Local nutrient addition drives plant diversity losses but not biotic homogenization in global grasslands
Abstract
Abstract Nutrient enrichment typically causes local plant diversity declines. A common but untested expectation is that nutrient enrichment also reduces variation in nutrient conditions among localities and selects for a smaller pool of species, causing greater diversity declines at larger than local scales and thus biotic homogenization. Here we apply a framework that links changes in species richness across scales to changes in the numbers of spatially restricted and widespread species for a standardized nutrient addition experiment across 72 grasslands on six continents. Overall, we find proportionally similar species loss at local and larger scales, suggesting similar declines of spatially restricted and widespread species, and no biotic homogenization after 4 years and up to 14 years of treatment. These patterns of diversity changes are generally consistent across species groups. Thus, nutrient enrichment poses threats to plant diversity, including for widespread species that are often critical for ecosystem functions.
Article Details
Authors (47)
Qingqing Chen
Shane A. Blowes
W. Stanley Harpole
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Emma Ladouceur
Elizabeth T. Borer
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota
Andrew MacDougall
Jason P. Martina
Department of Biology, Texas State University
Jonathan D. Bakker
School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington
Pedro M. Tognetti
Eric W. Seabloom
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota
Pedro Daleo
Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Sally Power
Christiane Roscher
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Peter B. Adler
Department of Wildland Resources and the Ecology Center, Utah State University
Ian Donohue
Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin
George Wheeler
Carly Stevens
Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University
G. F. Ciska Veen
Anita C. Risch
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL
Glenda M. Wardle
School of Life and Environmental Sciences, ARC Training Centre in Data Analytics for Resources and Environments, The University of Sydney
Yann Hautier
Catalina Estrada
Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London
Erika Hersch-Green
Department of Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University
Yujie Niu
Pablo L. Peri
Anu Eskelinen
Daniel S. Gruner
Harry Olde Venterink
Department of Biology-Wildness, Biodiversity, and Ecosystems Under Change, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Carla D’Antonio
Marc W. Cadotte
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough
Sylvia Haider
Vegetation Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation Group, Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University of Lüneburg
Nico Eisenhauer
Jane Catford
Risto Virtanen
John W. Morgan
Department of Environment and Genetics, La Trobe University
Michelle Tedder
Sumanta Bagchi
Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science
Maria C. Caldeira
Forest Research Centre, Associate Laboratory TERRA, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon
Miguel N. Bugalho
Center for Applied Ecology “Prof. Baeta Neves”-Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon
Johannes M. H. Knops
Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
Chris R. Dickman
Nicole Hagenah
Anke Jentsch
Petr Macek
Brooke B. Osborne
Lauri Laanisto
Jonathan M. Chase