional, Gimeno, T.E., additional, Hasegawa, S., additional, Johnson, S.N., additional, Macdonald, C.A., additional, Mahmud, K., additional, Moore, B.D., additional, Nazaries, L., additional, Nielsen, U.N., additional, Noh, N.J., additional, Ochoa-Hueso, R., additional, Pathare, V.S., additional, Pendall, E., additional, Pineiro, J., additional, Powell, J.R., additional, Power, S.A., additional, Reich, P.B., additional, Renchon, A.A., additional, Riegler, M., additional, Rymer, P., additional, Salomón, R.L., additional, Singh, B.K., additional, Smith, B., additional, Tjoelker, M.G., additional, Walker, J.K.M., additional, Wujeska-Klause, A., additional, Yang, J., additional, Zaehle, S., additional, and Ellsworth, D.S., additional

Published
2019
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47. Effects of ozone on crops in north-west Pakistan

Author

Ahmad, M.N., Buker, P., Khalid, S., Berg, L.J.L. van den, Shah, H.U., Wahid, A., Emberson, L., Power, S.A., Ashmore, M., Ahmad, M.N., Buker, P., Khalid, S., Berg, L.J.L. van den, Shah, H.U., Wahid, A., Emberson, L., Power, S.A., and Ashmore, M.

Abstract

Item does not contain fulltext

Published
2013

50. Open Air Laboratories (OPAL): A community-driven research programme

Author

Davies, L., primary, Bell, J.N.B., additional, Bone, J., additional, Head, M., additional, Hill, L., additional, Howard, C., additional, Hobbs, S.J., additional, Jones, D.T., additional, Power, S.A., additional, Rose, N., additional, Ryder, C., additional, Seed, L., additional, Stevens, G., additional, Toumi, R., additional, Voulvoulis, N., additional, and White, P.C.L., additional

Published
2011
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