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Nutrients cause grassland biomass to outpace herbivory

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Nutrients cause grassland biomass to outpace herbivory. / Borer, Elizabeth T.; Harpole, W. Stanley; Adler, Peter B. et al.
In: Nature Communications, Vol. 11, 6036, 27.11.2020.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Borer, ET, Harpole, WS, Adler, PB, Arnillas, CA, Bugalho, MN, Cadotte, MW, Caldeira, M, Campana, S, Dickman, CR, Dickson, TL, Donohue, I, Eskelinen, A, Firn, J, Graf, P, Gruner, DS, Heckman, RW, Koltz, AM, Komatsu, KJ, Lannes, LS, MacDougall, AS, Martina, JP, Moore, JL, Mortensen, B, Ochoa-Hueso, R, Olde Venterink, H, Power, SA, Price, J, Risch, AC, Sankaran, M, Schütz, M, Sitters, J, Stevens, C, Virtanen, R, Wilfahrt, P & Seabloom, EW 2020, 'Nutrients cause grassland biomass to outpace herbivory', Nature Communications, vol. 11, 6036. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19870-y

APA

Borer, E. T., Harpole, W. S., Adler, P. B., Arnillas, C. A., Bugalho, M. N., Cadotte, M. W., Caldeira, M., Campana, S., Dickman, C. R., Dickson, T. L., Donohue, I., Eskelinen, A., Firn, J., Graf, P., Gruner, D. S., Heckman, R. W., Koltz, A. M., Komatsu, K. J., Lannes, L. S., ... Seabloom, E. W. (2020). Nutrients cause grassland biomass to outpace herbivory. Nature Communications, 11, Article 6036. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19870-y

Vancouver

Borer ET, Harpole WS, Adler PB, Arnillas CA, Bugalho MN, Cadotte MW et al. Nutrients cause grassland biomass to outpace herbivory. Nature Communications. 2020 Nov 27;11:6036. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19870-y

Author

Borer, Elizabeth T. ; Harpole, W. Stanley ; Adler, Peter B. et al. / Nutrients cause grassland biomass to outpace herbivory. In: Nature Communications. 2020 ; Vol. 11.

Bibtex

@article{a2f764661b7b449e99f2a9dcc73d1133,
title = "Nutrients cause grassland biomass to outpace herbivory",
abstract = "Human activities are transforming grassland biomass via changing climate, elemental nutrients, and herbivory. Theory predicts that food-limited herbivores will consume any additional biomass stimulated by nutrient inputs ({\textquoteleft}consumer-controlled{\textquoteright}). Alternatively, nutrient supply is predicted to increase biomass where herbivores alter community composition or are limited by factors other than food ({\textquoteleft}resource-controlled{\textquoteright}). Using an experiment replicated in 58 grasslands spanning six continents, we show that nutrient addition and vertebrate herbivore exclusion each caused sustained increases in aboveground live biomass over a decade, but consumer control was weak. However, at sites with high vertebrate grazing intensity or domestic livestock, herbivores consumed the additional fertilization-induced biomass, supporting the consumer-controlled prediction. Herbivores most effectively reduced the additional live biomass at sites with low precipitation or high ambient soil nitrogen. Overall, these experimental results suggest that grassland biomass will outstrip wild herbivore control as human activities increase elemental nutrient supply, with widespread consequences for grazing and fire risk.",
author = "Borer, {Elizabeth T.} and Harpole, {W. Stanley} and Adler, {Peter B.} and Arnillas, {Carlos A.} and M.N. Bugalho and Cadotte, {Marc W.} and Maria Caldeira and S. Campana and Dickman, {Chris R.} and T.L. Dickson and Ian Donohue and A. Eskelinen and Jennifer Firn and P. Graf and Gruner, {Daniel S.} and Heckman, {Robert W.} and A.M. Koltz and K.J. Komatsu and L.S. Lannes and MacDougall, {Andrew S.} and J.P. Martina and J.L. Moore and Brent Mortensen and Raul Ochoa-Hueso and {Olde Venterink}, H. and S.A. Power and J. Price and Risch, {Anita C.} and Mahesh Sankaran and Martin Sch{\"u}tz and J. Sitters and Carly Stevens and R Virtanen and Peter Wilfahrt and Seabloom, {Eric W.}",
year = "2020",
month = nov,
day = "27",
doi = "10.1038/s41467-020-19870-y",
language = "English",
volume = "11",
journal = "Nature Communications",
issn = "2041-1723",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Nutrients cause grassland biomass to outpace herbivory

