@article {6200, title = {Clarifying the effect of biodiversity on productivity in natural ecosystems with longitudinal data and new methods for causal inference}, journal = {Nature Communications}, volume = {14}, year = {2023}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-023-37194-5}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37194-5}, author = {Dee, L.E. and Ferraro, P.J. and Severen, C. and Kimmel, K. and Borer, E.T. and Byrnes, J.E.K. and Clark, A. and Hautier, Y. and Hector, A. and Raynaud, X. and Reich, P.B. and Wright, A. and Arnillas, C.A. and Davies, K.F. and MacDougall, A.S. and Mori, A. and Smith, M.D. and Adler, P.B. and Bakker, J.D. and Braumann, K. and Cowles, J.M. and Komatsu, K.J. and Knops, J. and McCulley, R. and Moore, J.L. and Morgan, J.W. and Ohlert, T. and Power, S.A. and Sullivan, L. and Stevens, C. and Loreau, M.} } @article {KNZ001755, title = {Addition of multiple limiting resources reduces grassland diversity}, journal = {Nature}, volume = {537}, year = {2016}, pages = {93-96}, abstract = {

Niche dimensionality provides a general theoretical explanation for biodiversity\—more niches, defined by more limiting factors, allow for more ways that species can coexist1. Because plant species compete for the same set of limiting resources, theory predicts that addition of a limiting resource eliminates potential trade-offs, reducing the number of species that can coexist2. Multiple nutrient limitation of plant production is common and therefore fertilization may reduce diversity by reducing the number or dimensionality of belowground limiting factors. At the same time, nutrient addition, by increasing biomass, should ultimately shift competition from belowground nutrients towards a one-dimensional competitive trade-off for light3. Here we show that plant species diversity decreased when a greater number of limiting nutrients were added across 45 grassland sites from a multi-continent experimental network4. The number of added nutrients predicted diversity loss, even after controlling for effects of plant biomass, and even where biomass production was not nutrient-limited. We found that elevated resource supply reduced niche dimensionality and diversity and increased both productivity5 and compositional turnover. Our results point to the importance of understanding dimensionality in ecological systems that are undergoing diversity loss in response to multiple global change factors.

}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {10.1038/nature19324}, url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/nature19324}, author = {Harpole, W. S. and L.L. Sullivan and Lind, E.M. and Firn, J. and P. Adler and E.T. Borer and Chase, J. and Fay, P.A. and Hautier, Y. and Hillebrand, H. and MacDougall, A.S. and Seabloom, E.W. and Williams, R. and J.D. Bakker and Cadotte, M.W. and Chaneton, E.J. and Chu, C. and Cleland, E.E. and Antonio, C. and Davies, K.F. and Gruner, D.S. and Hagenah, N. and Kirkman, K. and Knops, J.M.H. and Kimberly J. La Pierre and McCulley, R.L. and Joslin L. Moore and J.W. Morgan and Prober, S.M. and A. Risch and Schuetz, M. and Stevens, C.J. and Wragg, P.D.} } @article {KNZ001787, title = {Integrative modelling reveals mechanisms linking productivity and plant species richness}, journal = {Nature}, volume = {529}, year = {2016}, pages = {390 - 393}, abstract = {

How ecosystem productivity and species richness are interrelated is one of the most debated subjects in the history of ecology1. Decades of intensive study have yet to discern the actual mechanisms behind observed global patterns2, 3. Here, by integrating the predictions from multiple theories into a single model and using data from 1,126 grassland plots spanning five continents, we detect the clear signals of numerous underlying mechanisms linking productivity and richness. We find that an integrative model has substantially higher explanatory power than traditional bivariate analyses. In addition, the specific results unveil several surprising findings that conflict with classical models4, 5, 6, 7. These include the isolation of a strong and consistent enhancement of productivity by richness, an effect in striking contrast with superficial data patterns. Also revealed is a consistent importance of competition across the full range of productivity values, in direct conflict with some (but not all) proposed models. The promotion of local richness by macroecological gradients in climatic favourability, generally seen as a competing hypothesis8, is also found to be important in our analysis. The results demonstrate that an integrative modelling approach leads to a major advance in our ability to discern the underlying processes operating in ecological systems.

