Plant species’ origin predicts dominance and response to nutrient enrichment and herbivores in global grasslands

Eric W. Seabloom (), Elizabeth T. Borer, Yvonne M. Buckley, Elsa E. Cleland, Kendi F. Davies, Jennifer Firn, W. Stanley Harpole, Yann Hautier, Eric M. Lind, Andrew S. MacDougall, John L. Orrock, Suzanne M. Prober, Peter B. Adler, T. Michael Anderson, Jonathan D. Bakker, Lori A. Biederman, Dana M. Blumenthal, Cynthia S. Brown, Lars A. Brudvig, Marc Cadotte, Chengjin Chu, Kathryn L. Cottingham, Michael J. Crawley, Ellen I. Damschen, Carla M. Dantonio, Nicole M. DeCrappeo, Guozhen Du, Philip A. Fay, Paul Frater, Daniel S. Gruner, Nicole Hagenah, Andy Hector, Helmut Hillebrand, Kirsten S. Hofmockel, Hope C. Humphries, Virginia L. Jin, Adam Kay, Kevin P. Kirkman, Julia A. Klein, Johannes M. H. Knops, Kimberly J. La Pierre, Laura Ladwig, John G. Lambrinos, Qi Li, Wei Li, Robin Marushia, Rebecca L. McCulley, Brett A. Melbourne, Charles E. Mitchell, Joslin L. Moore, John Morgan, Brent Mortensen, Lydia R. O'Halloran, David A. Pyke, Anita C. Risch, Mahesh Sankaran, Martin Schuetz, Anna Simonsen, Melinda D. Smith, Carly J. Stevens, Lauren Sullivan, Elizabeth Wolkovich, Peter D. Wragg, Justin Wright and Louie Yang
Additional contact information
Eric W. Seabloom: Evolution, and Behavior, University of MN
Elizabeth T. Borer: Evolution, and Behavior, University of MN
Yvonne M. Buckley: ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland
Elsa E. Cleland: Ecology, Behavior & Evolution Section, University of California, San Diego
Kendi F. Davies: University of Colorado
Jennifer Firn: School of Earth, Environmental and Biological Sciences, Queensland University of Technology
W. Stanley Harpole: Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research – UFZ, Permoserstr. 15
Yann Hautier: Evolution, and Behavior, University of MN
Eric M. Lind: Evolution, and Behavior, University of MN
Andrew S. MacDougall: University of Guelph
John L. Orrock: University of Wisconsin
Suzanne M. Prober: CSIRO Land and Water Flagship
Peter B. Adler: Utah State University
T. Michael Anderson: Wake Forest University
Jonathan D. Bakker: School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington
Lori A. Biederman: Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University
Dana M. Blumenthal: Rangeland Resources Research Unit, USDA Agricultural Research Service
Cynthia S. Brown: Colorado State University
Lars A. Brudvig: Michigan State University
Marc Cadotte: University of Toronto Scarborough
Chengjin Chu: School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University
Kathryn L. Cottingham: Dartmouth College
Michael J. Crawley: Imperial College London, Silwood Park
Ellen I. Damschen: University of Wisconsin
Carla M. Dantonio: Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California
Nicole M. DeCrappeo: U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Guozhen Du: School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University
Philip A. Fay: USDA-ARS Grassland Soil and Water Research Lab
Paul Frater: Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University
Daniel S. Gruner: University of Maryland
Nicole Hagenah: School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Andy Hector: University of Oxford
Helmut Hillebrand: Carl-von-Ossietzky University, Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment
Kirsten S. Hofmockel: Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University
Hope C. Humphries: INSTAAR, University of Colorado
Virginia L. Jin: USDA-ARS Agroecosystem Management Research Unit
Adam Kay: University of St Thomas
Kevin P. Kirkman: School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Julia A. Klein: Colorado State University
Johannes M. H. Knops: School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska
Kimberly J. La Pierre: University of California
Laura Ladwig: University of New Mexico
John G. Lambrinos: Oregon State University
Qi Li: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Wei Li: Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University
Robin Marushia: University of Toronto
Rebecca L. McCulley: University of Kentucky
Brett A. Melbourne: University of Colorado
Charles E. Mitchell: University of North Carolina
Joslin L. Moore: Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology, Melbourne, c/o School of Botany, University of Melbourne
John Morgan: La Trobe University, Bundoora
Brent Mortensen: Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University
Lydia R. O'Halloran: Oregon State University
David A. Pyke: U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Anita C. Risch: Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
Mahesh Sankaran: National Centre for Biological Sciences, GKVK Campus
Martin Schuetz: Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
Anna Simonsen: University of Toronto St George
Melinda D. Smith: Colorado State University
Carly J. Stevens: Lancaster Environment Center, Lancaster University
Lauren Sullivan: Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University
Elizabeth Wolkovich: Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia
Peter D. Wragg: Evolution, and Behavior, University of MN
Justin Wright: Duke University, Box 90338
Louie Yang: University of California

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Exotic species dominate many communities; however the functional significance of species’ biogeographic origin remains highly contentious. This debate is fuelled in part by the lack of globally replicated, systematic data assessing the relationship between species provenance, function and response to perturbations. We examined the abundance of native and exotic plant species at 64 grasslands in 13 countries, and at a subset of the sites we experimentally tested native and exotic species responses to two fundamental drivers of invasion, mineral nutrient supplies and vertebrate herbivory. Exotic species are six times more likely to dominate communities than native species. Furthermore, while experimental nutrient addition increases the cover and richness of exotic species, nutrients decrease native diversity and cover. Native and exotic species also differ in their response to vertebrate consumer exclusion. These results suggest that species origin has functional significance, and that eutrophication will lead to increased exotic dominance in grasslands.

Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms8710 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms8710

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms8710

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().