Local loss and spatial homogenization of plant diversity reduce ecosystem multifunctionality

Authors: HAUTIER, YANN - Utrecht University; ISBELL, FOREST - University Of Minnesota; BORER, ELIZABETH - University Of Minnesota; SEABLOOM, ERIC - University Of Minnesota; HARPOLE, W - Helmholtz Centre For Environmental Research; LIND, ERIC - University Of Minnesota; MACDOUGALL, ANDREW - University Of Guelph; STEVENS, CARLY - Consejo Nacional De Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas(CONICET); ADLER, PETER - Utah State University; ALBERTI, JUAN - Consejo Nacional De Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas(CONICET); BAKKER, JONATHAN - University Of Washington; BRUDVIG, LARS - Michigan State University; BUCKLEY, YVONNE - Trinity College; CADOTTE, MARC - University Of Toronto; CALDEIRA, MARIA - University Of Lisbon; CHANETON, ENRIQUE - Universidad De Buenos Aires; CHU, CHENGJIN - Lanzhou University; DALEO, PEDRO - Consejo Nacional De Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas(CONICET); DICKMAN, CHRISTOPHER - University Of Sydney; DWYER, JOHN - University Of Queensland; ESKELINEN, ANU - Helmholtz Centre For Environmental Research; Fay, Philip; FIRN, JENNIFER - Queensland University Of Technology; HAGENAH, NICOLE - University Of Kwazulu-Natal; HILLEBRAND, HELMUT - Carl von Ossietzky University Of Oldenburg; IRBARNE, OSCAR - Consejo Nacional De Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas(CONICET); KIRKMAN, KEVIN - University Of Kwazulu-Natal; KNOPS, JOHANNES - University Of Nebraska; LA PIERRE, KIMBERLY - University Of California; MCCULLEY, REBECCA - University Of Kentucky; MORGAN, JOHN - La Trobe University; PARTEL, MEELIS - University Of Tartu; PASCUAL, JESUS - Consejo Nacional De Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas(CONICET); PRICE, JODI - Charles Sturt University; PROBER, SUZANNE - Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO); RISCH, ANITA - Swiss Federal Institute; SANKARAN, MAHESH - University Of Leeds; SCHUETZ, MARTIN - Swiss Federal Institute; STANDISH, RACHEL - Murdoch University; VIRTANEN, RISTO - Helmholtz Centre For Environmental Research; WARDLE, GLENDA - University Of Sydney; YAHDJIAN, LAURA - Consejo Nacional De Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas(CONICET); HECTOR, ANDY - University Of Oxford

Submitted to: Nature Ecology and Evolution
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/25/2017
Publication Date: 1/25/2018
Citation: Hautier, Y., Isbell, F., Borer, E., Seabloom, E.W., Harpole, W.S., Lind, E.M., MacDougall, A.S., Stevens, C.J., Adler, P.B., Alberti, J., Bakker, J.D., Brudvig, L., Buckley, Y.M., Cadotte, M.W., Caldeira, M.C., Chaneton, E.J., Chu, C., Daleo, P., Dickman, C.R., Dwyer, J.M., Eskelinen, A., Fay, P.A., Firn, J., Hagenah, N., Hillebrand, H., Irbarne, O., Kirkman, K.P., Knops, J.M., La Pierre, K., McCulley, R.L., Morgan, J.W., Partel, M., Pascual, J., Price, J.N., Prober, S.M., Risch, A.C., Sankaran, M., Schuetz, M., Standish, R.J., Virtanen, R., Wardle, G.M., Yahdjian, L., Hector, A. 2018. Local loss and spatial homogenization of plant diversity reduce ecosystem multifunctionality. Nature Ecology and Evolution. 2(1):50-56.

Interpretive Summary: Ecosystems provide many important services to people - food, fiber, clean water among many others. It is widely held that with more species present in an ecosystem, more services are provided, and this is one of the main arguments for restoring biodiversity to landscapes where it has been reduced by human activities and to maintain it where it still exists. To make rational policy decisions related to biodiversity, it is crucial to understand what factors control how diversity and ecosystem service provision are related. In particular the crucial question of whether having a high total number of species, or whether having different species from place to place, such as from one end of a pasture to the other, matters more to maximizing ecosystem service provision, remains uncertain. This paper presents a global analysis of eight ecosystem processes directly related to ecosystem services measured in 65 grasslands worldwide. We found that grasslands that had more species and high differences in species composition from place to place among local communities also had high measures of more processes related to ecosystem services. The identity of the influential species differed between ecosystem processes and among local communities, explaining why more diverse communities maintained ecosystem functioning when a wider range of processes and local communities were considered. These results were general across grasslands. This research is important for land management policy, because it indicates that policies need to encourage high local species numbers and changing species identity across landscapes to assure provision of the multiple services provided by grassland ecosystems.

Technical Abstract: Experimental studies show that local plant species loss decreases ecosystem functioning and services, but it remains unclear how other changes in biodiversity, such as spatial homogenization, alter multiple processes (multifunctionality) in natural ecosystems. We present a global analysis of eight ecosystem processes measured in 65 grasslands worldwide. We find that more diverse plant communities – which had many species locally and high differences in species composition among local communities (alpha and beta diversity) – also had higher levels of multifunctionality. The identity of the species influencing ecosystem functioning differed between ecosystem processes and among local communities, explaining why more diverse communities maintained ecosystem functioning when a wider range of processes and local communities were considered. These results were general across grasslands worldwide and robust to variation in both biotic and abiotic drivers. Our findings reveal that plant diversity at both local and landscape scales maintains the multiple services provided by grassland ecosystems. Preserving ecosystem functioning therefore requires avoiding both local losses and spatial homogenization of biodiversity.