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

Yann Hautier; Pengfei Zhang; Michel Loreau; Kevin R. Wilcox; Eric W. Seabloom; Elizabeth T. Borer; Jarrett E. K. Byrnes; Sally E. Koerner; Kimberly J. Komatsu; Jonathan S. Lefcheck; Andy Hector; Peter B. Adler; Juan Alberti; Carlos A. Arnillas; Jonathan D. Bakker; Lars A. Brudvig; Miguel N. Bugalho; Marc Cadotte; Maria C. Caldeira; Oliver Carroll; Mick Crawley; Scott L. Collins; Pedro Daleo; Laura E. Dee; Nico Eisenhauer; Anu Eskelinen; Philip A. Fay; Benjamin Gilbert; Amandine Hansar; Forest Isbell; Johannes M. H. Knops; Andrew S. MacDougall; Rebecca L. McCulley; Joslin L. Moore; John W. Morgan; Akira S. Mori; Pablo L. Peri; Edwin T. Pos; Sally A. Power; Jodi N. Price; Peter B. Reich; Anita C. Risch; Christiane Roscher; Mahesh Sankaran; Martin Schutz; Melinda Smith; Carly Stevens; Pedro M. Tognetti; Risto Virtanen; Glenda M. Wardle; Peter A. Wilfahrt; Shaopeng Wang

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19252-4

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

Yann Hautier, Pengfei Zhang, Michel Loreau, Kevin R. Wilcox, Eric W. Seabloom, Elizabeth T. Borer, Jarrett E. K. Byrnes, Sally E. Koerner, Kimberly J. Komatsu, Jonathan S. Lefcheck, Andy Hector, Peter B. Adler, Juan Alberti, Carlos A. Arnillas, Jonathan D. Bakker, Lars A. Brudvig, Miguel N. Bugalho, Marc Cadotte, Maria C. Caldeira, Oliver CarrollMick Crawley, Scott L. Collins, Pedro Daleo, Laura E. Dee, Nico Eisenhauer, Anu Eskelinen, Philip A. Fay, Benjamin Gilbert, Amandine Hansar, Forest Isbell, Johannes M. H. Knops, Andrew S. MacDougall, Rebecca L. McCulley, Joslin L. Moore, John W. Morgan, Akira S. Mori, Pablo L. Peri, Edwin T. Pos, Sally A. Power, Jodi N. Price, Peter B. Reich, Anita C. Risch, Christiane Roscher, Mahesh Sankaran, Martin Schutz, Melinda Smith, Carly Stevens, Pedro M. Tognetti, Risto Virtanen, Glenda M. Wardle, Peter A. Wilfahrt, Shaopeng Wang

Western Sydney University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

128 Citations (Scopus)

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 determine the relationship between plant diversity and temporal stability of productivity for 243 plant communities from 42 grasslands across the globe and quantify the effect of chronic fertilization on these relationships. Unfertilized local communities with more plant species exhibit greater asynchronous dynamics among species in response to natural environmental fluctuations, resulting in greater local stability (alpha stability). Moreover, neighborhood communities that have greater spatial variation in plant species composition within sites (higher beta diversity) have greater spatial asynchrony of productivity among communities, resulting in greater stability at the larger scale (gamma stability). Importantly, fertilization consistently weakens the contribution of plant diversity to both of these stabilizing mechanisms, thus diminishing the positive effect of biodiversity on stability at differing spatial scales. Our findings suggest that preserving grassland functional stability requires conservation of plant diversity within and among ecological communities.

Original language	English
Article number	5375
Number of pages	9
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	11
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19252-4
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2020

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© 2020, The Author(s).

