Eutrophication weakens stabilizing effects of diversity in natural grasslands

Yann Hautier; Eric W. Seabloom; Elizabeth T. Borer; Peter B. Adler; W. Stanley Harpole; Helmut Hillebrand; Eric M. Lind; Andrew S. MacDougall; Carly J. Stevens; Jonathan D. Bakker; Yvonne M. Buckley; Chengjin Chu; Scott L. Collins; Pedro Daleo; Ellen I. Damschen; Kendi F. Davies; Philip A. Fay; Jennifer Firn; Daniel S. Gruner; Virginia L. Jin; Julia A. Klein; Johannes M.H. Knops; Kimberly J. La Pierre; Wei Li; Rebecca L. McCulley; Brett A. Melbourne; Joslin L. Moore; Lydia R. O'Halloran; Suzanne M. Prober; Anita C. Risch; Mahesh Sankaran; Martin Schuetz; Andy Hector

doi:10.1038/nature13014

Eutrophication weakens stabilizing effects of diversity in natural grasslands

Yann Hautier, Eric W. Seabloom, Elizabeth T. Borer, Peter B. Adler, W. Stanley Harpole, Helmut Hillebrand, Eric M. Lind, Andrew S. MacDougall, Carly J. Stevens, Jonathan D. Bakker, Yvonne M. Buckley, Chengjin Chu, Scott L. Collins, Pedro Daleo, Ellen I. Damschen, Kendi F. Davies, Philip A. Fay, Jennifer Firn, Daniel S. Gruner, Virginia L. JinJulia A. Klein, Johannes M.H. Knops, Kimberly J. La Pierre, Wei Li, Rebecca L. McCulley, Brett A. Melbourne, Joslin L. Moore, Lydia R. O'Halloran, Suzanne M. Prober, Anita C. Risch, Mahesh Sankaran, Martin Schuetz, Andy Hector

Plant and Soil Sciences

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

411 Scopus citations

Abstract

Studies of experimental grassland communities have demonstrated that plant diversity can stabilize productivity through species asynchrony, in which decreases in the biomass of some species are compensated for by increases in others. However, it remains unknown whether these findings are relevant to natural ecosystems, especially those for which species diversity is threatened by anthropogenic global change. Here we analyse diversity-stability relationships from 41 grasslands on five continents and examine how these relationships are affected by chronic fertilization, one of the strongest drivers of species loss globally. Unmanipulated communities with more species had greater species asynchrony, resulting in more stable biomass production, generalizing a result from biodiversity experiments to real-world grasslands. However, fertilization weakened the positive effect of diversity on stability. Contrary to expectations, this was not due to species loss after eutrophication but rather to an increase in the temporal variation of productivity in combination with a decrease in species asynchrony in diverse communities. Our results demonstrate separate and synergistic effects of diversity and eutrophication on stability, emphasizing the need to understand how drivers of global change interactively affect the reliable provisioning of ecosystem services in real-world systems.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	521-525
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nature
Volume	508
Issue number	7497
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13014
State	Published - 2014

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgements The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 298935 to Y.H. (with A.H. and E.W.S.). This work was generated using data from the Nutrient Network (http://www.nutnet.org) experiment, funded at the site-scale by individual researchers. Coordination and data management have been supported by funding to E.T.B. and E.W.S. from the National Science Foundation Research Coordination Network (NSF-DEB-1042132), the Long Term Ecological Research(LTER)programme(NSF-DEB-1234162toCedarCreekaswellasother LTER sites), and the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota (DG-0001-13). We also thank the Minnesota Supercomputer Institute for hosting project data, and the Institute on the Environment for hosting Network meetings. We thank R.S.L. Veiga, F. Isbell, R.K. Didham, H. McGinness and M. O’Brien for suggestions that improved the manuscript.

