Interactions among nutrients govern the global grassland biomass–precipitation relationship

Ecosystems are experiencing changing global patterns of mean annual precipitation (MAP) and enrichment with multiple nutrients that potentially colimit plant biomass production. In grasslands, mean aboveground plant biomass is closely related to MAP, but how this relationship changes after enrichme...

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Autores principales: Fay, Philip A., Gherardi, Laureano A., Yahdjian, Laura, Adler, Peter B., Bakker, Jonathan D., Bharath, Siddharth, Borer, Elizabeth T., Harpole, William Stanley, Hersch-Green, Erika I., Huxman, Travis E., Peri, Pablo Luis, Wheeler, George R.
Formato: Artículo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: National Academy of Sciences 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/22286
https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2410748122
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2410748122
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author Fay, Philip A.
Gherardi, Laureano A.
Yahdjian, Laura
Adler, Peter B.
Bakker, Jonathan D.
Bharath, Siddharth
Borer, Elizabeth T.
Harpole, William Stanley
Hersch-Green, Erika I.
Huxman, Travis E.
Peri, Pablo Luis
Wheeler, George R.
author_browse Adler, Peter B.
Bakker, Jonathan D.
Bharath, Siddharth
Borer, Elizabeth T.
Fay, Philip A.
Gherardi, Laureano A.
Harpole, William Stanley
Hersch-Green, Erika I.
Huxman, Travis E.
Peri, Pablo Luis
Wheeler, George R.
Yahdjian, Laura
author_facet Fay, Philip A.
Gherardi, Laureano A.
Yahdjian, Laura
Adler, Peter B.
Bakker, Jonathan D.
Bharath, Siddharth
Borer, Elizabeth T.
Harpole, William Stanley
Hersch-Green, Erika I.
Huxman, Travis E.
Peri, Pablo Luis
Wheeler, George R.
author_sort Fay, Philip A.
collection INTA Digital
description Ecosystems are experiencing changing global patterns of mean annual precipitation (MAP) and enrichment with multiple nutrients that potentially colimit plant biomass production. In grasslands, mean aboveground plant biomass is closely related to MAP, but how this relationship changes after enrichment with multiple nutrients remains unclear. We hypothesized the global biomass–MAP relationship becomes steeper with an increasing number of added nutrients, with increases in steepness corresponding to the form of interaction among added nutrients and with increased mediation by changes in plant community diversity. We measured aboveground plant biomass production and species diversity in 71 grasslands on six continents representing the global span of grassland MAP, diversity, management, and soils. We fertilized all sites with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium with micronutrients in all combinations to identify which nutrients limited biomass at each site. As hypothesized, fertilizing with one, two, or three nutrients progressively steepened the global biomass–MAP relationship. The magnitude of the increase in steepness corresponded to whether sites were not limited by nitrogen or phosphorus, were limited by either one, or were colimited by both in additive, or synergistic forms. Unexpectedly, we found only weak evidence for mediation of biomass–MAP relationships by plant community diversity because relationships of species richness, evenness, and beta diversity to MAP and to biomass were weak or opposing. Site-level properties including baseline biomass production, soils, and management explained little variation in biomass–MAP relationships. These findings reveal multiple nutrient colimitation as a defining feature of the global grassland biomass–MAP relationship.