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Â© 2020, The Author(s). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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10.1038/s41467-020-19252-4

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Hautier, Y., Zhang, P., Loreau, M., Wilcox, K. R., Seabloom, E. W., Borer, E. T., Byrnes, J. E. K., Koerner, S. E., Komatsu, K. J., Lefcheck, J. S., Hector, A., Adler, P. B., Alberti, J., Arnillas, C. A., Bakker, J. D., Brudvig, L. A., Bugalho, M. N., Cadotte, M., Caldeira, M. C., ... Wang, S. (2020). General destabilizing effects of eutrophication on grassland productivity at multiple spatial scales. Nature Communications, 11(1), Article 5375. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19252-4

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title = "General destabilizing effects of eutrophication on grassland productivity at multiple spatial scales",

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 determine the relationship between plant diversity and temporal stability of productivity for 243 plant communities from 42 grasslands across the globe and quantify the effect of chronic fertilization on these relationships. Unfertilized local communities with more plant species exhibit greater asynchronous dynamics among species in response to natural environmental fluctuations, resulting in greater local stability (alpha stability). Moreover, neighborhood communities that have greater spatial variation in plant species composition within sites (higher beta diversity) have greater spatial asynchrony of productivity among communities, resulting in greater stability at the larger scale (gamma stability). Importantly, fertilization consistently weakens the contribution of plant diversity to both of these stabilizing mechanisms, thus diminishing the positive effect of biodiversity on stability at differing spatial scales. Our findings suggest that preserving grassland functional stability requires conservation of plant diversity within and among ecological communities.",

author = "Yann Hautier and Pengfei Zhang and Michel Loreau and Wilcox, {Kevin R.} and Seabloom, {Eric W.} and Borer, {Elizabeth T.} and Byrnes, {Jarrett E. K.} and Koerner, {Sally E.} and Komatsu, {Kimberly J.} and Lefcheck, {Jonathan S.} and Andy Hector and Adler, {Peter B.} and Juan Alberti and Arnillas, {Carlos A.} and Bakker, {Jonathan D.} and Brudvig, {Lars A.} and Bugalho, {Miguel N.} and Marc Cadotte and Caldeira, {Maria C.} and Oliver Carroll and Mick Crawley and Collins, {Scott L.} and Pedro Daleo and Dee, {Laura E.} and Nico Eisenhauer and Anu Eskelinen and Fay, {Philip A.} and Benjamin Gilbert and Amandine Hansar and Forest Isbell and Knops, {Johannes M. H.} and MacDougall, {Andrew S.} and McCulley, {Rebecca L.} and Moore, {Joslin L.} and Morgan, {John W.} and Mori, {Akira S.} and Peri, {Pablo L.} and Pos, {Edwin T.} and Power, {Sally A.} and Price, {Jodi N.} and Reich, {Peter B.} and Risch, {Anita C.} and Christiane Roscher and Mahesh Sankaran and Martin Schutz and Melinda Smith and Carly Stevens and Tognetti, {Pedro M.} and Risto Virtanen and Wardle, {Glenda M.} and Wilfahrt, {Peter A.} and Shaopeng Wang",

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Hautier, Y, Zhang, P, Loreau, M, Wilcox, KR, Seabloom, EW, Borer, ET, Byrnes, JEK, Koerner, SE, Komatsu, KJ, Lefcheck, JS, Hector, A, Adler, PB, Alberti, J, Arnillas, CA, Bakker, JD, Brudvig, LA, Bugalho, MN, Cadotte, M, Caldeira, MC, Carroll, O, Crawley, M, Collins, SL, Daleo, P, Dee, LE, Eisenhauer, N, Eskelinen, A, Fay, PA, Gilbert, B, Hansar, A, Isbell, F, Knops, JMH, MacDougall, AS, McCulley, RL, Moore, JL, Morgan, JW, Mori, AS, Peri, PL, Pos, ET, Power, SA, Price, JN, Reich, PB, Risch, AC, Roscher, C, Sankaran, M, Schutz, M, Smith, M, Stevens, C, Tognetti, PM, Virtanen, R, Wardle, GM, Wilfahrt, PA & Wang, S 2020, 'General destabilizing effects of eutrophication on grassland productivity at multiple spatial scales', Nature Communications, vol. 11, no. 1, 5375. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19252-4

TY - JOUR

T1 - General destabilizing effects of eutrophication on grassland productivity at multiple spatial scales

AU - Hautier, Yann

AU - Zhang, Pengfei

AU - Loreau, Michel

AU - Wilcox, Kevin R.