AU - Borer, Elizabeth T.

AU - Harpole, W. Stanley

AU - Adler, Peter B.

AU - Arnillas, Carlos A.

AU - Bugalho, M.N.

AU - Cadotte, Marc W.

AU - Caldeira, Maria

AU - Campana, S.

AU - Dickman, Chris R.

AU - Dickson, T.L.

AU - Donohue, Ian

AU - Eskelinen, A.

AU - Firn, Jennifer

AU - Graf, P.

AU - Gruner, Daniel S.

AU - Heckman, Robert W.

AU - Koltz, A.M.

AU - Komatsu, K.J.

AU - Lannes, L.S.

AU - MacDougall, Andrew S.

AU - Martina, J.P.

AU - Moore, J.L.

AU - Mortensen, Brent

AU - Ochoa-Hueso, Raul

AU - Olde Venterink, H.

AU - Power, S.A.

AU - Price, J.

AU - Risch, Anita C.

AU - Sankaran, Mahesh

AU - Schütz, Martin

AU - Sitters, J.

AU - Stevens, Carly

AU - Virtanen, R

AU - Wilfahrt, Peter

AU - Seabloom, Eric W.

PY - 2020/11/27

Y1 - 2020/11/27

N2 - Human activities are transforming grassland biomass via changing climate, elemental nutrients, and herbivory. Theory predicts that food-limited herbivores will consume any additional biomass stimulated by nutrient inputs (‘consumer-controlled’). Alternatively, nutrient supply is predicted to increase biomass where herbivores alter community composition or are limited by factors other than food (‘resource-controlled’). Using an experiment replicated in 58 grasslands spanning six continents, we show that nutrient addition and vertebrate herbivore exclusion each caused sustained increases in aboveground live biomass over a decade, but consumer control was weak. However, at sites with high vertebrate grazing intensity or domestic livestock, herbivores consumed the additional fertilization-induced biomass, supporting the consumer-controlled prediction. Herbivores most effectively reduced the additional live biomass at sites with low precipitation or high ambient soil nitrogen. Overall, these experimental results suggest that grassland biomass will outstrip wild herbivore control as human activities increase elemental nutrient supply, with widespread consequences for grazing and fire risk.

AB - Human activities are transforming grassland biomass via changing climate, elemental nutrients, and herbivory. Theory predicts that food-limited herbivores will consume any additional biomass stimulated by nutrient inputs (‘consumer-controlled’). Alternatively, nutrient supply is predicted to increase biomass where herbivores alter community composition or are limited by factors other than food (‘resource-controlled’). Using an experiment replicated in 58 grasslands spanning six continents, we show that nutrient addition and vertebrate herbivore exclusion each caused sustained increases in aboveground live biomass over a decade, but consumer control was weak. However, at sites with high vertebrate grazing intensity or domestic livestock, herbivores consumed the additional fertilization-induced biomass, supporting the consumer-controlled prediction. Herbivores most effectively reduced the additional live biomass at sites with low precipitation or high ambient soil nitrogen. Overall, these experimental results suggest that grassland biomass will outstrip wild herbivore control as human activities increase elemental nutrient supply, with widespread consequences for grazing and fire risk.

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-020-19870-y

DO - 10.1038/s41467-020-19870-y

M3 - Journal article

VL - 11

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

SN - 2041-1723

M1 - 6036

ER -