@article {6238, title = {Compositional variation in grassland plant communities}, journal = {Ecosphere}, volume = {14}, year = {2023}, pages = {e4542}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {10.1002/ecs2.v14.610.1002/ecs2.4542}, url = {https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.4542}, author = {Bakker, Jonathan D. and Price, Jodi N. and Henning, Jeremiah A. and Batzer, Evan E. and Ohlert, Timothy J. and Wainwright, Claire E. and Adler, Peter B. and Alberti, Juan and Arnillas, Carlos Alberto and Biederman, Lori A. and Borer, Elizabeth T. and Brudvig, Lars A. and Buckley, Yvonne M. and Bugalho, Miguel N. and Cadotte, Marc W. and Caldeira, Maria C. and Catford, Jane A. and Chen, Qingqing and Crawley, Michael J. and Daleo, Pedro and Dickman, Chris R. and Donohue, Ian and DuPre, Mary Ellyn and Ebeling, Anne and Eisenhauer, Nico and Fay, Philip A. and Gruner, Daniel S. and Haider, Sylvia and Hautier, Yann and Jentsch, Anke and Kirkman, Kevin and Knops, Johannes M. H. and Lannes, Lu{\'\i}ola S. and MacDougall, Andrew S. and McCulley, Rebecca L. and Mitchell, Rachel M. and Moore, Joslin L. and Morgan, John W. and Mortensen, Brent and Olde Venterink, Harry and Peri, Pablo L. and Power, Sally A. and Prober, Suzanne M. and Roscher, Christiane and Sankaran, Mahesh and Seabloom, Eric W. and M. D. Smith and Stevens, Carly and Sullivan, Lauren L. and Tedder, Michelle and Veen, G. F. (Ciska) and Virtanen, Risto and Wardle, Glenda M.} } @article {6133, title = {Linking changes in species composition and biomass in a globally distributed grassland experiment}, journal = {Ecology Letters}, volume = {25}, year = {2022}, pages = {2699-2712}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {10.1111/ele.14126}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.14126}, author = {Ladouceur, Emma and Blowes, Shane A. and Chase, Jonathan M. and Clark, Adam T. and Garbowski, Magda and Alberti, Juan and Arnillas, Carlos Alberto and Bakker, Jonathan D. and Barrio, Isabel C. and Bharath, Siddharth and Borer, Elizabeth T. and Brudvig, Lars A. and Cadotte, Marc W. and Chen, Qingqing and Collins, Scott L. and Dickman, Christopher R. and Donohue, Ian and Du, Guozhen and Ebeling, Anne and Eisenhauer, Nico and Fay, Philip A. and Hagenah, Nicole and Hautier, Yann and Jentsch, Anke and J{\'o}nsd{\'o}ttir, Ingibj{\"o}rg S. and Kimberly J. Komatsu and MacDougall, Andrew and Martina, Jason P. and Moore, Joslin L. and Morgan, John W. and Peri, Pablo L. and Power, ~A. and Ren, Zhengwei and Risch, Anita C. and Roscher, Christiane and Schuchardt, ~A. and Seabloom, Eric W. and Stevens, Carly J. and Veen, G.F. (Ciska) and Virtanen, Risto and Wardle, Glenda M. and Wilfahrt, Peter A. and Harpole, W. Stanley} } @article {6110, title = {Nutrient identity modifies the destabilising effects of eutrophication in grasslands}, journal = {Ecology Letters}, volume = {259}, year = {2022}, pages = {754 - 765}, abstract = {

Nutrient enrichment can simultaneously increase and destabilise plant biomass production, with co-limitation by multiple nutrients potentially intensifying these effects. Here, we test how factorial additions of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium with essential nutrients (K+) affect the stability (mean/standard deviation) of aboveground biomass in 34 grasslands over 7 years. Destabilisation with fertilisation was prevalent but was driven by single nutrients, not synergistic nutrient interactions. On average, N-based treatments increased mean biomass production by 21\–51\% but increased its standard deviation by 40\–68\% and so consistently reduced stability. Adding P increased interannual variability and reduced stability without altering mean biomass, while K+ had no general effects. Declines in stability were largest in the most nutrient-limited grasslands, or where nutrients reduced species richness or intensified species synchrony. We show that nutrients can differentially impact the stability of biomass production, with N and P in particular disproportionately increasing its interannual variability.

