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ARS Home » Plains Area » Temple, Texas » Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #325363

Title: Addition of multiple limiting resources reduces grassland diversity

Author
item HARPOLE, W. - Helmholtz Centre For Environmental Research
item SULLIVAN, LAUREN - University Of Minnesota
item LIND, ERIC - University Of Minnesota
item FIRN, JENNIFER - Queensland University Of Technology
item ADLER, PETER - Utah State University
item BORER, ELIZABETH - University Of Minnesota
item CHASE, JONATHAN - Martin Luther University
item Fay, Philip
item HAUTIER, YANN - Utrecht University
item HILLEBRAND, HELMUT - Carl von Ossietzky University Of Oldenburg
item MACDOUGALL, ANDREW - University Of Guelph
item SEABLOOM, ERIC - University Of Minnesota
item WILLIAMS, RYAN - University Of Minnesota
item BAKKER, JONATHAN - University Of Washington
item CADOTTE, MARC - University Of Toronto
item CHANETON, ENRIQUE - Consejo Nacional De Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas(CONICET)
item CHU, CHENGJIN - Lanzhou University
item CLELAND, ELSA - University Of California
item D'ANTONIO, CARLA - University Of California
item DAVIES, KENDI - University Of Colorado
item GRUNER, DANIEL - University Of Maryland
item HAGENAH, NICOLE - University Of Kwazulu-Natal
item KIRKMAN, KEVIN - University Of Kwazulu-Natal
item KNOPS, JOHANNES - University Of Nebraska
item LA PIERRE, KIMBERLY - University Of California
item MCCULLEY, REBECCA - University Of Kentucky
item MOORE, JOSLIN - Monash University
item MORGAN, JOHN - La Trobe University
item PROBER, SUZANNE - Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
item RISCH, ANITA - Swiss Federal Research Institute Wsl
item SCHUETZ, MARTIN - Swiss Federal Research Institute Wsl
item STEVENS, CARLY - Lancaster University
item WRAGG, PETER - Yale University

Submitted to: Nature
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/21/2016
Publication Date: 9/1/2016
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/63145
Citation: Harpole, W.S., Sullivan, L., Lind, E., Firn, J., Adler, P., Borer, E., Chase, J., Fay, P.A., Hautier, Y., Hillebrand, H., MacDougall, A.S., Seabloom, E., Williams, R., Bakker, J.D., Cadotte, M., Chaneton, E., Chu, C., Cleland, E.E., D'Antonio, C.D., Davies, K.F., Gruner, D.S., Hagenah, N., Kirkman, K., Knops, J.M., La Pierre, K.J., McCulley, R.L., Moore, J., Morgan, J.W., Prober, S., Risch, A.C., Schuetz, M., Stevens, C., Wragg, P. 2016. Addition of multiple limiting resources reduces grassland diversity. Nature. 537:93-96. doi:10.1038/nature19324.

Interpretive Summary: A critical basic question related to the sustainability of agroecosystem goods and services provision is whether sustainability can be better attained through use of simple systems based on one or a few plant species, or through the use of mixtures with many species. Underlying this question is a fundamental ecological hypothesis- the coexistence of many species implies the presence of many niches. To test the connection between the number of niches and the number of plant species present in grasslands, we experimentally eliminated fundamental nutrient niches of plants (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, or N, P and K availability) by fertilizing with each nutrient singly or pairwise combinations of each nutrient (i.e., N and P together, N and K together, etc.) at 45 grassland sites around the world. We found that adding multiple nutrients reduced diversity whether or not multiple nutrients limited plant productivity. This result is important because nutrient inputs, for example from atmospheric deposition or intentional fertilization, reduce the ability of ecosystems to support many species. The results highlight the negative consequences of nutrient inputs where they are not needed.

Technical Abstract: Niche dimensionality is the most general theoretical explanation for biodiversity: more niches allow for more ecological tradeoffs between species and thus greater opportunities for coexistence. Resource competition theory predicts that removing resource limitations, by increasing resource availability, should reduce niche dimensionality and species coexistence opportunities. Using a worldwide experimental network of 45 grassland sites, we found general support for these theoretical predictions: species diversity decreased with greater numbers of resources that were increased artificially. The number of added resources predicted loss of diversity even after controlling for potential indirect effects of increased biomass, even at sites with no evidence of nutrient limitation of biomass. Our results provide evidence that multiple resource limitation can affect species coexistence and biomass production differently.