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Eskelinen A, Jessen MT, Bahamonde HA, Bakker JD, Borer ET, Caldeira MC, Harpole WS, Jia M, Lannes LS, Nogueira C, Olde Venterink H, Peri PL, Porath-Krause AJ, Seabloom EW, Schroeder K, Tognetti PM, Yasui SLE, Virtanen R, Sullivan LL. Herbivory and nutrients shape grassland soil seed banks. Nat Commun 2023; 14:3949. [PMID: 37402739 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39677-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Anthropogenic nutrient enrichment and shifts in herbivory can lead to dramatic changes in the composition and diversity of aboveground plant communities. In turn, this can alter seed banks in the soil, which are cryptic reservoirs of plant diversity. Here, we use data from seven Nutrient Network grassland sites on four continents, encompassing a range of climatic and environmental conditions, to test the joint effects of fertilization and aboveground mammalian herbivory on seed banks and on the similarity between aboveground plant communities and seed banks. We find that fertilization decreases plant species richness and diversity in seed banks, and homogenizes composition between aboveground and seed bank communities. Fertilization increases seed bank abundance especially in the presence of herbivores, while this effect is smaller in the absence of herbivores. Our findings highlight that nutrient enrichment can weaken a diversity maintaining mechanism in grasslands, and that herbivory needs to be considered when assessing nutrient enrichment effects on seed bank abundance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anu Eskelinen
- Ecology and Genetics Unit, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, Oulu, Finland.
- Department of Physiological Diversity, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Puschstraße 4, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Puschstraße 4, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Maria-Theresa Jessen
- Department of Physiological Diversity, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Puschstraße 4, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Puschstraße 4, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Community Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Halle, Theodor-Lieser-Str. 4, 06120, Halle, Germany
| | - Hector A Bahamonde
- Faculty of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, National University of La Plata, Av. 60 y 119, La Plata, 1900, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Jonathan D Bakker
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Box 354115, Seattle, WA, 98195-4115, USA
| | - Elizabeth T Borer
- University of Minnesota, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, 140 Gortner Laboratory, 1479 Gortner Ave, St Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - Maria C Caldeira
- Forest Research Centre, Associate Laboratory TERRA, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - W Stanley Harpole
- Department of Physiological Diversity, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Puschstraße 4, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Puschstraße 4, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, am Kirchtor 1, 06108, Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Meiyu Jia
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Box 354115, Seattle, WA, 98195-4115, USA
- School of Water Resources & Environmental Engineering, East China University of Technology, Nanchang, 330013, China
- College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, No. 19 Xinjiekou Wai Street, Beijing City, 100875, China
| | - Luciola S Lannes
- Department of Biology and Animal Sciences, São Paulo State University-UNESP, Ilha Solteira, 01049-010, Brazil
| | - Carla Nogueira
- Forest Research Centre, Associate Laboratory TERRA, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Harry Olde Venterink
- Department of Biology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Pablo L Peri
- National Institute of Agricultural Research (INTA), Southern Patagonia National University (UNPA), CONICET, Río Gallegos, (CP 9400), Santa Cruz, Argentina
| | - Anita J Porath-Krause
- University of Minnesota, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, 140 Gortner Laboratory, 1479 Gortner Ave, St Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - Eric W Seabloom
- University of Minnesota, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, 140 Gortner Laboratory, 1479 Gortner Ave, St Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - Katie Schroeder
- University of Minnesota, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, 140 Gortner Laboratory, 1479 Gortner Ave, St Paul, MN, 55108, USA
- Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30603, USA
| | - Pedro M Tognetti
- IFEVA, University of Buenos Aires, CONICET, Facultad de Agronomía, Av. San Martin, 4453 C1417DSE, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Zuercherstrasse 111, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Simone-Louise E Yasui
- Queensland University of Technology, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Risto Virtanen
- Ecology and Genetics Unit, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, Oulu, Finland
| | - Lauren L Sullivan
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
- W. K. Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University, Hickory Corners, MI, 49060, USA
- Ecology, Evolution and Behavior Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
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Price JN, Sitters J, Ohlert T, Tognetti PM, Brown CS, Seabloom EW, Borer ET, Prober SM, Bakker ES, MacDougall AS, Yahdjian L, Gruner DS, Olde Venterink H, Barrio IC, Graff P, Bagchi S, Arnillas CA, Bakker JD, Blumenthal DM, Boughton EH, Brudvig LA, Bugalho MN, Cadotte MW, Caldeira MC, Dickman CR, Donohue I, Grégory S, Hautier Y, Jónsdóttir IS, Lannes LS, McCulley RL, Moore JL, Power SA, Risch AC, Schütz M, Standish R, Stevens CJ, Veen GF, Virtanen R, Wardle GM. Evolutionary history of grazing and resources determine herbivore exclusion effects on plant diversity. Nat Ecol Evol 2022; 6:1290-1298. [PMID: 35879541 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01809-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
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 soil nutrients) determine herbivore exclusion effects on plant diversity, richness and evenness. Here we show that at sites with a long history of ungulate grazing, herbivore exclusion reduced plant diversity by reducing both richness and evenness and the responses of richness and diversity to herbivore exclusion decreased with mean annual precipitation. At sites with a short history of grazing, the effects of herbivore exclusion were not related to precipitation but differed for native and exotic plant richness. Thus, plant species' evolutionary history of grazing continues to shape the response of the world's grasslands to changing mammalian herbivory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jodi N Price
- Gulbali Institute, Charles Sturt University, Albury, New South Wales, Australia.
