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Regional contingencies in the relationship between aboveground biomass and litter in the world’s grasslands

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Regional contingencies in the relationship between aboveground biomass and litter in the world’s grasslands. / O’Halloran, L.R.; Borer, E.T.; Seabloom, E. et al.
In: PLoS ONE, Vol. 8, 06.02.2013, p. e54988.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

O’Halloran, LR, Borer, ET, Seabloom, E, MacDougall, AS, Cleland, EE, McCulley, R, Hobbie, S, Harpole, WS, DeCrappeo, NM, Chu, CJ, Firn, J, Hagenah, N, Hofmockel, K, Knops, J, Li, W, Melbourne, BA, Morgan, JW, Orrock, J, Prober, S & Stevens, C 2013, 'Regional contingencies in the relationship between aboveground biomass and litter in the world’s grasslands', PLoS ONE, vol. 8, pp. e54988. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0054988

APA

O’Halloran, L. R., Borer, E. T., Seabloom, E., MacDougall, A. S., Cleland, E. E., McCulley, R., Hobbie, S., Harpole, W. S., DeCrappeo, N. M., Chu, C. J., Firn, J., Hagenah, N., Hofmockel, K., Knops, J., Li, W., Melbourne, B. A., Morgan, J. W., Orrock, J., Prober, S., & Stevens, C. (2013). Regional contingencies in the relationship between aboveground biomass and litter in the world’s grasslands. PLoS ONE, 8, e54988. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0054988

Vancouver

O’Halloran LR, Borer ET, Seabloom E, MacDougall AS, Cleland EE, McCulley R et al. Regional contingencies in the relationship between aboveground biomass and litter in the world’s grasslands. PLoS ONE. 2013 Feb 6;8:e54988. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054988

Author

O’Halloran, L.R. ; Borer, E.T. ; Seabloom, E. et al. / Regional contingencies in the relationship between aboveground biomass and litter in the world’s grasslands. In: PLoS ONE. 2013 ; Vol. 8. pp. e54988.

Bibtex

@article{2513d1463d0f443cae135239721c0d36,
title = "Regional contingencies in the relationship between aboveground biomass and litter in the world{\textquoteright}s grasslands",
abstract = "Based on regional-scale studies, aboveground production and litter decomposition are thought to positively covary, because they are driven by shared biotic and climatic factors. Until now we have been unable to test whether production and decomposition are generally coupled across climatically dissimilar regions, because we lacked replicated data collected within a single vegetation type across multiple regions, obfuscating the drivers and generality of the association between production and decomposition. Furthermore, our understanding of the relationships between production and decomposition rests heavily on separate meta-analyses of each response, because no studies have simultaneously measured production and the accumulation or decomposition of litter using consistent methods at globally relevant scales. Here, we use a multi-country grassland dataset collected using a standardized protocol to show that live plant biomass (an estimate of aboveground net primary production) and litter disappearance (represented by mass loss of aboveground litter) do not strongly covary. Live biomass and litter disappearance varied at different spatial scales. There was substantial variation in live biomass among continents, sites and plots whereas among continent differences accounted for most of the variation in litter disappearance rates. Although there were strong associations among aboveground biomass, litter disappearance and climatic factors in some regions (e.g. U.S. Great Plains), these relationships were inconsistent within and among the regions represented by this study. These results highlight the importance of replication among regions and continents when characterizing the correlations between ecosystem processes and interpreting their global-scale implications for carbon flux. We must exercise caution in parameterizing litter decomposition and aboveground production in future regional and global carbon models as their relationship is complex.",
author = "L.R. O{\textquoteright}Halloran and E.T. Borer and E. Seabloom and A.S. MacDougall and E.E. Cleland and R. McCulley and S. Hobbie and W.S. Harpole and N.M. DeCrappeo and C.J. Chu and Jennifer Firn and N. Hagenah and K. Hofmockel and J. Knops and W. Li and B.A. Melbourne and J.W. Morgan and J. Orrock and S. Prober and Carly Stevens",
note = "This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.",
year = "2013",
month = feb,
day = "6",
doi = "10.1371/journal.pone.0054988",
language = "English",
volume = "8",
pages = "e54988",
journal = "PLoS ONE",
issn = "1932-6203",
publisher = "Public Library of Science",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Regional contingencies in the relationship between aboveground biomass and litter in the world’s grasslands

AU - O’Halloran, L.R.