}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, issn = {1461-023X}, doi = {10.1111/ele.v25.410.1111/ele.13946}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ele.13946}, author = {Carroll, Oliver and Batzer, Evan and Bharath, Siddharth and Borer, Elizabeth T. and Campana, {\'\i}a and Esch, Ellen and Hautier, Yann and Ohlert, Timothy and Seabloom, Eric W. and Adler, Peter B. and Bakker, Jonathan D. and Biederman, Lori and Bugalho, Miguel N. and Caldeira, Maria and Chen, Qingqing and Davies, Kendi F. and Fay, Philip A. and Knops, Johannes M. H. and Kimberly J. Komatsu and Martina, Jason P. and McCann, Kevin S. and Moore, Joslin L. and Morgan, John W. and Muraina, Taofeek O. and Osborne, Brooke and Risch, Anita C. and Stevens, Carly and Wilfahrt, Peter A. and Yahdjian, Laura and MacDougall, Andrew S.}, editor = {Pe{\~n}uelas, Josep} } @article {6111, title = {Species loss due to nutrient addition increases with spatial scale in global grasslands}, journal = {Ecology Letters}, volume = {24}, year = {2021}, pages = {2100 - 2112}, abstract = {

The effects of altered nutrient supplies and herbivore density on species diversity vary with spatial scale, because coexistence mechanisms are scale dependent. This scale dependence may alter the shape of the species\–area relationship (SAR), which can be described by changes in species richness (S) as a power function of the sample area (A): S = cAz, where c and z are constants. We analysed the effects of experimental manipulations of nutrient supply and herbivore density on species richness across a range of scales (0.01\–75 m2) at 30 grasslands in 10 countries. We found that nutrient addition reduced the number of species that could co-occur locally, indicated by the SAR intercepts (log c), but did not affect the SAR slopes (z). As a result, proportional species loss due to nutrient enrichment was largely unchanged across sampling scales, whereas total species loss increased over threefold across our range of sampling scales.

}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {10.1111/ele.v24.1010.1111/ele.13838}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.13838}, author = {Seabloom, Eric W. and Batzer, Evan and Chase, Jonathan M. and Stanley Harpole, W. and Adler, Peter B. and Bagchi, Sumanta and Bakker, Jonathan D. and Barrio, Isabel C. and Biederman, Lori and Boughton, Elizabeth H. and Bugalho, Miguel N. and Caldeira, Maria C. and Catford, Jane A. and Daleo, Pedro and Eisenhauer, Nico and Eskelinen, Anu and Haider, Sylvia and Hallett, Lauren M. and J{\'o}nsd{\'o}ttir, Ingibj{\"o}rg Svala and Kimmel, Kaitlin and Kuhlman, Marirose and MacDougall, Andrew and Molina, Cecilia D. and Moore, Joslin L. and Morgan, John W. and Muthukrishnan, Ranjan and Ohlert, Timothy and Risch, Anita C. and Roscher, Christiane and Sch{\"u}tz, Martin. and Sonnier, Gr{\'e}gory. and Tognetti, Pedro M. and Virtanen, Risto and Wilfahrt, Peter A. and Borer, Elizabeth T.}, editor = {Haddad, Nick} } @article {6115, title = {Temporal rarity is a better predictor of local extinction risk than spatial rarity}, journal = {Ecology}, volume = {102}, year = {2021}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {10.1002/ecy.3504}, url = {https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ecy.3504}, author = {Wilfahrt, Peter A. and Asmus, Ashley L. and Seabloom, Eric W. and Henning, Jeremiah A. and Adler, Peter and Arnillas, Carlos A. and Bakker, Jonathan D. and Biederman, Lori and Brudvig, Lars A. and Cadotte, Marc and Daleo, Pedro and Eskelinen, Anu and Firn, Jennifer and Harpole, W. Stanley and Hautier, Yann and Kirkman, K.P. and Kimberly J. Komatsu and Laungani, Ramesh and MacDougall, Andrew and McCulley, Rebecca L. and Moore, Joslin L. and Morgan, John W. and Mortensen, Brent and Ochoa Hueso, Raul and Ohlert, Timothy and Power, Sally A. and Price, Jodi and Risch, Anita C. and Schuetz, Martin and Shoemaker, Lauren and Stevens, Carly and Strauss, Alexander T. and Tognetti, Pedro M. and Virtanen, Risto and Borer, Elizabeth T.} } @article {KNZ001965, title = {Global change effects on plant communities are magnified by time and the number of global change factors imposed}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, volume = {116}, year = {2019}, pages = {17867-17873}, abstract = {

