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ARS Home » Plains Area » Fort Collins, Colorado » Center for Agricultural Resources Research » Rangeland Resources & Systems Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #385134
Research Project: Adaptive Grazing Management and Decision Support to Enhance Ecosystem Services in the Western Great Plains

Location: Rangeland Resources & Systems Research

Title: Evolutionary history of grazing and resources determine herbivore exclusion effects on plant diversity

Author
item PRICE, JODI - Charles Stuart University
item SITTERS, JUDITH - Vrije Universiteit Brussel
item OHLERT, TIMOTHY - University Of New Mexico
item TOGNETTI, PEDRO - Universidad De Buenos Aires
item BROWN, CYNTHIA - Colorado State University
item SEABLOOM, ERIC - University Of Minnesota
item BORER, ELIZABETH - University Of Minnesota
item PROBER, SUZANNE - Csiro European Laboratory
item BAKKER, ELISABETH - Netherlands Institute Of Ecology
item MACDOUGALL, ANDREW - University Of Guelph
item YAHDJIAN, LAURA - Universidad De Buenos Aires
item GRUNER, DANIEL - University Of Maryland
item VENTERINK, HARRY - Vrije University
item BARRIO, ISABEL - University Of Iceland
item GRAFF, PAMELA - Universidad De Buenos Aires
item BAGCHI, SUMANTA - Indian Institute Of Science
item ARNILLAS, CARLOS - University Of Toronto
item BAKKER, JONATHAN - University Of Washington
item Blumenthal, Dana
item BOUGHTON, ELIZABETH - Archbold Biological Station
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 DICKMAN, CHRIS - University Of Sydney
item DONOHUE, IAN - Trinity College
item GREGORY, SONNIER - Archbold Biological Station
item HAUTIER, YANN - Utrecht University
item JONSDOTTIR, INGIBJORG - University Of Iceland
item LANNES, LUCIOLA - Sao Paulo State University (UNESP)
item MCCULLEY, R - University Of Kentucky
item MOORE, JOSLIN - Monash University
item POWER, SALLY - Western Sydney University
item RISCH, ANITA - Western Sydney University
item SCHUTZ, MARTIN - Swiss Federal Institute
item STANDISH, RACHEL - Murdoch University
item STEVENS, CARLY - Lancaster University
item VEEN, G - Netherlands Institute Of Ecology
item VIRTANEN, RISTO - University Of Oulu
item WARDLE, GLENDA - University Of Sydney

Submitted to: Nature Ecology and Evolution
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/24/2022
Publication Date: 7/25/2022
Citation: Price, J., Sitters, J., Ohlert, T., Tognetti, P., Brown, C.S., Seabloom, E.W., Borer, E.T., Prober, S., Bakker, E.S., MacDougall, A.S., Yahdjian, L., Gruner, D.S., Venterink, H.O., Barrio, I.C., Graff, P., Bagchi, S., Arnillas, C.A., Bakker, J.D., Blumenthal, D.M., Boughton, E.H., Brudvig, L.A., Bugalho, M.N., Cadotte, M.W., Caldeira, M.C., Dickman, C.R., Donohue, I., Gregory, S., Hautier, Y., Jonsdottir, I.S., Lannes, L.S., McCulley, R.L., Moore, J.L., Power, S.A., Risch, A.C., Schutz, M., Standish, R., Stevens, C.J., Veen, G.F., Virtanen, R., Wardle, G.M. 2022. Evolutionary history of grazing and resources determine herbivore exclusion effects on plant diversity. Nature Ecology and Evolution. 6:1290-1298. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01809-9.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01809-9

Interpretive Summary: Using a globally distributed experiment, with 57 grassland sites, we tested how herbivore exclusion affects plant diversity, and how these effects are mediated by precipitation, nutrient addition, and evolutionary history of grazing. In sites with a long evolutionary history of grazing, herbivore exclusion reduced plant diversity by reducing both species richness and evenness, as predicted. In short-history sites, the effects of herbivore exclusion differed for native and exotic plant richness and depended on fertilization; native species richness was unaffected by herbivore exclusion, whereas exotic species richness declined with herbivore exclusion in fertilized plots. These results demonstrate that plant species’ evolutionary history of grazing continues to shape the response of the world’s grasslands to changing mammalian herbivory.

Technical Abstract: Canonical ecological models predict that the effects of mammalian herbivore exclusion on plant diversity depend on resource availability and plant exposure to ungulate grazing over evolutionary time. Using an experiment replicated in 57 grasslands on six continents, with contrasting evolutionary history of grazing, we tested how resources (mean annual precipitation and nutrient addition) determine herbivore exclusion effects on plant diversity, decomposed into richness and evenness. We test the hypothesis that in sites with a long history of ungulate grazing, plant diversity decreases with herbivore exclusion in resource-rich sites; whereas in short-history sites the effect of herbivore exclusion depends on plant species origin (native or exotic from long history sites). We found that in long-history sites, herbivore exclusion reduced plant diversity by reducing both richness and evenness, but only the response of richness to herbivore exclusion decreased with mean annual precipitation. In short-history sites, the effects of herbivore exclusion differed for native and exotic plant richness and depended on fertilization; native species richness was unaffected by herbivore exclusion, whereas exotic species richness declined with herbivore exclusion in fertilized plots. In sum, herbivore exclusion caused loss of plant diversity in resource rich grasslands that evolved with ungulates, but these findings do not simply extrapolate to other grasslands, rather they depend on grazing history and plant provenance. Thus, plant species’ evolutionary history of grazing continues to shape the response of the world’s grasslands to changing mammalian herbivory.