}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {10.1038/nature16524}, url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/nature16524}, author = {Grace, J.B. and Anderson, T.M. and Seabloom, E.W. and E.T. Borer and P. Adler and Harpole, W.S. and Hautier, Y. and Hillebrand, H. and Lind, E.M. and P{\"a}rtel, M. and J.D. Bakker and Buckley, Y.M. and Crawley, M.J. and Damschen, E.I. and Davies, K.F. and Fay, P.A. and Firn, J. and Gruner, D.S. and Hector, A. and Knops, J.M.H. and MacDougall, A.S. and Melbourne, B.A. and J.W. Morgan and Orrock, J.L. and Prober, S.M. and M.D. Smith} } @article {KNZ001698, title = {Anthropogenic nitrogen deposition predicts local grassland primary production worldwide}, journal = {Ecology}, volume = {96}, year = {2015}, pages = {1459 -1465}, abstract = {

Humans dominate many important Earth system processes including the nitrogen (N) cycle. Atmospheric N deposition affects fundamental processes such as carbon cycling, climate regulation, and biodiversity, and could result in changes to fundamental Earth system processes such as primary production. Both modelling and experimentation have suggested a role for anthropogenically altered N deposition in increasing productivity, nevertheless, current understanding of the relative strength of N deposition with respect to other controls on production such as edaphic conditions and climate is limited. Here we use an international multiscale data set to show that atmospheric N deposition is positively correlated to aboveground net primary production (ANPP) observed at the 1-m2 level across a wide range of herbaceous ecosystems. N deposition was a better predictor than climatic drivers and local soil conditions, explaining 16\% of observed variation in ANPP globally with an increase of 1 kg N\·ha\−1\·yr\−1 increasing ANPP by 3\%. Soil pH explained 8\% of observed variation in ANPP while climatic drivers showed no significant relationship. Our results illustrate that the incorporation of global N deposition patterns in Earth system models are likely to substantially improve estimates of primary production in herbaceous systems. In herbaceous systems across the world, humans appear to be partially driving local ANPP through impacts on the N cycle.

}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/14-1902.1}, url = {https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1890/14-1902.1}, author = {Stevens, C.J. and Lind, E.M. and Hautier, Y. and Harpole, W.S. and E.T. Borer and Hobbie, S. and Seabloom, E.Q. and L. Ladwig and J.D. Bakker and Chu, C. and Scott. L. Collins and Davies, K.F. and Firn, J. and Hillebrand, H. and Kimberly J. La Pierre and MacDougall, A.S. and Melbourne, B.A. and McCulley, R.L. and J.W. Morgan and Orrock, J.L. and Prober, S.M. and A. Risch and Schultz, M. and Wragg, P.D.} } @article {KNZ001788, title = {Grassland productivity limited by multiple nutrients}, journal = {Nature Plants}, volume = {1}, year = {2015}, pages = {15080}, abstract = {

Terrestrial ecosystem productivity is widely accepted to be nutrient limited1. Although nitrogen (N) is deemed a key determinant of aboveground net primary production (ANPP)2,3, the prevalence of co-limitation by N and phosphorus (P) is increasingly recognized4,​5,​6,​7,​8. However, the extent to which terrestrial productivity is co-limited by nutrients other than N and P has remained unclear. Here, we report results from a standardized factorial nutrient addition experiment, in which we added N, P and potassium (K) combined with a selection of micronutrients (K+μ), alone or in concert, to 42 grassland sites spanning five continents, and monitored ANPP. Nutrient availability limited productivity at 31 of the 42 grassland sites. And pairwise combinations of N, P, and K+μ co-limited ANPP at 29 of the sites. Nitrogen limitation peaked in cool, high latitude sites. Our findings highlight the importance of less studied nutrients, such as K and micronutrients, for grassland productivity, and point to significant variations in the type and degree of nutrient limitation. We suggest that multiple-nutrient constraints must be considered when assessing the ecosystem-scale consequences of nutrient enrichment.

}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {10.1038/nplants.2015.80}, url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/nplants201580}, author = {Fay, P.A. and Prober, S.M. and Harpole, W.S. and Knops, J.M.H. and J.D. Bakker and E.T. Borer and Lind, E.M. and MacDougall, A.S. and Seabloom, E.W. and Wragg, P.D. and P. Adler and D.M. Blumenthal and Buckley, Y.M. and Chu, C. and Cleland, E.E. and Scott. L. Collins and Davies, K.F. and G. Du and Feng, X. and Firn, J. and Gruner, D.S. and Hagenah, N. and Hautier, Y. and Heckman, R.W. and Jin, V.L. and Kirkman, K.P. and Klein, J. and L. Ladwig and Li, Q. and McCulley, R.L. and Melbourne, B.A. and Mitchell, C.E. and Joslin L. Moore and J.W. Morgan and A. Risch and sch{\"u}tz, M. and Stevens, C.J. and Wedin, D.A. and Yang, L.H.} } @article {KNZ001697, title = {Plant species{\textquoteright} origin predicts dominance and response to nutrient enrichment and herbivores in global grasslands}, journal = {Nature Communications}, volume = {6}, year = {2015}, pages = {7710 -}, abstract = {