AU - Borer, E.T.

AU - Seabloom, E.

AU - MacDougall, A.S.

AU - Cleland, E.E.

AU - McCulley, R.

AU - Hobbie, S.

AU - Harpole, W.S.

AU - DeCrappeo, N.M.

AU - Chu, C.J.

AU - Firn, Jennifer

AU - Hagenah, N.

AU - Hofmockel, K.

AU - Knops, J.

AU - Li, W.

AU - Melbourne, B.A.

AU - Morgan, J.W.

AU - Orrock, J.

AU - Prober, S.

AU - Stevens, Carly

N1 - This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.

PY - 2013/2/6

Y1 - 2013/2/6

N2 - Based on regional-scale studies, aboveground production and litter decomposition are thought to positively covary, because they are driven by shared biotic and climatic factors. Until now we have been unable to test whether production and decomposition are generally coupled across climatically dissimilar regions, because we lacked replicated data collected within a single vegetation type across multiple regions, obfuscating the drivers and generality of the association between production and decomposition. Furthermore, our understanding of the relationships between production and decomposition rests heavily on separate meta-analyses of each response, because no studies have simultaneously measured production and the accumulation or decomposition of litter using consistent methods at globally relevant scales. Here, we use a multi-country grassland dataset collected using a standardized protocol to show that live plant biomass (an estimate of aboveground net primary production) and litter disappearance (represented by mass loss of aboveground litter) do not strongly covary. Live biomass and litter disappearance varied at different spatial scales. There was substantial variation in live biomass among continents, sites and plots whereas among continent differences accounted for most of the variation in litter disappearance rates. Although there were strong associations among aboveground biomass, litter disappearance and climatic factors in some regions (e.g. U.S. Great Plains), these relationships were inconsistent within and among the regions represented by this study. These results highlight the importance of replication among regions and continents when characterizing the correlations between ecosystem processes and interpreting their global-scale implications for carbon flux. We must exercise caution in parameterizing litter decomposition and aboveground production in future regional and global carbon models as their relationship is complex.

AB - Based on regional-scale studies, aboveground production and litter decomposition are thought to positively covary, because they are driven by shared biotic and climatic factors. Until now we have been unable to test whether production and decomposition are generally coupled across climatically dissimilar regions, because we lacked replicated data collected within a single vegetation type across multiple regions, obfuscating the drivers and generality of the association between production and decomposition. Furthermore, our understanding of the relationships between production and decomposition rests heavily on separate meta-analyses of each response, because no studies have simultaneously measured production and the accumulation or decomposition of litter using consistent methods at globally relevant scales. Here, we use a multi-country grassland dataset collected using a standardized protocol to show that live plant biomass (an estimate of aboveground net primary production) and litter disappearance (represented by mass loss of aboveground litter) do not strongly covary. Live biomass and litter disappearance varied at different spatial scales. There was substantial variation in live biomass among continents, sites and plots whereas among continent differences accounted for most of the variation in litter disappearance rates. Although there were strong associations among aboveground biomass, litter disappearance and climatic factors in some regions (e.g. U.S. Great Plains), these relationships were inconsistent within and among the regions represented by this study. These results highlight the importance of replication among regions and continents when characterizing the correlations between ecosystem processes and interpreting their global-scale implications for carbon flux. We must exercise caution in parameterizing litter decomposition and aboveground production in future regional and global carbon models as their relationship is complex.

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0054988

DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0054988

M3 - Journal article

VL - 8

SP - e54988

JO - PLoS ONE

JF - PLoS ONE

SN - 1932-6203

ER -