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ARS Home » Plains Area » Temple, Texas » Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #300084
Title: Integrative modelling reveals mechanisms linking productivity and plant species richness

Author
item GRACE, JAMES - Us Geological Survey (USGS)
item ANDERSON, T - Wake Forest University
item SEABLOOM, ERIC - University Of Minnesota
item BORER, ELIZABETH - University Of Minnesota
item ADLER, PETER - Utah State University
item HARPOLE, W. - Iowa State University
item HAUTIER, YANN - University Of Zurich
item HILLEBRAND, HELMUT - Carl von Ossietzky University Of Oldenburg
item LIND, ERIC - University Of Minnesota
item PARTEL, MEELIS - University Of Tartu
item BAKKER, JONATHAN - University Of Washington
item BUCKLEY, YVONNE - Trinity College
item CRAWLEY, MICHAEL - Imperial College
item DAMSCHEN, ELLEN - University Of Wisconsin
item DAVIES, KENDI - University Of Colorado
item Fay, Philip
item FIRN, JENNIFER - Queensland University Of Technology
item GRUNER, DANIEL - University Of Maryland
item HECTOR, ANDY - University Of Oxford
item KNOPS, JOHANNES - University Of Nebraska
item MELBOURNE, BRETT - University Of Colorado
item MORGAN, JOHN - La Trobe University
item ORROCK, JOHN - University Of Wisconsin
item PROBER, SUZANNE - Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
item SMITH, MELINDA - Colorado State University

Submitted to: Nature
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/18/2015
Publication Date: 1/21/2016
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/62419
Citation: Grace, J.B., Anderson, T.M., Seabloom, E.W., Borer, E.T., Adler, P.B., Harpole, W.S., Hautier, Y., Hillebrand, H., Lind, E.M., Partel, M., Bakker, J.D., Buckley, Y.M., Crawley, M.J., Damschen, E.I., Davies, K.F., Fay, P.A., Firn, J., Gruner, D.S., Hector, A., Knops, J.M., Melbourne, B.A., Morgan, J.W., Orrock, J.L., Prober, S.M., Smith, M.D. 2016. Integrative modelling reveals mechanisms linking productivity and plant species richness. Nature. doi: 10.1038/nature16524.

Interpretive Summary: This manuscript develops a multivariate model of plant species richness and productivity of 39 herbaceous dominated plant communities from across five continents. The data were used to address an intensely debated topic in ecology, whether there is a generalizable quantitative relationship between species richness and productivity. Theory has held that productivity should be maximum at intermediate species richness, but despite many empirical studies, no consistent support has emerged, in part because of variation in methods. Analysis of this large richness/productivity dataset, collected with identical methods at all 39 sites, reveal the simultaneous operation of numerous mechanisms at various sites, most consistent with previous theoretical predictions. This result contributes to the resolution of the long-standing and contentious debate in ecology about the relationship between plant species richness and ecosystem productivity, by showing that there is no one overarching theoretical construct that can account of productivity/diversity relationships. Instead, the shape of the productivity diversity relationship is both context and scale specific. This will help focus future research on understanding the critical questions of when and where various mechanisms are operating. This fact will be important in designing more sustainable grazing and bioenergy systems.

Technical Abstract: For 40 years ecologists have sought a canonical productivity-species richness relationship 48 (PRR) for ecosystems, despite continuing disagreements about expected form and 49 interpretation. Using a large global dataset of terrestrial grasslands, we consider how 50 productivity and richness relate to a suite of ecosystem drivers and responses. When only 51 the bivariate PRR relationship is examined, the result is an amorphous cloud with vague 52 features. However, when predictions from competing theories are integrated into a multi-53 process hypothesis, we detect numerous processes operating simultaneously: biomass 54 suppressing richness, richness promoting productivity, and resource supply gradients 55 promoting richness. Our multi-process approach provides a more complete understanding 56 of the controls and consequences of biological diversity and provides analytical support for 57 the integration of competing theories within a general framework.