Sensitivity of primary production to precipitation across the United States

Maurer, G. E.; Hallmark, Alesia; Brown, Renée F; Sala, Osvaldo E.; Collins, Scott L.

doi:10.1111/ele.13455

Cited by 121 publications

(138 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…This is especially true in grasslands, an ecosystem covering ~37% of Earth’s surface that provides many ecosystem services from livestock forage to carbon sequestration (White et al 2000). Although many grassland organisms are accustomed to limited (and variable) precipitation (Knapp et al 2002), climate models predict increased precipitation variability in grasslands (Maurer et al 2020). Reduced precipitation decreases plant biomass (Heisler‐White et al 2009), but increased precipitation variability and soil water content can promote plant diversity (Knapp et al 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abiotic factors and plant biomass, not plant diversity, strongly shape grassland arthropods under drought conditions

Prather

Castillioni

Welti

et al. 2020

Ecology

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2020. Abiotic factors and plant biomass, not plant diversity, strongly shape grassland arthropods under drought conditions. Ecology 101(6):Abstract. Arthropod abundance and diversity often track plant biomass and diversity at the local scale. However, under altered precipitation regimes and anthropogenic disturbances, plant-arthropod relationships are expected to be increasingly controlled by abiotic, rather than biotic, factors. We used an experimental precipitation gradient combined with human management in a temperate mixed-grass prairie to examine (1) how two drivers, altered precipitation and biomass removal, can synergistically affect abiotic factors and plant communities and (2) how these effects can cascade upward, impacting the arthropod food web. Both drought and hay harvest increased soil surface temperature, and drought decreased soil moisture. Arthropod abundance decreased with low soil moisture and, contrary to our predictions, decreased with increased plant biomass. Arthropod diversity increased with soil moisture, decreased with high surface temperatures, and tracked arthropod abundance but was unaffected by plant diversity or quality. Our experiment demonstrates that arthropod abundance is directly constrained by abiotic factors and plant biomass, in turn constraining local arthropod diversity. If robust, this result suggests climate change in the southern Great Plains may directly reduce arthropod diversity.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abiotic factors and plant biomass, not plant diversity, strongly shape grassland arthropods under drought conditions

Prather

Castillioni

Welti

et al. 2020

Ecology

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Linear and nonlinear models (exponential, logarithmic, and unimodal model) were compared using Akaike information criterion (AIC) values to determine the most appropriate model for correlating mean ANPP with MAP. ANPP sensitivity was assessed by correlating annual precipitation with ANPP over time for each site, and the resulting slopes were then regressed against MAP to determine how sensitivity of ANPP changed with MAP (Huxman et al, 2004; Maurer et al, 2020). To assess how ecosystems responded to wet versus dry years, we tested the relationships between relative precipitation maxima [Precipitation max = (maximum − mean)/mean] and relative ANPP pulses [ANPP pulse = (maximum − mean)/mean] for the wettest year and between relative precipitation minima [Precipitation min = (mean − minimum)/mean] and relative ANPP decline [ANPP decline = (mean − minimum)/mean] for the driest year, following Knapp and Smith (2001).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We first examined goodness of fit of linear, logarithmic, exponential, and unimodal models by assessing the relationship between mean ANPP/MAP across all of the sites using Akaike information criterion (AIC) values. Then, ANPP sensitivity was compared by regressing the slopes of annual precipitation and ANPP for each site against MAP (Huxman et al, 2004; Maurer, Hallmark, Brown, Sala, & Collins, 2020). We further tested a temporal annual precipitation‐ANPP model by correlating the relative ANPP pulse [(maximum − mean)/mean] for the wettest year with the relative ANPP decline [(mean − minimum)/mean) for the driest year across the 32 sites.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A meta‐analysis of primary productivity and rain use efficiency in terrestrial grassland ecosystems

et al. 2020

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A comprehensive understanding of annual net primary productivity (ANPP) and rain‐use efficiency (RUE) along precipitation gradients is critial for grassland conservation under climate change. However, how ANPP and RUE respond to changes in precipitation at different spatial and temporal scales remains uncertain. The aim of this research was to clarify these things. Using data from 21 field experiments, with an average sampling period of 14.3 years in 32 sites, 18 of which are in China, we evaluated the relationship of mean annual precipitation (MAP) with ANPP and RUE across spatial and temporal scales in grassland ecosystems. Our study showed different degrees of sensitivity of ANPP and RUE to changing precipitation spatially and temporally. First, analysis supports the well‐known positive linear relationship between ANPP and MAP. Second, we found that ANPP increases with increasing precipitation regardless of the actual precipitation amount of the study sites, whereas ANPP increased 0.2 g m−2 more than it declined per 1 mm change in precipitation. Third, RUE increased with increasing MAP across sites, whereas RUE generally decreased with annual precipitation within most sites. Finally, the temporal variation in RUE within sites is lower than the overall spatial pattern of variation across sites. The lack of consistency in ANPP and RUE among years and across sites in response to interannual variation in precipitation indicates the complexity of ecological indicators characterizing precipitation changes. These findings highlight the prevalence of site‐specific variation in precipitation‐ANPP relationships.

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“…As one of the main terrestrial ecosystems, grasslands occupy more than 30% of the terrestrial area (Parton et al, 2012), and they are important for biodiversity, economics, biogeochemical cycles and energy transformation (Huang et al, 2010;Bai et al, 2012). Grasslands are sensitive to climate change compared with the forests (IPCC, 2003;Gherardi and Sala, 2015;Eziz et al, 2017;Maurer et al, 2020). Although there is no consistent conclusion on the climate change rate, range and area, the general pattern is that it will be moister in the south part and drier in the north part of China (Zhao et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Water Addition on Reproductive Allocation of Dominant Plant Species in Inner Mongolia Steppe

Liu

2020

Front. Plant Sci.

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Extreme events such as extreme drought and precipitation are expected to increase in intensity and/or duration in the face of climate change. Such changes significantly affect plant productivity and the biomass allocation between reproductive and vegetation organs (i.e., reproductive allocation). Our aims are to test the effects of water addition on the trade-offs in allocation of plant biomass and whether such effects are modified by species. A manipulative experiment was conducted from May 2000 to October 2001, where four dominant plant species (i.e., Leymus chinensis , Stipa grandis , Artemisia frigida , and Potentilla acaulis ) in the Inner Mongolia steppe in China were treated with 8 levels of water addition. Results demonstrated that water addition significantly affected the reproductive allocation of plants, and such effects were modified by species. Specifically, with increasing water availability, L. chinensis was not impacted, while A. frigida allocated more biomass to reproductive organs than to vegetative organs, while such allocation in S. grandis and P. acaulis first decreased, and then increased after reaching a peak. Our results indicated that plant species can adjust their reproductive allocation patterns to deal with water availability gradients. Climatic factors such as rainfall and temperature usually co-appearing, thus future research should explore the joint effects of several climate change factors on grasslands in order to maintain the health and sustainability of grasslands.

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Sensitivity of primary production to precipitation across the United States

Cited by 121 publications

References 79 publications

Abiotic factors and plant biomass, not plant diversity, strongly shape grassland arthropods under drought conditions

Abiotic factors and plant biomass, not plant diversity, strongly shape grassland arthropods under drought conditions

A meta‐analysis of primary productivity and rain use efficiency in terrestrial grassland ecosystems

Effects of Water Addition on Reproductive Allocation of Dominant Plant Species in Inner Mongolia Steppe

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