Global change drivers (GCDs) are expected to alter community structure and consequently, the services that ecosystems provide. Yet, few experimental investigations have examined effects of GCDs on plant community structure across multiple ecosystem types, and those that do exist present conflicting patterns. In an unprecedented global synthesis of over 100 experiments that manipulated factors linked to GCDs, we show that herbaceous plant community responses depend on experimental manipulation length and number of factors manipulated. We found that plant communities are fairly resistant to experimentally manipulated GCDs in the short term (\<10 y). In contrast, long-term (\≥10 y) experiments show increasing community divergence of treatments from control conditions. Surprisingly, these community responses occurred with similar frequency across the GCD types manipulated in our database. However, community responses were more common when 3 or more GCDs were simultaneously manipulated, suggesting the emergence of additive or synergistic effects of multiple drivers, particularly over long time periods. In half of the cases, GCD manipulations caused a difference in community composition without a corresponding species richness difference, indicating that species reordering or replacement is an important mechanism of community responses to GCDs and should be given greater consideration when examining consequences of GCDs for the biodiversity\–ecosystem function relationship. Human activities are currently driving unparalleled global changes worldwide. Our analyses provide the most comprehensive evidence to date that these human activities may have widespread impacts on plant community composition globally, which will increase in frequency over time and be greater in areas where communities face multiple GCDs simultaneously.

}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.1819027116}, url = {https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/08/14/1819027116}, author = {Kimberly J. Komatsu and M.L. Avolio and Lemoine, Nathan P. and Isbell, Forest and Grman, Emily and Houseman, Gregory R. and Koerner, Sally E. and Johnson, D.S. and K.R. Wilcox and Juha M. Alatalo and Anderson, J.P. and Aerts, R. and S.G. Baer and Baldwin, Andrew H. and Bates, J. and Beierkuhnlein, C. and Belote, R.T. and John M. Blair and Bloor, J.M.G. and Bohlen, P.J. and Edward W. Bork and Elizabeth H. Boughton and W.D. Bowman and Britton, Andrea J. and Cahill, James F. and Chaneton, Enrique J. and Chiariello, N.R. and Cheng, Jimin. and Scott. L. Collins and Cornelissen, J.H.C. and G. Du and Eskelinen, Anu and Firn, Jennifer and Foster, B. and Gough, L. and Gross, K. and Hallett, L.M. and Han, X. and Harmens, H. and Hovenden, M.J. and Jagerbrand, A. and Jentsch, A. and Kern, Christel and Klanderud, Kari and Alan K. Knapp and Kreyling, Juergen and Li, W. and Luo, Yiqi and McCulley, R.L. and McLaren, Jennie R. and Megonigal, Patrick and J.W. Morgan and Onipchenko, Vladimir and Pennings, S.C. and Prev{\'e}y, J.S. and Price, Jodi N. and P.B. Reich and Robinson, Clare H. and Russell, L.F. and Sala, O.E. and Seabloom, E.W. and M.D. Smith and Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A. and Souza, Lara and K.N. Suding and Suttle, B.K. and Svejcar, T. and Tilman, David and Tognetti, P. and Turkington, R. and White, S. and Xu, Zhuwen and Yahdjian, L. and Yu, Q. and Zhang, Pengfei and Zhang, Yunhai} } @article {KNZ001888, title = {Change in dominance determines herbivore effects on plant biodiversity}, journal = {Nature Ecology and Evolution}, volume = {2}, year = {2018}, pages = {1925-1932}, abstract = {

