Plant species’ origin predicts dominance and response to nutrient enrichment and herbivores in global grasslands

Authors

• Eric W. Seabloom, University of MinnesotaFollow
• Elizabeth T. Borer, University of Minnesota - Twin CitiesFollow
• Yvonne Buckley, University of QueenslandFollow
• Elsa E. Cleland, University of California - San DiegoFollow
• Kendi F. Davies, University of Colorado, BoulderFollow
• Jennifer Firn, Queensland University of Technology
• W. Stanley Harpole, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)Follow
• Yann Hautier, University of MinnesotaFollow
• Eric M. Lind, University of MinnesotaFollow
• Andrew Macdougall, University of Guelph
• John L. Orrock, University of WisconsinFollow
• Suzanne M. Prober, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
• Peter B. Adler, Utah State University
• T. Michael Anderson, Wake Forest UniversityFollow
• Jonathan D. Bakker, University of WashingtonFollow
• Lori A. Biederman, Iowa State UniversityFollow
• Dana M. Blumenthal, USDA-ARSFollow
• Cynthia S. Brown, Colorado State University
• Lars A. Brudvig, Michigan State University
• Marc W. Cadotte, University of Toronto
• Chengjin Chu, Lanzhou University
• Kathryn L. Cottingham, Dartmouth College
• Michael J. Crawley, Imperial College London
• Ellen I. Damschen, University of Wisconsin - MadisonFollow
• Carla M. Dantonio, University of California, Santa Barbara
• Nicole M. DeCrappeo, U.S. Geological Survey
• Guozhen Du, Lanzhou University
• Philip A. Fay, USDA-ARSFollow
• Paul Frater, Iowa State University
• Daniel S. Gruner, University of Maryland at College ParkFollow
• Nicole Hagenah, University of KwaZulu-Natal
• Andy Hector, University of Oxford
• Helmut Hillebrand, Carl-von-Ossietzky University
• Kirsten S. Hofmockel, Iowa State University
• Hope Humphries, University of ColoradoFollow
• Virginia L. Jin, USDA-ARSFollow
• Adam Kay, University of St. Thomas, Saint Paul
• Kevin P. Kirkman, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South AfricaFollow
• Julia A. Klein, Colorado State University - Fort Collins
• Johannes M. H. Knops, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
• Kimberly J. La Pierre, University of California - Berkeley
• Laura M. Ladwig, University of New Mexico
• John G. Lambrinos, Oregon State University
• Qi Li, Chinese Academy of Sciences
• Wei Li, Southwest Forestry University
• Robin Marushia, University of Toronto
• Rebecca McCulley, University of KentuckyFollow
• Brett Melbourne, University of Colorado BoulderFollow
• Charles E. Mitchell, University of North CarolinaFollow
• Joslin L. Moore, University of Melbourne
• John Morgan, La Trobe University
• Brent Mortensen, Iowa State University
• Lydia R. O'Halloran, Oregon State University
• David A. Pyke, U.S. Geological SurveyFollow
• Anita C. Risch, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest
• Mahesh Sankaran, National Centre for Biological Sciences
• Martin Schuetz, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest
• Anna Simonsen, University of Toronto
• Melinda D. Smith, Colorado State University - Fort CollinsFollow
• Carly J. Stevens, Lancaster UniversityFollow
• Lauren L. Sullivan, Iowa State UniversityFollow
• Elizabeth M. Wolkovich, University of British ColumbiaFollow
• Peter D. Wragg, University of MinnesotaFollow
• Justin Wright, Duke UniversityFollow
• Louie Yang, University of California, DavisFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2015

Citation

Seabloom, E.W. et al. Plant species’ origin predicts dominance and response to nutrient enrichment and herbivores in global grasslands. Nat. Commun. 6:7710 doi: 10.1038/ncomms8710 (2015).

Comments

Open Access.

Abstract

Exotic species dominate many communities; however the functional significance of species’ biogeographic origin remains highly contentious. This debate is fuelled in part by the lack of globally replicated, systematic data assessing the relationship between species provenance, function and response to perturbations. We examined the abundance of native and exotic plant species at 64 grasslands in 13 countries, and at a subset of the sites we experimentally tested native and exotic species responses to two fundamental drivers of invasion, mineral nutrient supplies and vertebrate herbivory. Exotic species are six times more likely to dominate communities than native species. Furthermore, while experimental nutrient addition increases the cover and richness of exotic species, nutrients decrease native diversity and cover. Native and exotic species also differ in their response to vertebrate consumer exclusion. These results suggest that species origin has functional significance, and that eutrophication will lead to increased exotic dominance in grasslands.