| | - Judith Sitters
- Ecology and Biodiversity, Department Biology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium. .,Wageningen Environmental Research, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
| | - Timothy Ohlert
- Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
| | - Pedro M Tognetti
- IFEVA-CONICET, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Cynthia S Brown
- Department of Agricultural Biology and Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Eric W Seabloom
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | - Elizabeth T Borer
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | | | - Elisabeth S Bakker
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | - Andrew S MacDougall
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Laura Yahdjian
- IFEVA-CONICET, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Daniel S Gruner
- Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Harry Olde Venterink
- Ecology and Biodiversity, Department Biology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Isabel C Barrio
- Faculty of Environmental and Forest Sciences, Agricultural University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Pamela Graff
- IFEVA-CONICET, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Sumanta Bagchi
- Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Carlos Alberto Arnillas
- Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto-Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jonathan D Bakker
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Dana M Blumenthal
- Rangeland Resources & Systems Research Unit, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | | | - Lars A Brudvig
- Department of Plant Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Miguel N Bugalho
- Centre for Applied Ecology 'Prof. Baeta Neves' (CEABN-InBIO), School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Marc W Cadotte
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto-Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Maria C Caldeira
- Forest Research Centre, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Chris R Dickman
- Desert Ecology Research Group, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Ian Donohue
- Department of Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Sonnier Grégory
- Archbold Biological Station, Buck Island Ranch, Lake Placid, FL, USA
| | - Yann Hautier
- Ecology and Biodiversity Group, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | | | - Luciola S Lannes
- Department of Biology and Animal Sciences, São Paulo State University-UNESP, Ilha Solteira, Brazil
| | - Rebecca L McCulley
- Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
| | - Joslin L Moore
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Sally A Power
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Anita C Risch
- Community Ecology, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Martin Schütz
- Community Ecology, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Rachel Standish
- Environmental and Conservation Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Carly J Stevens
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
| | - G F Veen
- Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Wageningen, the Netherlands
| | | | - Glenda M Wardle
- Desert Ecology Research Group, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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Lannes LS, Karrer S, Teodoro DAA, Bustamante MMC, Edwards PJ, Olde Venterink H. Species richness both impedes and promotes alien plant invasions in the Brazilian Cerrado. Sci Rep 2020; 10:11365. [PMID: 32647221 PMCID: PMC7347851 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-68412-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2020] [Accepted: 06/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Worldwide, alien plant invasions have been intensively studied in the past decades, but mechanisms controlling the invasibility of native communities are not fully understood yet. The stochastic niche hypothesis predicts that species-rich plant communities are less prone to alien plant invasions than species-poor communities, which is supported by some but not all field studies, with some very species-rich communities such as the Brazilian Cerrado becoming heavily invaded. However, species-rich communities potentially contain a greater variety of facilitative interactions in resource exploitation than species-poor communities, from which invasive plants might benefit. This alternative hypothetical mechanism might explain why nutrient-poor, species-rich ecosystems are prone to invasion. Here we show that a high species richness both impedes and promotes invasive plants in the Brazilian Cerrado, using structural equation modelling and data from 38 field sites. We found support for the stochastic niche hypothesis through an observed direct negative influence of species richness on abundance of alien invasive species, but an indirect positive effect of species richness on invasive alien plants through soil phosphatase activity that enhances P availability was also found. These field observations were supported with results from a mesocosm experiment. Root phosphatase activity of plants increased with species richness in the mesocosms, which was associated with greater community P and N uptake. The most prominent alien grass species of the region, Melinis minutiflora, benefited most from the higher N and P availability in the species mixtures. Hence, this study provides a novel explanation of why species-richness may sometimes promote rather than impede invasion, and highlights the need to perform facilitation experiments in multi-species communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luciola S Lannes
- Department of Biology and Animal Science, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Ilha Solteira, Passeio Monção 226 Zona Norte, Ilha Solteira, SP, 15385-000, Brazil.
| | - Stefanie Karrer
- Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, Universitätstrasse 16, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland
| | | | | | - Peter J Edwards
- Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, Universitätstrasse 16, 8092, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Harry Olde Venterink
- Department of Biology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium
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Lannes LS, Bustamante MMC, Edwards PJ, Venterink HO. Alien and endangered plants in the Brazilian Cerrado exhibit contrasting relationships with vegetation biomass and N : P stoichiometry. New Phytol 2012; 196:816-823. [PMID: 22998613 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2012.04363.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2012] [Accepted: 08/31/2012] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Although endangered and alien invasive plants are commonly assumed to persist under different environmental conditions, surprisingly few studies have investigated whether this is the case. We examined how endangered and alien species are distributed in relation to community biomass and N : P ratio in the above-ground community biomass in savanna vegetation in the Brazilian Cerrado. For 60 plots, we related the occurrence of endangered (Red List) and alien invasive species to plant species richness, vegetation biomass and N : P ratio, and soil variables. Endangered plants occurred mainly in plots with relatively low above-ground biomass and high N : P ratios, whereas alien invasive species occurred in plots with intermediate to high biomass and low N : P ratios. Occurrences of endangered or alien plants were unrelated to extractable N and P concentrations in the soil. These contrasting distributions in the Cerrado imply that alien species only pose a threat to endangered species if they are able to invade sites occupied by these species and increase the above-ground biomass and/or decrease the N : P ratio of the vegetation. We found some evidence that alien species do increase above-ground community biomass in the Cerrado, but their possible effect on N : P stoichiometry requires further study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luciola S Lannes
- Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, Universitätstrasse 16, CH-8092, Zürich, Switzerland
| | | | - Peter J Edwards
- Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, Universitätstrasse 16, CH-8092, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Harry Olde Venterink
- Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zürich, Universitätstrasse 16, CH-8092, Zürich, Switzerland
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