Herbivores alter plant biodiversity (species richness) in many of the world\’s ecosystems, but the magnitude and the direction of herbivore effects on biodiversity vary widely within and among ecosystems. One current theory predicts that herbivores enhance plant biodiversity at high productivity but have the opposite effect at low productivity. Yet, empirical support for the importance of site productivity as a mediator of these herbivore impacts is equivocal. Here, we synthesize data from 252 large-herbivore exclusion studies, spanning a 20-fold range in site productivity, to test an alternative hypothesis\—that herbivore-induced changes in the competitive environment determine the response of plant biodiversity to herbivory irrespective of productivity. Under this hypothesis, when herbivores reduce the abundance (biomass, cover) of dominant species (for example, because the dominant plant is palatable), additional resources become available to support new species, thereby increasing biodiversity. By contrast, if herbivores promote high dominance by increasing the abundance of herbivory-resistant, unpalatable species, then resource availability for other species decreases reducing biodiversity. We show that herbivore-induced change in dominance, independent of site productivity or precipitation (a proxy for productivity), is the best predictor of herbivore effects on biodiversity in grassland and savannah sites. Given that most herbaceous ecosystems are dominated by one or a few species, altering the competitive environment via herbivores or by other means may be an effective strategy for conserving biodiversity in grasslands and savannahs globally.

}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0696-y}, url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0696-y$\#$article-info}, author = {Koerner, S.E. and M.D. Smith and Burkepile, D.E. and N.P. Hanan and M.L. Avolio and Scott. L. Collins and Alan K. Knapp and N.P. Lemoine and E.J. Forrestel and S. Eby and D.I. Thompson and G. Aguado-Santacruz and J.P. Anderson and Anderson, M. and A. Angassa and S. Bagchi and E.S. Bakker and Bastin, Gary and L.E. Baur and K.H. Beard and E.A. Beever and P.J. Bohlen and Elizabeth H. Boughton and Canestro, Don and Cesa, Ariela and Chaneton, Enrique and Cheng, Jimin and C.M. D{\textquoteright}Antonio and C. Deleglise and Fadiala. Demb{\'e}l{\'e} and Josh. Dorrough and David. J. Eldridge and Barbara. Fernandez-Going and Silvia. Fern{\'a}ndez-Lugo and Lauchlan. H. Fraser and Bill. Freedman and Gonzalo. Garc{\'\i}a-Salgado and Jacob. R. Goheen and Liang. Guo and Sean. Husheer and Moussa. Karemb{\'e} and Johannes. M. H. Knops and Tineke. Kraaij and Andrew. Kulmatiski and Minna-Maarit. Kyt{\"o}viita and Felipe. Lezama and Gregory. Loucougaray and Alejandro. Loydi, Dan G. Milchunas, and Dan.G. Milchunas, and Suzanne. J. Milton and J.W. Morgan and Claire. Moxham and Kyle. C. Nehring and Han. Olff and Todd. M. Palmer and Salvador. Rebollo and Corinna. Riginos and Anita. C. Risch and Marta Rueda and Mahesh. Sankaran and Takehiro. Sasaki and Kathryn. A. Schoenecker and Nick. L. Schultz and Martin. Sch{\"u}tz and Angelika. Schwabe and Frances. Siebert and Christian. Smit and Karen. A. Stahlheber and Christian. Storm and Dustin. J. Strong and Jishuai. Su and Yadugiri. V. Tiruvaimozhi and Claudia. Tyler and James. Val and Martijn. L. Vandegehuchte and Kari. E. Veblen and Lance. T. Vermeire and David. Ward and Jianshuang. Wu and Truman. P. Young and Qiang. Yu and Tamara. Jane. Zelikova} } @article {KNZ001894, title = {Local loss and spatial homogenization of plant diversity reduce ecosystem multifunctionality}, journal = {Nature Ecology \& Evolution}, volume = {2}, year = {2018}, pages = {50-56}, abstract = {

