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ARS Home » Plains Area » Miles City, Montana » Livestock and Range Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #362483
Research Project: Adaptive Rangeland Management of Livestock Grazing, Disturbance, and Climatic Variation

Location: Livestock and Range Research Laboratory

Title: Resolving variation in herbivore effects on plant biodiversity – change in dominance as a global mechanism

Author
item KOERNER, SALLY - University Of North Carolina Greensboro
item SMITH, MELINDA - Colorado State University
item BURKEPILE, DERON - University Of California
item HANAN, NIALL - New Mexico State University
item AVOLIO, MEGHAN - Johns Hopkins University
item COLLINS, SCOTT - University Of New Mexico
item KNAPP, ALAN - Colorado State University
item LEMOINE, NATHAN - Colorado State University
item FORRESTEL, ELISABETH - University Of California, Davis
item EBY, STEPHANIE - Northeastern University
item THOMPSON, DAVE - University Of Witwatersrand
item AGUADO-SANTACRUZ, GERARDO - Instituto Tecnologico El Llano
item ANDERSON, JOHN - New Mexico State University
item ANDERSON, MICHAEL - Wake Forest University
item ANGASSA, AYANA - Hawassa University
item BAGCHI, SUMANTA - Indian Institute Of Science
item BAKKER, ELISABETH - Netherlands Institute Of Ecology
item BASTIN, GARY - Retired Non ARS Employee
item BAUR, LAUREN - University Of New Mexico
item BEARD, KAREN - Utah State University
item BEEVER, ERIK - Montana State University
item BOHLEN, PATRICK - University Of Central Florida
item BOUGHTON, ELIZABETH - Macarthur Agro-Ecology Research Center
item CANESTRO, DON - University Of California
item CESA, ARIELA - National Institute Of Agricultural Technology(INTA)
item CHANETON, ENRIQUE - Universidad De Buenos Aires
item CHENG, JIMIN - Northwest A&f University
item D'ANONIO, CARLA - University Of California
item DELEGLISE, CLAIRE - Universite Grenoble Alpes
item DEMBELE, FADIALA - The Rural Polytechnic Institute For Training And Applied Research
item DORROUGH, JOSH - Nsw Office Of Environment And Heritage
item ELDRIDGE, DAVID - University Of Sydney
item FERNANDEZ-GOING, BARBARA - University Of Texas At Austin
item FERNANDEZ-LUGO, SILVIA - Unidad De Investigacion En Enfermedades Infecciosas, Centro Medico Nacional Sxxi, Imss
item FRASER, LAUCHLAN - Thompson Rivers University
item FREEDMAN, BILL - Dalhousie University
item GARCIA-SALGADO, GONZALO - University Of Alcala
item GOHEEN, JACOB - University Of Wyoming
item GUO, LIANG - Northwest A&f University
item HUSHEER, SEAN - New Zealand Forest Surveys
item KAREMBE, MOUSSA - University Of Bamako
item KNOPS, JOHANNES - University Of Nebraska
item KRAAIJ, TINEKE - Nelson Mandela University
item KULMATISKI, ANDREW - Utah State University
item KYTOVIITA, MINNA-MAARIT - University Of Jyvaskyla
item LEZANA, FELIPE - Universidad De La República
item LOUCOUGARAY, GREGORY - Universite Grenoble Alpes
item LOYDI, ALEJANDRO - Consejo Nacional De Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas(CONICET)
item MILCHUNAS, DAN - Colorado State University
item MILTON, SUE - South African Environmental Observation Network
item MORGAN, JOGN - La Trobe University
item MOXHAM, CLAIRE - Department Of Environment And Climate Change
item NEHRING, KYLE - Utah State University
item OLFF, HAN - University Of Groningen
item PALMER, TODD - University Of Florida
item REBOLLO, SALVADOR - University Of Alcala
item RIGINOS, CORINNA - Nature Conservancy
item RISCH, ANITA - Swiss Federal Institute
item RUEDA, MARTA - Doñana Biological Station
item SANKARAN, MAHESH - Leeds University
item SASAKI, TAKEHIRO - Yokohama National University
item SCHOENECKER, KATHRYN - Colorado State University
item SCHULTZ, NICK - Federation University
item SCHUETZ, MARTIN - Swiss Federal Institute
item SCHWABE, ANGELIKA - Technical University Of Darmstadt
item SIEBERT, FRANCES - North-West University
item SMIT, CHRISTIAN - University Of Groningen
item STAHLHEBER, KAREN - University Of Wisconsin
item STORM, CHRISTIAN - Technical University Of Darmstadt
item Strong, Dustin
item SU, JISHUAI - Northwest A&f University
item TIRUVAIMOZHI, YADUGIRI - The Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research
item TYLER, CLAUDIA - University Of California
item VAL, JAMES - Nsw Office Of Environment And Heritage
item VANDERGEHUCHTE, MARTIIJN - Ghent University
item VEBLEN, KARI - Utah State University
item Vermeire, Lance
item WARD, DAVID - Kent State University
item WU, JIANSHUANG - Chinese Academy Of Sciences
item YOUNG, TRUMAN - University Of California
item YU, QIANG - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item ZELIKOVA, TAMARA - University Of Wyoming