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Hautier, Y., Seabloom, E. W., Borer, E. T., Adler, P. B., Harpole, W. S., Hillebrand, H., Lind, E. M., MacDougall, A. S., Stevens, C. J., Bakker, J. D., Buckley, Y. M., Chu, C., Collins, S. L., Daleo, P., Damschen, E. I., Davies, K. F., Fay, P. A., Firn, J., Gruner, D. S., ... Hector, A. (2014). Eutrophication weakens stabilizing effects of diversity in natural grasslands. Nature, 508(7497), 521-525. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13014

@article{771211a0180b43f3a998d1c9b7cf0369,

title = "Eutrophication weakens stabilizing effects of diversity in natural grasslands",

abstract = "Studies of experimental grassland communities have demonstrated that plant diversity can stabilize productivity through species asynchrony, in which decreases in the biomass of some species are compensated for by increases in others. However, it remains unknown whether these findings are relevant to natural ecosystems, especially those for which species diversity is threatened by anthropogenic global change. Here we analyse diversity-stability relationships from 41 grasslands on five continents and examine how these relationships are affected by chronic fertilization, one of the strongest drivers of species loss globally. Unmanipulated communities with more species had greater species asynchrony, resulting in more stable biomass production, generalizing a result from biodiversity experiments to real-world grasslands. However, fertilization weakened the positive effect of diversity on stability. Contrary to expectations, this was not due to species loss after eutrophication but rather to an increase in the temporal variation of productivity in combination with a decrease in species asynchrony in diverse communities. Our results demonstrate separate and synergistic effects of diversity and eutrophication on stability, emphasizing the need to understand how drivers of global change interactively affect the reliable provisioning of ecosystem services in real-world systems.",

author = "Yann Hautier and Seabloom, {Eric W.} and Borer, {Elizabeth T.} and Adler, {Peter B.} and Harpole, {W. Stanley} and Helmut Hillebrand and Lind, {Eric M.} and MacDougall, {Andrew S.} and Stevens, {Carly J.} and Bakker, {Jonathan D.} and Buckley, {Yvonne M.} and Chengjin Chu and Collins, {Scott L.} and Pedro Daleo and Damschen, {Ellen I.} and Davies, {Kendi F.} and Fay, {Philip A.} and Jennifer Firn and Gruner, {Daniel S.} and Jin, {Virginia L.} and Klein, {Julia A.} and Knops, {Johannes M.H.} and {La Pierre}, {Kimberly J.} and Wei Li and McCulley, {Rebecca L.} and Melbourne, {Brett A.} and Moore, {Joslin L.} and O'Halloran, {Lydia R.} and Prober, {Suzanne M.} and Risch, {Anita C.} and Mahesh Sankaran and Martin Schuetz and Andy Hector",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgements The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 298935 to Y.H. (with A.H. and E.W.S.). This work was generated using data from the Nutrient Network (http://www.nutnet.org) experiment, funded at the site-scale by individual researchers. Coordination and data management have been supported by funding to E.T.B. and E.W.S. from the National Science Foundation Research Coordination Network (NSF-DEB-1042132), the Long Term Ecological Research(LTER)programme(NSF-DEB-1234162toCedarCreekaswellasother LTER sites), and the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota (DG-0001-13). We also thank the Minnesota Supercomputer Institute for hosting project data, and the Institute on the Environment for hosting Network meetings. We thank R.S.L. Veiga, F. Isbell, R.K. Didham, H. McGinness and M. O{\textquoteright}Brien for suggestions that improved the manuscript.",

year = "2014",

doi = "10.1038/nature13014",

language = "English",

volume = "508",

pages = "521--525",

number = "7497",

}

Hautier, Y, Seabloom, EW, Borer, ET, Adler, PB, Harpole, WS, Hillebrand, H, Lind, EM, MacDougall, AS, Stevens, CJ, Bakker, JD, Buckley, YM, Chu, C, Collins, SL, Daleo, P, Damschen, EI, Davies, KF, Fay, PA, Firn, J, Gruner, DS, Jin, VL, Klein, JA, Knops, JMH, La Pierre, KJ, Li, W, McCulley, RL, Melbourne, BA, Moore, JL, O'Halloran, LR, Prober, SM, Risch, AC, Sankaran, M, Schuetz, M & Hector, A 2014, 'Eutrophication weakens stabilizing effects of diversity in natural grasslands', Nature, vol. 508, no. 7497, pp. 521-525. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13014

TY - JOUR

T1 - Eutrophication weakens stabilizing effects of diversity in natural grasslands

AU - Hautier, Yann

AU - Seabloom, Eric W.