Exotic species dominate many communities; however the functional significance of species\’ biogeographic origin remains highly contentious. This debate is fuelled in part by the lack of globally replicated, systematic data assessing the relationship between species provenance, function and response to perturbations. We examined the abundance of native and exotic plant species at 64 grasslands in 13 countries, and at a subset of the sites we experimentally tested native and exotic species responses to two fundamental drivers of invasion, mineral nutrient supplies and vertebrate herbivory. Exotic species are six times more likely to dominate communities than native species. Furthermore, while experimental nutrient addition increases the cover and richness of exotic species, nutrients decrease native diversity and cover. Native and exotic species also differ in their response to vertebrate consumer exclusion. These results suggest that species origin has functional significance, and that eutrophication will lead to increased exotic dominance in grasslands.

}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ, Biological sciences, ecology, Plant sciences}, doi = {10.1038/ncomms8710}, url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms8710}, author = {Seabloom, E.W. and E.T. Borer and Buckley, Y. and Cleland, E.E. and Davies, K.F. and Firn, J. and Harpole, W.S. and Hautier, Y. and Lind, E. and MacDougall, A.S. and Orrock, J.L. and Prober, S.M. and P. Adler and Anderson, T.M. and J.D. Bakker and L.A. Biederman and D.M. Blumenthal and C.S. Brown and Brudvig, L.A. and Cadotte, M. and Chu, C. and Cottingham, K.L. and Crawley, M.J. and Damschen, E.I. and D{\textquoteright}Antonio, C.M. and CeCrappeo, N.M. and G. Du and Fay, P.A. and Frater, P. and Gruner, D.S. and Hagenah, N. and Hector, A. and Hillebrand, H. and Hofmockel, K.S. and Humphries, H.C. and Jin, V.L. and Kay, A.D. and Kirkman, K.P. and Klein, J.A. and Knops, J.M.H. and Kimberly J. La Pierre and L. Ladwig and Lambrinos, J.G. and Li, Q. and Li, W. and Marushia, R.} } @article {KNZ001632, title = {Eutrophication weakens stabilizing effects of diversity in natural grasslands}, journal = {Nature}, volume = {508}, year = {2014}, pages = {521 -525}, abstract = {

Studies of experimental grassland communities1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 have demonstrated that plant diversity can stabilize productivity through species asynchrony, in which decreases in the biomass of some species are compensated for by increases in others1, 2. However, it remains unknown whether these findings are relevant to natural ecosystems, especially those for which species diversity is threatened by anthropogenic global change8, 9, 10, 11. Here we analyse diversity\–stability relationships from 41 grasslands on five continents and examine how these relationships are affected by chronic fertilization, one of the strongest drivers of species loss globally8. Unmanipulated communities with more species had greater species asynchrony, resulting in more stable biomass production, generalizing a result from biodiversity experiments to real-world grasslands. However, fertilization weakened the positive effect of diversity on stability. Contrary to expectations, this was not due to species loss after eutrophication but rather to an increase in the temporal variation of productivity in combination with a decrease in species asynchrony in diverse communities. Our results demonstrate separate and synergistic effects of diversity and eutrophication on stability, emphasizing the need to understand how drivers of global change interactively affect the reliable provisioning of ecosystem services in real-world systems.

