Location: Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory
Title: Linking changes in species composition and biomass in a globally distributed grassland experimentAuthor
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LADOUCEUR, EMMA - German Centre For Integrative Biodiversity Research (IDIV) |
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BLOWES, SHANE - Helmholtz Centre For Environmental Research |
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CHASE, JONATHAN - German Centre For Integrative Biodiversity Research (IDIV) |
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CLARK, ADAM - Karl Franzens University |
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GARBOWSKI, MAGDA - Helmholtz Centre For Environmental Research |
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ALBERTI, JUAN - Consejo Nacional De Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas(CONICET) |
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ARNILLAS, CARLOS - University Of Toronto |
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BAKKER, JONATHAN - University Of Washington |
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BARRIO, ISABEL - University Of Iceland |
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BHARATH, SIDDHARTH - Center For Natural Biological Resources And Community Development |
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BORER, ELIZABETH - University Of Minnesota |
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BRUDVIG, LARS - Michigan State University |
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CADOTTE, MARC - University Of Toronto |
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CHEN, QINGQING - Peking University |
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COLLINS, SCOTT - University Of New Mexico |
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DICKMAN, CHRISTOPHER - University Of Sydney |
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DONOHUE, IAN - Trinity College Dublin |
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DU, GUOZHEN - Lanzhou University |
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EBELING, ANNE - University Of Jena |
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EISENHAUER, NICO - Martin Luther University |
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Fay, Philip |
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HAGENAH, NICOLE - University Of Pretoria |
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HAUTIER, YANN - Utrecht University |
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JENTSCH, ANKE - University Of Bayreuth |
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JONSDOTTIR, INGIBJORG - University Of Iceland |
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KOMATSU, KIMBERLY - Smithsonian Environmental Research Center |
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MACDOUGALL, ANDREW - University Of Guelph |
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MARTINA, JASON - Texas State University |
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MOORE, JOSLIN - Monash University |
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MORGAN, JOHN - La Trobe University |
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PERI, PABLO - National Institute Of Agricultural Technology(INTA) |
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POWER, SALLY - Western Sydney University |
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REN, ZHENGWEI - Lanzhou University |
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RISCH, ANITA - Swiss Federal Research Institute Wsl |
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ROSCHER, CHRISTIANE - Helmholtz Centre For Environmental Research |
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SCHUCHARDT, MAX - University Of Bayreuth |
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SEABLOOM, ERIC - University Of Minnesota |
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STEVENS, CARLY - Lancaster University |
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VEEN, GF - Netherlands Institute Of Ecology |
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VIRTANEN, RISTO - University Of Oulu |
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WARDLE, GLENDA - University Of Sydney |
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WILFAHRT, PETER - University Of Minnesota |
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HARPOLE, W - Martin Luther University |
Submitted to: Ecology Letters
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 9/17/2022 Publication Date: 10/24/2022 Citation: Ladouceur, E., Blowes, S.A., Chase, J.M., Clark, A.T., Garbowski, M., Alberti, J., Arnillas, C.A., Bakker, J.D., Barrio, I.C., Bharath, S., Borer, E.T., Brudvig, L.A., Cadotte, M.W., Chen, Q., Collins, S.L., Dickman, C.R., Donohue, I., Du, G., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Fay, P.A., Hagenah, N., Hautier, Y., Jentsch, A., Jónsdóttir, I.S., Komatsu, K., MacDougall, A., Martina, J.P., Moore, J.L., Morgan, J.W., Peri, P.L., Power, S.A., Ren, Z., Risch, A.C., Roscher, C., Schuchardt, M.A., Seabloom, E.W., Stevens, C.J., Veen, G.C., Virtanen, R., Wardle, G.M., Wilfahrt, P.A., Harpole, W.S. 2022. Linking changes in species composition and biomass in a globally distributed grassland experiment. Ecology Letters. 25(12):2699-2712. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14126. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14126 Interpretive Summary: Species-rich ecosystems such as grasslands provide many ecosystem services, such as biomass, carbon sequestration, and pollinators. Excess fertilizers in the environment can degrade the functions supporting ecosystem services by causing species loss and replacement. How changes in species numbers and replacement mechanistically cause changes in ecosystem function remain unclear but is critical to predict global change impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services provision. This study uses a novel application of the Price Equation to separate the functional contributions of species that are lost, gained, or persist over years in unfertilized and experimentally fertilized grasslands at 59 locations on six continents. In unfertilized grassland, species change and total plant biomass variation were high but constant through time, and species losses balanced species gains. In contrast, in fertilized grassland on average species loss led to total plant biomass loss which was offset by gains in a few productive species and increased biomass from species that persisted through time. These findings provide a broadly applicable explanation for the impacts of excess fertilizers in the environment on biodiversity of grasslands and will inform predictions of future ecosystem services provision. Technical Abstract: Global change drivers contribute to the simultaneous change of biodiversity and ecosystem funtionality. Anthropogenic nutrient inputs to grasslands often simultaneously alter biodiversity, species composition, and ecosystem functions, such as above ground biomass. Changes to these aggregate measures are dependent on local species extinctions, introductions and changes in relative abundance. We use a novel application of the Price Equation to separate the functional contributions of species that are lost, gained, or persist over time under ambients and experimental nutrient addition in 59 grasslands from across the globe. Under ambient conditions, compositional and biomass turnover was high, but species losses (i.e., loca extinctions) were balanced by gains (i.e. colonization). Under fertilization, there was biomass loss associated with species loss. Few species were gained over time but those that were, and species that persisted, contributed to biomass gains overall. The components of change in community composition have distinct effects on measures of ecosystem functioning over time. |