Submitted to: Nature Ecology and Evolution
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/13/2018
Publication Date: 10/29/2018
Citation: Koerner, S.E., Smith, M.D., Burkepile, D.E., Hanan, N.P., Avolio, M.L., Collins, S.L., Knapp, A.K., Lemoine, N.P., Forrestel, E.J., Eby, S., Thompson, D.I., Aguado-Santacruz, G., Anderson, J.P., Anderson, M., Angassa, A., Bagchi, S., Bakker, E.S., Bastin, G., Baur, L.E., Beard, K.H., Beever, E.A., Bohlen, P.J., Boughton, E.H., Canestro, D., Cesa, A., Chaneton, E., Cheng, J., D'Anonio, C.M., Deleglise, C., Dembele, F., Dorrough, J., Eldridge, D., Fernandez-Going, B., Fernandez-Lugo, S., Fraser, L.H., Freedman, B., Garcia-Salgado, G., Goheen, J.R., Guo, L., Husheer, S., Karembe, M., Knops, J.M., Kraaij, T., Kulmatiski, A., Kytoviita, M., Lezana, F., Loucougaray, G., Loydi, A., Milchunas, D.G., Milton, S., Morgan, J.W., Moxham, C., Nehring, K.C., Olff, H., Palmer, T., Rebollo, S., Riginos, C., Risch, A.C., Rueda, M., Sankaran, M., Sasaki, T., Schoenecker, K., Schultz, N.L., Schuetz, M., Schwabe, A., Siebert, F., Smit, C., Stahlheber, K.A., Storm, C., Strong, D.J., Su, J., Tiruvaimozhi, Y., Tyler, C., Val, J., Vandergehuchte, M.L., Veblen, K.E., Vermeire, L.T., Ward, D., Wu, J., Young, T.P., Yu, Q., Zelikova, T.J. 2018. Resolving variation in herbivore effects on plant biodiversity – change in dominance as a global mechanism. Nature Ecology and Evolution. 2:1925-1932. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0696-y.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0696-y

Interpretive Summary: Herbivores alter plant biodiversity (species richness) in many of the world’s ecosystems, but the size and direction of those effects vary widely within and among ecosystems. One current theory predicts that herbivores enhance plant biodiversity at high productivity, but have the opposite effect at low productivity. Data do not strongly support the idea that site productivity affects herbivore impacts either way. We synthesize data from 252 large-herbivore exclusion studies, spanning a 20-fold range in site productivity, to test an alternative hypothesis – that herbivore-induced changes in the competitive environment determine the response of plant biodiversity to herbivory irrespective of productivity. Under this hypothesis, when herbivores reduce the abundance (biomass, cover) of dominant species (e.g., because the dominant plant is palatable), additional resources become available to support new species and increase biodiversity. By contrast, if herbivores promote high dominance by increasing the abundance of grazing-resistant, unpalatable species, then resource availability decreases for other species and reduces biodiversity. We show for the first time that change in plant dominance caused by herbivores is the best predictor of herbivore effects on biodiversity in grassland and savanna sites, independent of site productivity or precipitation. Given that most herbaceous ecosystems are dominated by one or a few species, altering the competitive environment with herbivores or by other means may be an effective strategy for conserving biodiversity in grasslands and savannas globally.

Technical Abstract: Herbivores alter plant biodiversity (species richness) in many of the world’s ecosystems, but the magnitude and the direction of herbivore effects on biodiversity vary widely within and among ecosystems. One current theory predicts that herbivores enhance plant biodiversity at high productivity but have the opposite effect at low productivity. Yet, empirical support for the importance of site productivity as a mediator of these herbivore impacts is equivocal. Here, we synthesize data from 252 large-herbivore exclusion studies, spanning a 20-fold range in site productivity, to test an alternative hypothesis – that herbivore-induced changes in the competitive environment determine the response of plant biodiversity to herbivory irrespective of productivity. Under this hypothesis, when herbivores reduce the abundance (biomass, cover) of dominant species (e.g., because the dominant plant is palatable), additional resources become available to support new species, thereby increasing biodiversity. By contrast, if herbivores promote high dominance by increasing the abundance of herbivory-resistant, unpalatable species, resource availability for other species decreases, reducing biodiversity. We show for the first time that herbivore-induced change in dominance, independent of site productivity or precipitation (a proxy for productivity), is the best predictor of herbivore effects on biodiversity in grassland and savanna sites. Given that most herbaceous ecosystems are dominated by one or a few species, altering the competitive environment via herbivores or by other means may be an effective strategy for conserving biodiversity in grasslands and savannas globally.