Plant diversity effects on grassland productivity are robust to both nutrient enrichment and drought.
Global change drivers are rapidly altering resource availability and biodiversity. While there is consensus that greater biodiversity increases the functioning of ecosystems, the extent to which biodiversity buffers ecosystem productivity in response to changes in resource availability remains unclear. We use data from 16 grassland experiments across North America and Europe that manipulated plant species richness and one of two essential resources-soil nutrients or water-to assess the direction and strength of the interaction between plant diversity and resource alteration on above-ground productivity and net biodiversity, complementarity, and selection effects. Despite strong increases in productivity with nutrient addition and decreases in productivity with drought, we found that resource alterations did not alter biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships. Our results suggest that these relationships are largely determined by increases in complementarity effects along plant species richness gradients. Although nutrient addition reduced complementarity effects at high diversity, this appears to be due to high biomass in monocultures under nutrient enrichment. Our results indicate that diversity and the complementarity of species are important regulators of grassland ecosystem productivity, regardless of changes in other drivers of ecosystem function.
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Johannisallee 21, 04103 Leipzig, Germany dylan.craven@aya.yale.edu.
Dylan
0000-0003-3940-833X
D
Craven
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA.
Forest
F
Isbell
Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Bern, 3013 Bern, Switzerland Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Senckenberg, Senckenberganlage 25, Frankfurt am Main, 60325, Germany.
Pete
P
Manning
Ecological and Environmental Modelling Group, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Republic of Ireland.
John
J
Connolly
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany Institute of Biology/Geobotany and Botanical Garden, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany.
Helge
H
Bruelheide
Institute of Ecology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Strasse 159, 07743 Jena, Germany.
Anne
A
Ebeling
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany Department of Physiological Diversity, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany.
Christiane
C
Roscher
Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation Group, Wageningen University, PO Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Jasper
J
van Ruijven
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Johannisallee 21, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Alexandra
A
Weigelt
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
Brian
B
Wilsey
Department of Biogeography, BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany.
Carl
C
Beierkuhnlein
Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
Enrica
E
de Luca
Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales, UK.
John N
JN
Griffin
Ecology and Biodiversity Group, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Yann
Y
Hautier
Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3RB, UK.
Andy
A
Hector
Department of Disturbance Ecology, BayCEER, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany.
Anke
A
Jentsch
Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University Greifswald, 17487 Greifswald, Germany.
Jürgen
J
Kreyling
Department of Botany, Faculty of Sciences, University of South Bohemia, Branisovska 31, 37005 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
Vojtech
V
Lanta
Centre for Biodiversity Theory and Modelling, Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Paul Sabatier University, 09200 Moulis, France.
Michel
M
Loreau
Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management, School of Life Sciences, Weihenstephan, Technische Universität München, 85354 Freising, Germany.
Sebastian T
ST
Meyer
Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, 79-7 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 240-8501, Japan.
Akira S
AS
Mori
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
Shahid
S
Naeem
Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 90183 Umea, Sweden.
Cecilia
C
Palmborg
USDA-ARS Grassland, Soil and Water Research Laboratory, Temple, TX 76502, USA.
H Wayne
HW
Polley
Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, 1530 North Cleveland Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales 2751, Australia.
Peter B
PB
Reich
Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
Bernhard
B
Schmid
Department of Community Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ, Theodor-Lieser Strasse 4, 06120 Halle, Germany.
Alrun
A
Siebenkäs
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA.
Eric
E
Seabloom
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Johannisallee 21, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Madhav P
MP
Thakur
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA.
David
D
Tilman
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management, School of Life Sciences, Weihenstephan, Technische Universität München, 85354 Freising, Germany.
Anja
A
Vogel
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Johannisallee 21, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Nico
N
Eisenhauer
D044822:Biodiversity; D055864:Droughts; D005060:Europe; D005068:Eutrophication; D065948:Grassland; D009656:North America; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena
drought; global change drivers; plant diversity; resource amendment; resource reduction; soil nutrients