Location: Rangeland Resources & Systems Research
Title: Evolutionary history of grazing and resources determine herbivore exclusion effects on plant diversityAuthor
PRICE, JODI - CHARLES STUART UNIVERSITY | |
SITTERS, JUDITH - VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL | |
OHLERT, TIMOTHY - UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO | |
TOGNETTI, PEDRO - UNIVERSIDAD DE BUENOS AIRES | |
BROWN, CYNTHIA - COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY | |
SEABLOOM, ERIC - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA | |
BORER, ELIZABETH - UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA | |
PROBER, SUZANNE - CSIRO EUROPEAN LABORATORY | |
BAKKER, ELISABETH - NETHERLANDS INSTITUTE OF ECOLOGY | |
MACDOUGALL, ANDREW - UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH | |
YAHDJIAN, LAURA - UNIVERSIDAD DE BUENOS AIRES | |
GRUNER, DANIEL - UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND | |
VENTERINK, HARRY - VRIJE UNIVERSITY | |
BARRIO, ISABEL - UNIVERSITY OF ICELAND | |
GRAFF, PAMELA - UNIVERSIDAD DE BUENOS AIRES | |
BAGCHI, SUMANTA - INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE | |
ARNILLAS, CARLOS - UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO | |
BAKKER, JONATHAN - UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON | |
Blumenthal, Dana | |
BOUGHTON, ELIZABETH - ARCHBOLD BIOLOGICAL STATION | |
BRUDVIG, LARS - MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY | |
BUGALHO, MIGUEL - UNIVERSITY OF LISBON | |
CADOTTE, MARC - UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO | |
CALDEIRA, MARIA - UNIVERSITY OF LISBON | |
DICKMAN, CHRIS - UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY | |
DONOHUE, IAN - TRINITY COLLEGE | |
GREGORY, SONNIER - ARCHBOLD BIOLOGICAL STATION | |
HAUTIER, YANN - UTRECHT UNIVERSITY | |
JONSDOTTIR, INGIBJORG - UNIVERSITY OF ICELAND | |
LANNES, LUCIOLA - SAO PAULO STATE UNIVERSITY (UNESP) | |
MCCULLEY, R - UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY | |
MOORE, JOSLIN - MONASH UNIVERSITY | |
POWER, SALLY - WESTERN SYDNEY UNIVERSITY | |
RISCH, ANITA - WESTERN SYDNEY UNIVERSITY | |
SCHUTZ, MARTIN - SWISS FEDERAL INSTITUTE | |
STANDISH, RACHEL - MURDOCH UNIVERSITY | |
STEVENS, CARLY - LANCASTER UNIVERSITY | |
VEEN, G - NETHERLANDS INSTITUTE OF ECOLOGY | |
VIRTANEN, RISTO - UNIVERSITY OF OULU | |
WARDLE, GLENDA - UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY |
Submitted to: Nature Ecology and Evolution
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 6/24/2022 Publication Date: 7/25/2022 Citation: Price, J., Sitters, J., Ohlert, T., Tognetti, P., Brown, C.S., Seabloom, E.W., Borer, E.T., Prober, S., Bakker, E.S., MacDougall, A.S., Yahdjian, L., Gruner, D.S., Venterink, H.O., Barrio, I.C., Graff, P., Bagchi, S., Arnillas, C.A., Bakker, J.D., Blumenthal, D.M., Boughton, E.H., Brudvig, L.A., Bugalho, M.N., Cadotte, M.W., Caldeira, M.C., Dickman, C.R., Donohue, I., Gregory, S., Hautier, Y., Jonsdottir, I.S., Lannes, L.S., McCulley, R.L., Moore, J.L., Power, S.A., Risch, A.C., Schutz, M., Standish, R., Stevens, C.J., Veen, G.F., Virtanen, R., Wardle, G.M. 2022. Evolutionary history of grazing and resources determine herbivore exclusion effects on plant diversity. Nature Ecology and Evolution. 6:1290-1298. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01809-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01809-9 Interpretive Summary: Using a globally distributed experiment, with 57 grassland sites, we tested how herbivore exclusion affects plant diversity, and how these effects are mediated by precipitation, nutrient addition, and evolutionary history of grazing. In sites with a long evolutionary history of grazing, herbivore exclusion reduced plant diversity by reducing both species richness and evenness, as predicted. In short-history sites, the effects of herbivore exclusion differed for native and exotic plant richness and depended on fertilization; native species richness was unaffected by herbivore exclusion, whereas exotic species richness declined with herbivore exclusion in fertilized plots. These results demonstrate that plant species’ evolutionary history of grazing continues to shape the response of the world’s grasslands to changing mammalian herbivory. Technical Abstract: Canonical ecological models predict that the effects of mammalian herbivore exclusion on plant diversity depend on resource availability and plant exposure to ungulate grazing over evolutionary time. Using an experiment replicated in 57 grasslands on six continents, with contrasting evolutionary history of grazing, we tested how resources (mean annual precipitation and nutrient addition) determine herbivore exclusion effects on plant diversity, decomposed into richness and evenness. We test the hypothesis that in sites with a long history of ungulate grazing, plant diversity decreases with herbivore exclusion in resource-rich sites; whereas in short-history sites the effect of herbivore exclusion depends on plant species origin (native or exotic from long history sites). We found that in long-history sites, herbivore exclusion reduced plant diversity by reducing both richness and evenness, but only the response of richness to herbivore exclusion decreased with mean annual precipitation. In short-history sites, the effects of herbivore exclusion differed for native and exotic plant richness and depended on fertilization; native species richness was unaffected by herbivore exclusion, whereas exotic species richness declined with herbivore exclusion in fertilized plots. In sum, herbivore exclusion caused loss of plant diversity in resource rich grasslands that evolved with ungulates, but these findings do not simply extrapolate to other grasslands, rather they depend on grazing history and plant provenance. Thus, plant species’ evolutionary history of grazing continues to shape the response of the world’s grasslands to changing mammalian herbivory. |