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Title: Herbivores and nutrients control grassland plant diversity via light limitation

Author
item BORER, ELIZABETH - University Of Minnesota
item SEABLOOM, ERIC - University Of Minnesota
item GRUNER, DANIEL - University Of Maryland
item HARPOLE, W - Iowa State University
item HILLEBRAND, HELMUT - Carl von Ossietzky University Of Oldenburg
item LIND, ERIC - University Of Minnesota
item ADLER, PETER - Utah State University
item ALBERTI, JUAN - Consejo Nacional De Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas(CONICET)
item ANDERSON, MICHAEL - Wake Forest University
item BAKKER, JONATHAN - University Of Washington
item BIEDERMAN, LORI - Iowa State University
item Blumenthal, Dana
item BROWN, CYNTHIA - Colorado State University
item BRUDVIG, LARS - Michigan State University
item BUCKLEY, YVONNE - University Of Queensland
item CADOTTE, MARC - University Of Toronto
item CHU, CHENGJIN - Lanzhou University
item CLELAND, ELSA - University Of California
item CRAWLEY, MICHAEL - Imperial College
item DALEO, PEDRO - Consejo Nacional De Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas(CONICET)
item DAMSCHEN, ELLEN - University Of California
item DAVIES, KENDI - University Of Colorado
item DECRAPPEO, NICOLE - Us Geological Survey (USGS)
item DU, GUOZHEN - Lanzhou University
item FIRN, JENNIFER - Queensland University Of Technology
item HAUTIER, YANN - University Of Minnesota
item HECKMAN, ROBERT - University Of North Carolina
item HECTOR, ANDY - University Of Oxford
item HILLERISLAMBERS, JANNEKE - University Of Washington
item IRIBARNE, OSCAR - Consejo Nacional De Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas(CONICET)
item KLEIN, JULIA - Colorado State University
item KNOPS, JOHANNES - University Of Nebraska
item LA PIERRE, KIMBERLY - University Of California
item LEAKEY, ANDREW - University Of Illinois
item LI, WEI - Iowa State University
item MACDOUGALL, ANDREW - University Of Guelph
item MCCULLEY, REBECCA - University Of Kentucky
item MELBOURNE, BRETT - University Of Colorado
item MITCHELL, CHARLES - University Of North Carolina
item MOORE, JOSLIN - Royal Botanical Gardens
item MORTENSON, BRENT - Iowa State University
item O'HALLORAN, LYDIA - Oregon State University
item ORROCK, JOHN - University Of California
item PASCUAL, JESUS - Consejo Nacional De Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas(CONICET)
item PROBER, SUZANNE - Csiro European Laboratory
item PYKE, DAVID - Us Geological Society
item RISCH, ANITA - Csiro European Laboratory
item SCHUETZ, MARTIN - Swiss Federal Institute
item SMITH, MELINDA - Colorado State University
item STEVENS, CARLY - Lancaster University
item SULLIVAN, LAUREN - Iowa State University
item WILLIAMS, RYAN - Iowa State University
item WRAGG, PETER - University Of Minnesota
item WRIGHT, JUSTIN - Duke University
item YANG, LOUIE - University Of California

Submitted to: Nature
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/11/2014
Publication Date: 3/9/2014
Citation: Borer, E.T., Seabloom, E.W., Gruner, D.S., Harpole, W.S., Hillebrand, H., Lind, E.M., Adler, P.B., Alberti, J., Anderson, M.T., Bakker, J.D., Biederman, L., Blumenthal, D.M., Brown, C.S., Brudvig, L.A., Buckley, Y.M., Cadotte, M., Chu, C., Cleland, E., Crawley, M.J., Daleo, P., Damschen, E.I., Davies, K.F., Decrappeo, N.M., Du, G., Firn, J., Hautier, Y., Heckman, R.W., Hector, A., Hillerislambers, J., Iribarne, O., Klein, J.A., Knops, J.M., La Pierre, K.J., Leakey, A.D., Li, W., Macdougall, A.S., Mcculley, R.L., Melbourne, B.A., Mitchell, C.E., Moore, J.L., Mortenson, B., O'Halloran, L.R., Orrock, J.L., Pascual, J., Prober, S.M., Pyke, D.A., Risch, A.C., Schuetz, M., Smith, M.D., Stevens, C.J., Sullivan, L.L., Williams, R.J., Wragg, P.D., Wright, J.P., Yang, L.H. 2014. Herbivores and nutrients control grassland plant diversity via light limitation. Nature. 508:517-520.

Interpretive Summary: Human alterations to nutrient cycles and herbivore communities are dramatically altering global biodiversity. Our multi-year experiment replicated in 40 grasslands on six continents demonstrates that nutrients and herbivores can serve as counteracting forces controlling plant diversity, independent of site characteristics such as plant productivity, soils, herbivore type, and climate. Nutrient addition consistently reduced local diversity via light limitation, and herbivory rescued diversity at sites where it alleviated light limitation. Thus, species loss from anthropogenic nutrient enrichment can be ameliorated where herbivory increases ground-level light.

Technical Abstract: Human alterations to nutrient cycles and herbivore communities are dramatically altering global biodiversity. Theory predicts these changes to be strongly counteractive: nutrient addition drives plant species loss through intensified competition for light, whereas herbivores prevent competitive exclusion by increasing ground-level light, especially in productive systems. Using experimental data spanning a globally-relevant range of conditions, we test the generality of the hypothesis that herbaceous plant species losses caused by eutrophication may be offset by increased light availability due to herbivory. Our multi-year experiment replicated in 40 grasslands on six continents demonstrates that nutrients and herbivores can serve as counteracting forces controlling plant diversity via light limitation, independent of site productivity, soils, herbivore type, and climate. Nutrient addition consistently reduced local diversity via light limitation, and herbivory rescued diversity at sites where it alleviated light limitation. Thus, species loss from anthropogenic eutrophication can be ameliorated where herbivory increases ground-level light.