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ARS Home » Plains Area » Temple, Texas » Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #375126
Research Project: Contributions of Climate, Soils, Species Diversity, and Management to Sustainable Crop, Grassland, and Livestock Production Systems

Location: Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory

Title: General destabilizing effects of eutrophication on grassland productivity at multiple spatial scales

Author
item HAUTIER, YANN - Utrecht University
item ZHANG, PENGFEI - Shandong University
item LOREAU, MICHEL - National Council For Scientific Research-Cnrs
item WILCOX, KEVIN - University Of Wyoming
item SEABLOOM, ERIC - University Of Minnesota
item BORER, ELIZABETH - University Of Minnesota
item AVOLIO, MEGHAN - Johns Hopkins University
item BYRNES, JARRETT - University Of Massachusetts
item KOERNER, SALLEY - University Of North Carolina
item KOMATSU, KIMBERLY - Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
item LEFCHECK, JONATHAN - Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
item HECTOR, ANDY - University Of Oxford
item ADLER, PETER - Utah State University
item ALBERTI, JUAN - Consejo Nacional De Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas(CONICET)
item AMILLAS, CARLOS - University Of Toronto
item BAKKER, JONATHAN - University Of Washington
item BRUDVIG, LARS - Michigan State University
item BUGALHO, MIGUEL - University Of Lisbon
item CADOTTE, MARC - University Of Toronto
item CALDEIRA, MARIA - University Of Lisbon
item CARROLL, OLIVER - University Of Guelph
item CRAWLEY, MICK - Imperial College
item COLLINS, SCOTT - University Of New Mexico
item DALEO, PEDRO - Consejo Nacional De Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas(CONICET)
item DEE, LAURA - University Of Colorado
item EISENHAUER, NICO - Leipzig University
item ESKELINEN, ANU - German Centre For Integrative Biodiversity Research (IDIV)
item Fay, Philip
item GILBERT, BENJAMIN - University Of Toronto
item HANSART, AMANDINE - National Council For Scientific Research-Cnrs
item ISBELL, FOREST - University Of Minnesota
item KNOPS, JOHANNES - Jiaotong University
item MACDOUGALL, ANDREW - University Of Guelph
item MCCULLEY, REBECCA - University Of Kentucky
item MOORE, JOSLIN - Monash University
item MORGAN, JOHN - La Trobe University
item MORI, AKIRA - Yokohama National University
item PERI, PABLO - Universidad Nacional De La Patagonia Austral
item POS, EDWIN - Utrecht University
item POWER, SALLY - Western Sydney University
item PRICE, JODI - Charles Sturt University
item REICH, PETER - University Of Minnesota
item RISCH, ANITA - Swiss Federal Research Institute Wsl
item ROSCHER, CHRISTIANE - Helmholtz Centre For Environmental Research
item SANKARAN, MAHESH - University Of Leeds
item SCHUTZ, MARTIN - Swiss Federal Research Institute Wsl
item SMITH, MELINDA - Colorado State University
item STEVENS, CARLY - Lancaster University
item TOGNETTI, PEDRO - Consejo Nacional De Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas(CONICET)
item VIRTANEN, RISTO - University Of Oulu
item WARDLE, GLENDA - University Of Sydney
item WILFAHRT, PETER - University Of Minnesota
item WANG, SHAOPENG - Peking University

Submitted to: Nature Communications
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/5/2020
Publication Date: 10/23/2020
Citation: Hautier, Y., Zhang, P., Loreau, M., Wilcox, K.R., Seabloom, E.W., Borer, E., Avolio, M.L., Byrnes, J.E., Koerner, S.E., Komatsu, K.J., Lefcheck, J.S., Hector, A., Adler, P.B., Alberti, J., Amillas, 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, A., Fay, P.A., Gilbert, B., Hansart, A., Isbell, F., Knops, J.M., 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, C., Sankaran, M., Schutz, M., Smith, M., Stevens, C., Tognetti, P.M., Virtanen, R., Wardle, G.M., Wilfahrt, P.A., Wang, S. 2020. General destabilizing effects of eutrophication on grassland productivity at multiple spatial scales. Nature Communications. 11:5375. https://doi.org/10.1038/s4167-020-19252-4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s4167-020-19252-4

Interpretive Summary: Eutrophication is a widespread environmental change marked by excesses of nutrients in soils or water. Excess nutrients often cause losses of plant species diversity, rendering grassland plant communities more variable in productivity and species composition through time, with negative consequences for the ability of grasslands to provide important ecosystem services. It is poorly understood how the effects of eutrophication on the stability of grasslands varies as one considers larger and larger areas – such as from a single set of plots up to hectares and regions. Here, we determined the effects of long-term fertilization with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium on the relationship between plant diversity and temporal stability of productivity for 243 plant communities from 41 grasslands across the globe. We found that unfertilized communities with more plant species were more stable in compoistion. Moreover, groups of communities with greater differences in plant species composition were also more stable. Fertilization consistently weakened these levels of stability. Our findings suggest that preserving grassland functional stability requires conservation of plant diversity within and among ecological communities. Furthermore, our results demonstrate the threat of fertilization to the stable provisioning of grassland services across spatial scales under current and future environmental conditions.

Technical 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 determined the relationship between plant diversity and temporal stability of productivity for 243 plant communities from 41 grasslands across the globe and quantified the effect of chronic fertilization on these relationships. Unfertilized local communities with more plant species exhibited greater asynchronous dynamics among species in response to environmental fluctuations, resulting in greater local stability (alpha stability). Moreover, groups of communities with greater spatial variation in plant species composition (higher beta diversity) had greater spatial asynchrony among local communities, resulting in greater stability at the larger scale (gamma stability). Fertilization consistently weakened the contribution of plant diversity to each of these stabilizing mechanisms, thus diminishing the insurance effect of biodiversity on stability at multiple spatial scales. Our findings suggest that preserving grassland functional stability requires conservation of plant diversity within and among ecological communities. Furthermore, our results demonstrate the threat of fertilization to the stable provisioning of grassland services across spatial scales under current and future environmental conditions.