Ambient changes exceed treatment effects on plant species abundance in global change experiments

Langley, J. Adam; Chapman, Samantha K.; Pierre, Kimberly J. La; Avolio, Meghan L.; Bowman, William D.; Johnson, David Samuel; Isbell, Forest; Wilcox, Kevin R.; Foster, Bryan L.; Hovenden, Mark J.; Knapp, Alan K.; Koerner, Sally E.; Lortie, Christopher J.; Megonigal, J. Patrick; Newton, Paul C. D.; Reich, Peter B.; Smith, Melinda D.; Suttle, K. Blake; Tilman, David

doi:10.1111/gcb.14442

Cited by 30 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Furthermore, certain stressors, for example nitrogen deposition [84], accumulate over time, which can delay ecological effects and further complicate multiple-stressor predictions. Importantly, the background variation under ambient conditions needs to be considered: a recent example from plant communities showed that ambient changes may actually outweigh the impact of stressors over time [85]. Understanding if and how interactions between stressors can change over time is a goal shared by all disciplines.…”

Section: (A) Ecological Complexitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a unified study of multiple stressors: divisions and common goals across research disciplines

et al. 2020

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Anthropogenic environmental changes, or ‘stressors’, increasingly threaten biodiversity and ecosystem functioning worldwide. Multiple-stressor research is a rapidly expanding field of science that seeks to understand and ultimately predict the interactions between stressors. Reviews and meta-analyses of the primary scientific literature have largely been specific to either freshwater, marine or terrestrial ecology, or ecotoxicology. In this cross-disciplinary study, we review the state of knowledge within and among these disciplines to highlight commonality and division in multiple-stressor research. Our review goes beyond a description of previous research by using quantitative bibliometric analysis to identify the division between disciplines and link previously disconnected research communities. Towards a unified research framework, we discuss the shared goal of increased realism through both ecological and temporal complexity, with the overarching aim of improving predictive power. In a rapidly changing world, advancing our understanding of the cumulative ecological impacts of multiple stressors is critical for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management. Identifying and overcoming the barriers to interdisciplinary knowledge exchange is necessary in rising to this challenge. Division between ecosystem types and disciplines is largely a human creation. Species and stressors cross these borders and so should the scientists who study them.

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Section: (A) Ecological Complexitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a unified study of multiple stressors: divisions and common goals across research disciplines

et al. 2020

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“…This high temporal fluctuations were most likely due to variations in ambient rainfall and manifested as both significant interactions between the experimental treatments and sampling season, and as alterations in the coefficient of variation of many ecosystem attributes and functions across time. Together with the general lack of consistent effects across time, this evidence suggests that many grasslands may be naturally buffered against the effects of climate change through the exhibition of high spatiotemporal variation (Fridley et al 2011, Langley et al 2018).…”

Section: Role Of Environmental Heterogeneity To Buffer Against Consismentioning

confidence: 99%

Links between soil microbial communities, functioning, and plant nutrition under altered rainfall in Australian grassland

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Delgado‐Baquerizo

et al. 2020

Ecological Monographs

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The size, frequency, and timing of precipitation events are predicted to become more variable worldwide. Despite these predictions, the importance of changes in precipitation in driving multiple above-and belowground ecosystem attributes simultaneously remains largely underexplored. Here, we carried out 3 yr of rainfall manipulations at the DRI-Grass facility, located in a mesic grassland in eastern Australia. Treatments were implemented through automated water reapplication and included +50% and À50% amount, reduced frequency of events, and an extreme summer drought. We evaluated the spatiotemporal responses of multiple ecosystem attributes including microbial biomass, community composition and activity, soil nutrient content and availability, and plant nutritional status to altered rainfall regimes. We found that changing precipitation patterns resulted in multiple direct and indirect changes in microbial communities and soil and plant nutrient content. Main results included greater availability of soil macronutrients and reduced availability of micronutrients under drought, and taxon-specific changes in the composition of soil microbial communities in response to altered rainfall. Moreover, using structural equation modeling, we showed that, in summer 2015, plant macronutrient contents, a widely used ecological indicator of pasture quality, were simultaneously explained by greater soil nutrient availability and the structure of soil microbial communities, and significantly reduced by lower rainfall. Plant micronutrients were also reduced by lower rainfall and explained by changes in microbial attributes. Despite treatment effects on many of the soil, microbial, and plant variables analyzed across the 3 yr of study, many of these ecosystem attributes varied greatly across sampling events. This resulted in many significant interactions between the rainfall treatments and experimental duration, suggesting complex system-level responses to changing rainfall in our grassland, and a high natural buffering capacity of the ecosystem to varying rainfall conditions. Some interactions manifested as changes in the coefficient of variation of ecosystem attributes, particularly in response to changes in the timing of precipitation events and the extreme summer drought. Finally, we posit that a detailed understanding of plant-soil-microbial interactions, and the role of climate in modifying these linkages, will be key for adapting the sustainability of grasslands to a future that will be shaped by climate change.

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“…We therefore argue that shifts in plant species dominance in response to elevated CO 2 and nitrogen fertilization observed under ambient rates of SLR 42,43 may be less important under higher rates of SLR as simulated in the present study. This notion is supported by the observation that decadal-scale oscillations in local sea level at GCReW have stronger effects on plant community composition than elevated CO 2 and nitrogen fertilization treatments of the long-term field experiments 34,44 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 76%

Plant species determine tidal wetland methane response to sea level rise

et al. 2020

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Blue carbon (C) ecosystems are among the most effective C sinks of the biosphere, but methane (CH4) emissions can offset their climate cooling effect. Drivers of CH4 emissions from blue C ecosystems and effects of global change are poorly understood. Here we test for the effects of sea level rise (SLR) and its interactions with elevated atmospheric CO2, eutrophication, and plant community composition on CH4 emissions from an estuarine tidal wetland. Changes in CH4 emissions with SLR are primarily mediated by shifts in plant community composition and associated plant traits that determine both the direction and magnitude of SLR effects on CH4 emissions. We furthermore show strong stimulation of CH4 emissions by elevated atmospheric CO2, whereas effects of eutrophication are not significant. Overall, our findings demonstrate a high sensitivity of CH4 emissions to global change with important implications for modeling greenhouse-gas dynamics of blue C ecosystems.

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Ambient changes exceed treatment effects on plant species abundance in global change experiments

Cited by 30 publications

References 65 publications

Towards a unified study of multiple stressors: divisions and common goals across research disciplines

Towards a unified study of multiple stressors: divisions and common goals across research disciplines

Links between soil microbial communities, functioning, and plant nutrition under altered rainfall in Australian grassland

Plant species determine tidal wetland methane response to sea level rise

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