}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ, Biodiversity, Community ecology, Grassland ecology}, doi = {10.1038/nature13014}, url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13014}, author = {Hautier, Y. and Seabloom, E.W. and E.T. Borer and P. Adler and Harpole, W.S. and Hillebrand, H. and Lind, E.M. and MacDougall, A.S. and Stevens, C.J. and J.D. Bakker and Buckley, Y.M. and Chu, C. and Scott. L. Collins and Daleo, P. and Damschen, E.I. and Davies, K.F. and Fay, P.A. and Firn, J. and Gruner, D.S. and Jin, V.L. and Klein, J.A. and Knops, J.M.H. and Kimberly J. La Pierre and Li, W. and McCulley, R.L. and Melbourne, B.A. and Joslin L. Moore and O{\textquoteright}Halloran, L.R. and Prober, S.M. and A. Risch and Sankaran, M. and Schuetz, M. and Hector, A.} } @article {KNZ001793, title = {Herbivores and nutrients control grassland plant diversity via light limitation}, journal = {Nature}, volume = {508}, year = {2014}, pages = {517 - 520}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {10.1038/nature13144}, url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13144}, author = {E.T. Borer and Seabloom, E.W. and Gruner, D.S. and Harpole, W.S and Hillebrand, H. and Lind, E.M. and P. Adler and J. Alberti and Anderson, T.M. and J.D. Bakker and L.A. Biederman and D.M. Blumenthal and C.S. Brown and Brudvig, L.A. and Buckley, Y.M. and Cadotte, M. and Chu, C. and Cleland, E.E. and Crawley, M.J. and Daleo, P. and Damschen, E.I. and Davies, K.F. and DeCrappeo, N.M. and G. Du and Firn, J. and Hautier, Y. and Heckman, R.W. and Hector, A. and HilleRisLambers, J. and Iribarne, Oscar and Klein, J.A. and Knops, J.M.H. and Kimberly J. La Pierre and Leakey, A.D.B. and Li, W. and MacDougall, A.S. and McCulley, R.L. and Melbourne, B.A. and Mitchell, C.E. and Joslin L. Moore and Mortensen, B. and O{\textquoteright}Halloran, L.R. and Orrock, J.L. and Pascual, J. and Prober, S.M. and Pyke, D.A. and A. Risch and Schuetz, M. and M.D. Smith and Stevens, C.J. and L.L. Sullivan and Williams, R.J. and Wragg, P.D. and Wright, J.P. and Yang, L.H.} } @article {KNZ001455, title = {Abundance of introduced species at home predicts abundance away in herbaceous communities}, journal = {Ecology Letters}, volume = {14}, year = {2011}, pages = {274 -281}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01584.x}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01584.x}, author = {Firn, J. and Joslin L. Moore and MacDougall, A.S. and E.T. Borer and Seabloom, E.W. and HilleRisLambers, J. and Harpole, W.S. and Cleland, E.E. and C.S. Brown and Knops, J.M.H. and Prober, S.M. and Pyke, D.A. and Farrell, K.A. and J.D. Bakker and O{\textquoteright}Halloran, L.R. and P. Adler and Scott. L. Collins and D{\textquoteright}Antonio, C.M. and Crawley, M.J. and Wolkovich, E.M. and Kimberly J. La Pierre and Melbourne, B.A. and Hautier, Y. and J.W. Morgan and Leakey, A.D.B. and Kay, A.D. and McCulley, R. and Davies, K.F. and Stevens, C.J. and Chu, C. and Holl, K.D. and Klein, J.A. and Fay, P.A. and Hagenah, N. and Kirkman, K.P. and Buckley, Y.M.} } @article {KNZ001448, title = {Productivity is a poor predictor of plant species richness}, journal = {Science}, volume = {333}, year = {2011}, pages = {1750 -1753}, abstract = {

For more than 30 years, the relationship between net primary productivity and species richness has generated intense debate in ecology about the processes regulating local diversity. The original view, which is still widely accepted, holds that the relationship is hump-shaped, with richness first rising and then declining with increasing productivity. Although recent meta-analyses questioned the generality of hump-shaped patterns, these syntheses have been criticized for failing to account for methodological differences among studies. We addressed such concerns by conducting standardized sampling in 48 herbaceous-dominated plant communities on five continents. We found no clear relationship between productivity and fine-scale (meters\−2) richness within sites, within regions, or across the globe. Ecologists should focus on fresh, mechanistic approaches to understanding the multivariate links between productivity and richness.

}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {10.1126/science.1204498}, url = {http://science.sciencemag.org/content/333/6050/1750}, author = {P. Adler and Seabloom, E.W. and E.T. Borer and Hillebrand, H. and Hautier, Y. and Hector, A. and Harpole, W.S. and O{\textquoteright}Halloran, L.R. and Grace, J.B. and Anderson, T.M. and J.D. Bakker and L.A. Biederman and C.S. Brown and Buckley, Y.M. and Calabrese, L.B. and Chu, C.J. and Cleland, E.E. and Scott. L. Collins and Cottingham, K.L. and Crawley, M.J. and Damschen, E.I. and Davies, K.F. and DeCrappeo, N.M. and Fay, P.A. and Firn, J. and Frater, P. and Gasarch, E.I. and Gruner, D.S. and Hagenah, N. and HilleRisLambers, J. and Humphries, H.C. and Jin, V.L. and Kay, A. and Kirkman, K.P. and Klein, J.A. and Knops, J.M.H. and Kimberly J. La Pierre and Lambrinos, J.G. and Li, W. and MacDougall, A.S. and McCulley, R.L. and Melbourne, B.A. and Mitchell, C.E. and Joslin L. Moore} }