AU - Borer, Elizabeth T.

AU - Adler, Peter B.

AU - Harpole, W. Stanley

AU - Hillebrand, Helmut

AU - Lind, Eric M.

AU - MacDougall, Andrew S.

AU - Stevens, Carly J.

AU - Bakker, Jonathan D.

AU - Buckley, Yvonne M.

AU - Chu, Chengjin

AU - Collins, Scott L.

AU - Daleo, Pedro

AU - Damschen, Ellen I.

AU - Davies, Kendi F.

AU - Fay, Philip A.

AU - Firn, Jennifer

AU - Gruner, Daniel S.

AU - Jin, Virginia L.

AU - Klein, Julia A.

AU - Knops, Johannes M.H.

AU - La Pierre, Kimberly J.

AU - Li, Wei

AU - McCulley, Rebecca L.

AU - Melbourne, Brett A.

AU - Moore, Joslin L.

AU - O'Halloran, Lydia R.

AU - Prober, Suzanne M.

AU - Risch, Anita C.

AU - Sankaran, Mahesh

AU - Schuetz, Martin

AU - Hector, Andy

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgements The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 298935 to Y.H. (with A.H. and E.W.S.). This work was generated using data from the Nutrient Network (http://www.nutnet.org) experiment, funded at the site-scale by individual researchers. Coordination and data management have been supported by funding to E.T.B. and E.W.S. from the National Science Foundation Research Coordination Network (NSF-DEB-1042132), the Long Term Ecological Research(LTER)programme(NSF-DEB-1234162toCedarCreekaswellasother LTER sites), and the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota (DG-0001-13). We also thank the Minnesota Supercomputer Institute for hosting project data, and the Institute on the Environment for hosting Network meetings. We thank R.S.L. Veiga, F. Isbell, R.K. Didham, H. McGinness and M. O’Brien for suggestions that improved the manuscript.

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Studies of experimental grassland communities have demonstrated that plant diversity can stabilize productivity through species asynchrony, in which decreases in the biomass of some species are compensated for by increases in others. However, it remains unknown whether these findings are relevant to natural ecosystems, especially those for which species diversity is threatened by anthropogenic global change. Here we analyse diversity-stability relationships from 41 grasslands on five continents and examine how these relationships are affected by chronic fertilization, one of the strongest drivers of species loss globally. Unmanipulated communities with more species had greater species asynchrony, resulting in more stable biomass production, generalizing a result from biodiversity experiments to real-world grasslands. However, fertilization weakened the positive effect of diversity on stability. Contrary to expectations, this was not due to species loss after eutrophication but rather to an increase in the temporal variation of productivity in combination with a decrease in species asynchrony in diverse communities. Our results demonstrate separate and synergistic effects of diversity and eutrophication on stability, emphasizing the need to understand how drivers of global change interactively affect the reliable provisioning of ecosystem services in real-world systems.

AB - Studies of experimental grassland communities have demonstrated that plant diversity can stabilize productivity through species asynchrony, in which decreases in the biomass of some species are compensated for by increases in others. However, it remains unknown whether these findings are relevant to natural ecosystems, especially those for which species diversity is threatened by anthropogenic global change. Here we analyse diversity-stability relationships from 41 grasslands on five continents and examine how these relationships are affected by chronic fertilization, one of the strongest drivers of species loss globally. Unmanipulated communities with more species had greater species asynchrony, resulting in more stable biomass production, generalizing a result from biodiversity experiments to real-world grasslands. However, fertilization weakened the positive effect of diversity on stability. Contrary to expectations, this was not due to species loss after eutrophication but rather to an increase in the temporal variation of productivity in combination with a decrease in species asynchrony in diverse communities. Our results demonstrate separate and synergistic effects of diversity and eutrophication on stability, emphasizing the need to understand how drivers of global change interactively affect the reliable provisioning of ecosystem services in real-world systems.

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U2 - 10.1038/nature13014

DO - 10.1038/nature13014

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AN - SCOPUS:84899586390

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 508

SP - 521

EP - 525

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 7497

ER -

Eutrophication weakens stabilizing effects of diversity in natural grasslands

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