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institution Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina)
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spelling INTA222862025-05-15T10:28:51Z Interactions among nutrients govern the global grassland biomass–precipitation relationship Fay, Philip A. Gherardi, Laureano A. Yahdjian, Laura Adler, Peter B. Bakker, Jonathan D. Bharath, Siddharth Borer, Elizabeth T. Harpole, William Stanley Hersch-Green, Erika I. Huxman, Travis E. Peri, Pablo Luis Wheeler, George R. Pastures Primary Productivity Precipitation Species Diversity Nutrient Availability Biomass Pastizales Productividad Primaria Precipitación Atmosférica Diversidad de Especies Disponibilidad de Nutrientes Biomasa Región Patagónica Ecosystems are experiencing changing global patterns of mean annual precipitation (MAP) and enrichment with multiple nutrients that potentially colimit plant biomass production. In grasslands, mean aboveground plant biomass is closely related to MAP, but how this relationship changes after enrichment with multiple nutrients remains unclear. We hypothesized the global biomass–MAP relationship becomes steeper with an increasing number of added nutrients, with increases in steepness corresponding to the form of interaction among added nutrients and with increased mediation by changes in plant community diversity. We measured aboveground plant biomass production and species diversity in 71 grasslands on six continents representing the global span of grassland MAP, diversity, management, and soils. We fertilized all sites with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium with micronutrients in all combinations to identify which nutrients limited biomass at each site. As hypothesized, fertilizing with one, two, or three nutrients progressively steepened the global biomass–MAP relationship. The magnitude of the increase in steepness corresponded to whether sites were not limited by nitrogen or phosphorus, were limited by either one, or were colimited by both in additive, or synergistic forms. Unexpectedly, we found only weak evidence for mediation of biomass–MAP relationships by plant community diversity because relationships of species richness, evenness, and beta diversity to MAP and to biomass were weak or opposing. Site-level properties including baseline biomass production, soils, and management explained little variation in biomass–MAP relationships. These findings reveal multiple nutrient colimitation as a defining feature of the global grassland biomass–MAP relationship. EEA Santa Cruz, INTA Fil: Fay, Philip A. United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Grassland, Soil, and Water Lab. Temple; Estados Unidos. Fil: Gherardi, Laureano A. University of California. Department of Environmental Sciences, Policy, and Management; Estados Unidos. Fil: Yahdjian, Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA); Argentina. Fil: Yahdjian, Laura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura (IFEVA); Argentina. Fil: Adler, Peter B. Utah State University. Department of Wildland Resources and the Ecology Center; Estados Unidos. Fil: Bakker, Jonathan D. University of Washington. School of Environmental and Forest Sciences; Estados Unidos. Fil: Bharath, Siddharth. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior; Estados Unidos. Fil: Borer, Elizabeth T. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior; Estados Unidos. Fil: Harpole, William Stanley. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Halle-Jena-Leipzig; Alemania Fil: Harpole, William Stanley. Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research. Department of Physiological Diversity; Alemania Fil: Harpole, William Stanley. Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg; Alemania Fil: Hersch-Green, Erika I. Michigan Technological University. Dept. of Biological Sciences; Estados Unidos Fil: Huxman, Travis E. University of California. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Estados Unidos. Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina. Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral; Argentina. Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Fil: Wheeler, George R. Michigan Technological University. Department of Biological Sciences; Estados Unidos. Fil: Wheeler, George R. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. School of Biological Sciences, Estados Unidos. 2025-05-15T10:21:34Z 2025-05-15T10:21:34Z 2025-04-11 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/22286 https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2410748122 Fay P.A.; Gherardi L.A.; Yahdjian L.; Adler P.B-; Bakker J.D.; Bharath S.; Borer E.T.; Stanley Harpole W.; (…); Peri P.L.; et al. (2025) Interactions among nutrients govern the global grassland biomass - precipitation relationship. PNAS 122(15): e2410748122. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2410748122 1091-6490 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2410748122 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf National Academy of Sciences PNAS 122 (15) : e2410748122. (April 2025)
spellingShingle Pastures
Primary Productivity
Precipitation
Species Diversity
Nutrient Availability
Biomass
Pastizales
Productividad Primaria
Precipitación Atmosférica
Diversidad de Especies
Disponibilidad de Nutrientes
Biomasa
Región Patagónica
Fay, Philip A.
Gherardi, Laureano A.
Yahdjian, Laura
Adler, Peter B.
Bakker, Jonathan D.
Bharath, Siddharth
Borer, Elizabeth T.
Harpole, William Stanley
Hersch-Green, Erika I.
Huxman, Travis E.
Peri, Pablo Luis
Wheeler, George R.
Interactions among nutrients govern the global grassland biomass–precipitation relationship
title Interactions among nutrients govern the global grassland biomass–precipitation relationship
title_full Interactions among nutrients govern the global grassland biomass–precipitation relationship
title_fullStr Interactions among nutrients govern the global grassland biomass–precipitation relationship
title_full_unstemmed Interactions among nutrients govern the global grassland biomass–precipitation relationship
title_short Interactions among nutrients govern the global grassland biomass–precipitation relationship
title_sort interactions among nutrients govern the global grassland biomass precipitation relationship
topic Pastures
Primary Productivity
Precipitation
Species Diversity
Nutrient Availability
Biomass
Pastizales
Productividad Primaria
Precipitación Atmosférica
Diversidad de Especies
Disponibilidad de Nutrientes
Biomasa
Región Patagónica
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/22286
https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2410748122
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2410748122
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