Rights statement: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article Harpole, W. S., Sullivan, L. L., Lind, E. M., Firn, J., Adler, P. B., Borer, E. T., Chase, J., Fay, P. A., Hautier, Y., Hillebrand, H., MacDougall, A. S., Seabloom, E. W., Bakker, J. D., Cadotte, M. W., Chaneton, E. J., Chu, C., Hagenah, N., Kirkman, K., La Pierre, K. J., Moore, J. L., Morgan, J. W., Prober, S. M., Risch, A. C., Schuetz, M. and Stevens, C. J. (2017), Out of the shadows: multiple nutrient limitations drive relationships among biomass, light and plant diversity. Funct Ecol, 31: 1839–1846. doi:10.1111/1365-2435.12967 which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12967/abstract This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.
Accepted author manuscript, 3.12 MB, PDF document
Available under license: CC BY-NC: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Editorial › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Editorial › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Out of the shadows
T2 - multiple nutrient limitations drive relationships among biomass, light and plant diversity
AU - Harpole, W. Stanley
AU - Sullivan, Lauren L.
AU - Lind, Eric M.
AU - Firn, Jennifer
AU - Adler, Peter B.
AU - Borer, Elizabeth T.
AU - Chase, Jonathan
AU - Fay, Philip A.
AU - Hautier, Yann
AU - Hillebrand, Helmut
AU - MacDougall, Andrew S.
AU - Seabloom, Eric W.
AU - Bakker, Jonathan D.
AU - Cadotte, Marc W.
AU - Chaneton, Enrique J.
AU - Chu, Chengjin
AU - Hagenah, Nicole
AU - Kirkman, Kevin
AU - La Pierre, Kimberly J.
AU - Moore, Joslin L.
AU - Morgan, John W.
AU - Prober, Suzanne M.
AU - Risch, Anita C.
AU - Schuetz, Martin
AU - Stevens, Carly J.
N1 - This is the peer reviewed version of the following article Harpole, W. S., Sullivan, L. L., Lind, E. M., Firn, J., Adler, P. B., Borer, E. T., Chase, J., Fay, P. A., Hautier, Y., Hillebrand, H., MacDougall, A. S., Seabloom, E. W., Bakker, J. D., Cadotte, M. W., Chaneton, E. J., Chu, C., Hagenah, N., Kirkman, K., La Pierre, K. J., Moore, J. L., Morgan, J. W., Prober, S. M., Risch, A. C., Schuetz, M. and Stevens, C. J. (2017), Out of the shadows: multiple nutrient limitations drive relationships among biomass, light and plant diversity. Funct Ecol, 31: 1839–1846. doi:10.1111/1365-2435.12967 which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.12967/abstract This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.
PY - 2017/9
Y1 - 2017/9
N2 - 1. The paradigmatic hypothesis for the effect of fertilisation on plant diversity represents a one-dimensional trade-off for plants competing for below-ground nutrients ( generically) and above-ground light: fertilisation reduces competition for nutrients while increasing biomass and thereby shifts competition for depleted available light.2. The essential problem of this simple paradigm is that it misses both the multivariate and mechanistic nature of the factors that determine biodiversity as well as their causal relationships.3. We agree that light limitation, as DeMalach and Kadmon argue, can indeed be an important factor associated with diversity loss, and we presented it as an integral part of our tests of the niche dimension hypothesis.4. We disagree with DeMalach and Kadmon that light is the 'main' factor explaining diversity, because this misrepresents the causal structure represented in the design of our experiment in which multiple nutrient addition was the ultimate causal driver of a suite of correlated responses that included diversity and light, and especially live and dead biomass, which are the factors that control light depletion.]5. Our findings highlight that multiple nutrient limitations can structure plant diversity and composition independently of changes in light and biomass. For example, approximately one-third of our sites showed no significant increase in biomass with greater number of added nutrients yet still lost diversity when nutrients were added.6. The important message is that while light limitation can be an important contributor to diversity loss, it is not a necessary mechanism.
AB - 1. The paradigmatic hypothesis for the effect of fertilisation on plant diversity represents a one-dimensional trade-off for plants competing for below-ground nutrients ( generically) and above-ground light: fertilisation reduces competition for nutrients while increasing biomass and thereby shifts competition for depleted available light.2. The essential problem of this simple paradigm is that it misses both the multivariate and mechanistic nature of the factors that determine biodiversity as well as their causal relationships.3. We agree that light limitation, as DeMalach and Kadmon argue, can indeed be an important factor associated with diversity loss, and we presented it as an integral part of our tests of the niche dimension hypothesis.4. We disagree with DeMalach and Kadmon that light is the 'main' factor explaining diversity, because this misrepresents the causal structure represented in the design of our experiment in which multiple nutrient addition was the ultimate causal driver of a suite of correlated responses that included diversity and light, and especially live and dead biomass, which are the factors that control light depletion.]5. Our findings highlight that multiple nutrient limitations can structure plant diversity and composition independently of changes in light and biomass. For example, approximately one-third of our sites showed no significant increase in biomass with greater number of added nutrients yet still lost diversity when nutrients were added.6. The important message is that while light limitation can be an important contributor to diversity loss, it is not a necessary mechanism.
KW - biodiversity
KW - light
KW - multivariate causal relationships
KW - nutrient limitation
KW - resource limitation
KW - HERBACEOUS VEGETATION
KW - GRASSLAND DIVERSITY
KW - PRODUCTIVITY
KW - COMPETITION
KW - ECOSYSTEMS
KW - COMMUNITY
KW - NITROGEN
KW - PRECIPITATION
KW - RESOURCES
KW - RESPONSES
U2 - 10.1111/1365-2435.12967
DO - 10.1111/1365-2435.12967
M3 - Editorial
VL - 31
SP - 1839
EP - 1846
JO - Functional Ecology
JF - Functional Ecology
SN - 0269-8463
IS - 9
ER -