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ARS Home » Plains Area » Temple, Texas » Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #263859
Title: Productivity is a poor predictor of plant species richness

Author
item ADLER, PETER - Utah State University
item SEABLOOM, ERIC - University Of Minnesota
item BORER, ELIZABETH - University Of Minnesota
item HILLEBRAND, HELMUT - Carl von Ossietzky University Of Oldenburg
item HAUTIER, YANN - University Of Zurich
item HECTOR, ANDY - University Of Zurich
item O'HALLORAN, LYDIA - University Of Minnesota
item HARPOLE, W - Iowa State University
item ANDERSON, J - Wake Forest University
item BAKKER, JONATHAN - University Of Washington
item BIEDERMAN, LORI - Iowa State University
item BROWN, CYNTHIA - Colorado State University
item BUCKLEY, YVONNE - University Of Queensland
item CALABRESE, LAURA - University Of New Mexico
item CHU, CHENG-JIN - Lanzhou University
item CLELAND, ELSA - University Of California
item COLLINS, SCOTT - University Of New Mexico
item COTTINGHAM, KATHRYN - Dartmouth College
item CRAWLEY, MICHAEL - Imperial College
item DAVIES, KENDI - University Of Colorado
item DECRAPPEO, NICOLE - Us Geological Survey (USGS)
item Fay, Philip
item FIRN, JENNIFER - Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
item FRATER, PAUL - Iowa State University
item GASARCH, EVE - University Of Colorado
item GRUNER, DANIEL - University Of Maryland
item NAGENAH, NICOLE - Yale University
item HILLERISLAMBERS, JANNEKE - University Of Washington
item HUMPHRIES, HOPE - University Of Colorado
item Jin, Virginia
item KAY, ADAM - University Of St Thomas
item KLEIN, JULIA - Colorado State University
item KNOPS, JOHANNES - University Of Nebraska
item KIRKMAN, KEVIN - University Of Kwazulu-Natal
item LA PIERRE, KIMBERLY - Yale University
item LAMBRINOS, JOHN - Oregon State University
item LEAKEY, ANDREW - University Of Illinois
item LI, WEI - Iowa State University
item MACDOUGALL, ANDREW - University Of Guelph
item MCCULLEY, REBECCA - University Of Kentucky
item MELBOURNE, BRETT - University Of Colorado
item MITCHELL, CHARLES - University Of North Carolina
item MOORE, JOSLIN - University Of Melbourne
item MORGAN, JOHN - La Trobe University
item MORTENSON, BRENT - Iowa State University
item ORROCK, JOHN - University Of Wisconsin
item PROBER, SUZANNE - Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
item PYKE, DAVID - Us Geological Survey (USGS)
item RISCH, ANITA - Swiss Federal Research Station
item SCHUETZ, MARTIN - Swiss Federal Research Station
item STEVENS, CARLY - The Open University
item SULLIVAN, LAUREN - Iowa State University
item WANG, GANG - Lanzhou University
item WRAGG, PETER - University Of Minnesota
item WRIGHT, JUSTIN - Duke University

Submitted to: Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/3/2011
Publication Date: 9/23/2011
Citation: Adler, P.B., Seabloom, E., Borer, E., Hillebrand, H., Hautier, Y., Hector, A., O'Halloran, L.R., Harpole, W.S., Anderson, J.M., Bakker, J.D., Biederman, L.A., Brown, C.S., Buckley, Y., Calabrese, L., Chu, C., Cleland, E., Collins, S.L., Cottingham, K.L., Crawley, M.J., Davies, K.F., Decrappeo, N.M., Fay, P.A., Firn, J., Frater, P., Gasarch, E.I., Gruner, D., Nagenah, N., Hillerislambers, J., Humphries, H., Jin, V.L., Kay, A., Klein, J.A., Knops, J., Kirkman, K., La Pierre, K.J., Lambrinos, J., Leakey, A.D., Li, W., Macdougall, A., Mcculley, R.L., Melbourne, B.A., Mitchell, C.E., Moore, J., Morgan, J., Mortenson, B., Orrock, J., Prober, S., Pyke, D.A., Risch, A., Schuetz, M., Stevens, C., Sullivan, L.L., Wang, G., Wragg, P., Wright, J. 2011. Productivity is a poor predictor of plant species richness. Science. 333(6050):1750-1753.

Interpretive Summary: Human impacts on the global environment have triggered the sixth major extinction event in Earth's history. Changes in biodiversity alter ecosystem processes and responses to environmental changes, with profound consequences for the goods and services that humans derive from ecosystems. Examining the biodiversity-function relationship may help identify the major factors driving those relationships. We conducted a study to measure plant biodiversity (i.e., species richness) and plant production (i.e., net primary productivity) in 47 grassland communities on five continents. We did not find a simple, general relationship between species richness and productivity because many factors together affect both. Our results show that a better understanding of biodiversity and ecosystem function cannot be based on simplified relationships. Rather, more sophisticated approaches are needed to identify the driving factors and to predict how those may be affected by global environmental changes.

Technical Abstract: For 30 years, the relationship between net primary productivity and species richness has generated intense debate in ecology about the processes regulating fine-scale species richness. The true relationship was thought to be hump-shaped, with richness peaking at intermediate levels of productivity, until recent meta-analyses questioned the generality of this pattern. However, the meta-analyses have been criticized for failing to account for methodological differences among studies. We addressed these concerns by conducting standardized sampling in 47 herbaceous-dominated plant communities on five continents. Despite our use of consistent methodology, we found no clear relationship between productivity and richness at site, regional, or global scales. Our results show that improved data sets are unlikely to reveal a simple, general relationship between productivity and species richness. Instead, ecologists should focus on more sophisticated, mechanistic approaches to understand the multivariate links between productivity and richness.