AU - Seabloom, Eric W.

AU - Borer, Elizabeth T.

AU - Byrnes, Jarrett E. K.

AU - Koerner, Sally E.

AU - Komatsu, Kimberly J.

AU - Lefcheck, Jonathan S.

AU - Hector, Andy

AU - Adler, Peter B.

AU - Alberti, Juan

AU - Arnillas, Carlos A.

AU - Bakker, Jonathan D.

AU - Brudvig, Lars A.

AU - Bugalho, Miguel N.

AU - Cadotte, Marc

AU - Caldeira, Maria C.

AU - Carroll, Oliver

AU - Crawley, Mick

AU - Collins, Scott L.

AU - Daleo, Pedro

AU - Dee, Laura E.

AU - Eisenhauer, Nico

AU - Eskelinen, Anu

AU - Fay, Philip A.

AU - Gilbert, Benjamin

AU - Hansar, Amandine

AU - Isbell, Forest

AU - Knops, Johannes M. H.

AU - MacDougall, Andrew S.

AU - McCulley, Rebecca L.

AU - Moore, Joslin L.

AU - Morgan, John W.

AU - Mori, Akira S.

AU - Peri, Pablo L.

AU - Pos, Edwin T.

AU - Power, Sally A.

AU - Price, Jodi N.

AU - Reich, Peter B.

AU - Risch, Anita C.

AU - Roscher, Christiane

AU - Sankaran, Mahesh

AU - Schutz, Martin

AU - Smith, Melinda

AU - Stevens, Carly

AU - Tognetti, Pedro M.

AU - Virtanen, Risto

AU - Wardle, Glenda M.

AU - Wilfahrt, Peter A.

AU - Wang, Shaopeng

PY - 2020/12/1

Y1 - 2020/12/1

N2 - 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 determine the relationship between plant diversity and temporal stability of productivity for 243 plant communities from 42 grasslands across the globe and quantify the effect of chronic fertilization on these relationships. Unfertilized local communities with more plant species exhibit greater asynchronous dynamics among species in response to natural environmental fluctuations, resulting in greater local stability (alpha stability). Moreover, neighborhood communities that have greater spatial variation in plant species composition within sites (higher beta diversity) have greater spatial asynchrony of productivity among communities, resulting in greater stability at the larger scale (gamma stability). Importantly, fertilization consistently weakens the contribution of plant diversity to both of these stabilizing mechanisms, thus diminishing the positive effect of biodiversity on stability at differing spatial scales. Our findings suggest that preserving grassland functional stability requires conservation of plant diversity within and among ecological communities.

AB - 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 determine the relationship between plant diversity and temporal stability of productivity for 243 plant communities from 42 grasslands across the globe and quantify the effect of chronic fertilization on these relationships. Unfertilized local communities with more plant species exhibit greater asynchronous dynamics among species in response to natural environmental fluctuations, resulting in greater local stability (alpha stability). Moreover, neighborhood communities that have greater spatial variation in plant species composition within sites (higher beta diversity) have greater spatial asynchrony of productivity among communities, resulting in greater stability at the larger scale (gamma stability). Importantly, fertilization consistently weakens the contribution of plant diversity to both of these stabilizing mechanisms, thus diminishing the positive effect of biodiversity on stability at differing spatial scales. Our findings suggest that preserving grassland functional stability requires conservation of plant diversity within and among ecological communities.

UR - https://hdl.handle.net/1959.7/uws:62577

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-020-19252-4

DO - 10.1038/s41467-020-19252-4

M3 - Article

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 11

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

IS - 1

M1 - 5375

ER -

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

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Open Access - Access Right Statement

UN SDGs

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