Biodiversity is declining in many local communities while also becoming increasingly homogenized across space. Experiments show that local plant species loss reduces ecosystem functioning and services, but the role of spatial homogenization of community composition and the potential interaction between diversity at different scales in maintaining ecosystem functioning remains unclear, especially when many functions are considered (ecosystem multifunctionality). We present an analysis of eight ecosystem functions measured in 65 grasslands worldwide. We find that more diverse grasslands\—those with both species-rich local communities (α-diversity) and large compositional differences among localities (β-diversity)\—had higher levels of multifunctionality. Moreover, α- and β-diversity synergistically affected multifunctionality, with higher levels of diversity at one scale amplifying the contribution to ecological functions at the other scale. The identity of species influencing ecosystem functioning differed among functions and across local communities, explaining why more diverse grasslands maintained greater functionality when more functions and localities were considered. These results were robust to variation in environmental drivers. Our findings reveal that plant diversity, at both local and landscape scales, contributes to the maintenance of multiple ecosystem services provided by grasslands. Preserving ecosystem functioning therefore requires conservation of biodiversity both within and among ecological communities.

}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {10.1038/s41559-017-0395-0}, url = {http://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0395-0}, author = {Hautier, Yann and Isbell, Forest and E.T. Borer and Seabloom, Eric W. and Harpole, W. Stanley and Lind, Eric M. and MacDougall, Andrew S. and Stevens, Carly J. and P. Adler and J. Alberti and Bakker, Jonathan D. and Brudvig, Lars A. and Buckley, Yvonne M. and Cadotte, Marc and Caldeira, Maria C. and Chaneton, Enrique J. and Chu, Chengjin and Daleo, Pedro and Dickman, Christopher R. and Dwyer, John M. and Eskelinen, Anu and Fay, Philip A. and Firn, Jennifer and Hagenah, Nicole and Hillebrand, Helmut and Iribarne, Oscar and Kirkman, Kevin P. and Knops, Johannes M. H. and Kimberly J. La Pierre and McCulley, Rebecca L. and J.W. Morgan and P{\"a}rtel, Meelis and Pascual, Jesus and Price, Jodi N. and Prober, Suzanne M. and Risch, Anita C. and Sankaran, Mahesh and Schuetz, Martin and Standish, Rachel J. and Virtanen, Risto and Wardle, Glenda M. and Yahdjian, Laura and Hector, Andy} } @article {KNZ001882, title = {Spatial heterogeneity in species composition constrains plant community responses to herbivory and fertilisation}, journal = {Ecology Letters}, volume = {21}, year = {2018}, pages = {1364 -1371}, abstract = {

Environmental change can result in substantial shifts in community composition. The associated immigration and extinction events are likely constrained by the spatial distribution of species. Still, studies on environmental change typically quantify biotic responses at single spatial (time series within a single plot) or temporal (spatial beta diversity at single time points) scales, ignoring their potential interdependence. Here, we use data from a global network of grassland experiments to determine how turnover responses to two major forms of environmental change \– fertilisation and herbivore loss \– are affected by species pool size and spatial compositional heterogeneity. Fertilisation led to higher rates of local extinction, whereas turnover in herbivore exclusion plots was driven by species replacement. Overall, sites with more spatially heterogeneous composition showed significantly higher rates of annual turnover, independent of species pool size and treatment. Taking into account spatial biodiversity aspects will therefore improve our understanding of consequences of global and anthropogenic change on community dynamics.

}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {10.1111/ele.13102}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ele.13102}, author = {Hodapp, Dorothee and E.T. Borer and Harpole, W. Stanley and Lind, Eric M. and Seabloom, Eric W. and P. Adler and J. Alberti and Arnillas, Carlos A. and J.D. Bakker and L.A. Biederman and Cadotte, Marc and Cleland, Elsa E. and Scott. L. Collins and Fay, Philip A. and Firn, Jennifer and Hagenah, Nicole and Hautier, Yann and Iribarne, Oscar and Knops, Johannes M. H. and McCulley, Rebecca L. and MacDougall, Andrew and Joslin L. Moore and J.W. Morgan and Mortensen, Brent and Kimberly J. La Pierre and Risch, Anita C. and Sch{\"u}tz, Martin and Peri, Pablo and Stevens, Carly J. and Wright, Justin and Hillebrand, Helmut}, editor = {Gurevitch, Jessica} } @article {KNZ001893, title = {Out of the shadows: multiple nutrient limitations drive relationships among biomass, light and plant diversity}, journal = {Functional Ecology}, volume = {31}, year = {2017}, pages = {1839-1846}, abstract = {
  1. The paradigmatic hypothesis for the effect of fertilisation on plant diversity represents a one-dimensional trade-off for plants competing for below-ground nutrients (generically) and above-ground light: fertilisation reduces competition for nutrients while increasing biomass and thereby shifts competition for depleted available light.
  2. The essential problem of this simple paradigm is that it misses both the multivariate and mechanistic nature of the factors that determine biodiversity as well as their causal relationships.
  3. We agree that light limitation, as DeMalach and Kadmon argue, can indeed be an important factor associated with diversity loss, and we presented it as an integral part of our tests of the niche dimension hypothesis.
  4. We disagree with DeMalach and Kadmon that light is the \‘main\’ factor explaining diversity, because this misrepresents the causal structure represented in the design of our experiment in which multiple nutrient addition was the ultimate causal driver of a suite of correlated responses that included diversity and light, and especially live and dead biomass, which are the factors that control light depletion.
  5. Our findings highlight that multiple nutrient limitations can structure plant diversity and composition independently of changes in light and biomass. For example, approximately one-third of our sites showed no significant increase in biomass with greater number of added nutrients yet still lost diversity when nutrients were added.
  6. The important message is that while light limitation can be an important contributor to diversity loss, it is not a necessary mechanism.
}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {10.1111/1365-2435.12967}, url = {https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1365-2435.12967}, author = {Harpole, W. Stanley and L.L. Sullivan and Lind, Eric M. and Firn, Jennifer and P. Adler and E.T. Borer and Chase, Jonathan and Fay, Philip A. and Hautier, Yann and Hillebrand, Helmut and MacDougall, Andrew S. and Seabloom, Eric W. and Bakker, Jonathan D. and Cadotte, Marc W. and Chaneton, Enrique J. and Chu, Chengjin and Hagenah, Nicole and Kirkman, Kevin and Kimberly J. La Pierre and Joslin L. Moore and J.W. Morgan and Prober, Suzanne M. and Risch, Anita C. and Schuetz, Martin and Stevens, Carly J.}, editor = {Thompson, Ken} } @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 {KNZ001792, title = {Anthropogenic-based regional-scale factors most consistently explain plot-level exotic diversity in grasslands}, journal = {Global Ecology and Biogeography}, volume = {23}, year = {2014}, pages = {802 - 810}, abstract = {

Aim Evidence linking the accumulation of exotic species to the suppression of native diversity is equivocal, often relying on data from studies that have used different methods. Plot-level studies often attribute inverse relationships between native and exotic diversity to competition, but regional abiotic filters, including anthropogenic influences, can produce similar patterns. We seek to test these alternatives using identical scale-dependent sampling protocols in multiple grasslands on two continents. Location Thirty-two grassland sites in North America and Australia. Methods We use multiscale observational data, collected identically in grain and extent at each site, to test the association of local and regional factors with the plot-level richness and abundance of native and exotic plants. Sites captured environmental and anthropogenic gradients including land-use intensity, human population density, light and soil resources, climate and elevation. Site selection occurred independently of exotic diversity, meaning that the numbers of exotic species varied randomly thereby reducing potential biases if only highly invaded sites were chosen. Results Regional factors associated directly or indirectly with human activity had the strongest associations with plot-level diversity. These regional drivers had divergent effects: urban-based economic activity was associated with high exotic\ :\ native diversity ratios; climate- and landscape-based indicators of lower human population density were associated with low exotic\ :\ native ratios. Negative correlations between plot-level native and exotic diversity, a potential signature of competitive interactions, were not prevalent; this result did not change along gradients of productivity or heterogeneity. Main conclusion We show that plot-level diversity of native and exotic plants are more consistently associated with regional-scale factors relating to urbanization and climate suitability than measures indicative of competition. These findings clarify the long-standing difficulty in resolving drivers of exotic diversity using single-factor mechanisms, suggesting that multiple interacting anthropogenic-based processes best explain the accumulation of exotic diversity in modern landscapes.

}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {10.1111/geb.12157}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/geb.12157}, author = {MacDougall, A.S. and Bennett, J.R. and Firn, J. and Seabloom, E.W. and E.T. Borer and Lind, E.M. and Orrock, J.L. and Harpole, W.S. and Hautier, Y. and P. Adler and Cleland, E. and Davies, K. and Melbourne, B. and Prober, S.M. and J.D. Bakker and Fay, P.A. and Jin, V.L. and Kendig, A. and Kimberly J. La Pierre and Joslin L. Moore and J.W. Morgan and Stevens, C.J.} } @article {KNZ001790, title = {Predicting invasion in grassland ecosystems: is exotic dominance the real embarrassment of richness?}, journal = {Global Change Biology}, volume = {19}, year = {2013}, pages = {3677 - 3687}, abstract = {

Invasions have increased the size of regional species pools, but are typically assumed to reduce native diversity. However, global-scale tests of this assumption have been elusive because of the focus on exotic species richness, rather than relative abundance. This is problematic because low invader richness can indicate invasion resistance by the native community or, alternatively, dominance by a single exotic species. Here, we used a globally replicated study to quantify relationships between exotic richness and abundance in grass-dominated ecosystems in 13 countries on six continents, ranging from salt marshes to alpine tundra. We tested effects of human land use, native community diversity, herbivore pressure, and nutrient limitation on exotic plant dominance. Despite its widespread use, exotic richness was a poor proxy for exotic dominance at low exotic richness, because sites that contained few exotic species ranged from relatively pristine (low exotic richness and cover) to almost completely exotic-dominated ones (low exotic richness but high exotic cover). Both exotic cover and richness were predicted by native plant diversity (native grass richness) and land use (distance to cultivation). Although climate was important for predicting both exotic cover and richness, climatic factors predicting cover (precipitation variability) differed from those predicting richness (maximum temperature and mean temperature in the wettest quarter). Herbivory and nutrient limitation did not predict exotic richness or cover. Exotic dominance was greatest in areas with low native grass richness at the site- or regional-scale. Although this could reflect native grass displacement, a lack of biotic resistance is a more likely explanation, given that grasses comprise the most aggressive invaders. These findings underscore the need to move beyond richness as a surrogate for the extent of invasion, because this metric confounds monodominance with invasion resistance. Monitoring species\&$\#$39; relative abundance will more rapidly advance our understanding of invasions.

}, keywords = {LTER-KNZ}, doi = {10.1111/gcb.12370}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.12370}, author = {Seabloom, E.W. and E.T. Borer and Buckley, Y. and Cleland, E.E. and Davies, K. and Firn, J. and Harpole, W.S. and Hautier, Y. and Lind, E. and MacDougall, A. and Orrock, J.L. and Prober, S.M. and P. Adler and J. Alberti and Anderson, M.T. and J.D. Bakker and L.A. Biederman and D.M. Blumenthal and C.S. Brown and Brudvig, L.A. and Caldeira, M. and Chu, C. and Crawley, M.J. and Daleo, P. and Damschen, E.I. and D{\textquoteright}Antonio, C.M. and DeCrappeo, N.M. and Dickman, C.R. and G. Du and Fay, P.A. and Frater, P. and Gruner, D.S. and Hagenah, N. and Hector, A. and Helm, A. and Hillebrand, H. and Hofmockel, K.S. and Humphries, H.C. and Iribarne, O. 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 L. Ladwig and Lambrinos, J.G. and Leakey, A.D.B. and Li, Q. and Li, W. and McCulley, R. and Melbourne, B. and Mitchell, C.E. and Joslin L. Moore and J.W. Morgan and Mortensen, B. and O{\textquoteright}Halloran, L.R. and P{\"a}rtel, M. and Pascual, J and Pyke, D.A. and A. Risch and Salguero-Gomez, R. and Sankaran, M. and Schuetz, M. and Simonsen, A. and M.D. Smith and Stevens, C. and Sullivan, L. and Wardle, G.M. and Wolkovich, E.M. and Wragg, P.D. and Wright, J. and Yang, L.} } @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.} }