skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


  • NSF Public Access
  • Search Results
  • Species loss drives ecosystem function in experiments, but in nature the importance of species loss depends on dominance
Title: Species loss drives ecosystem function in experiments, but in nature the importance of species loss depends on dominance
Abstract AimDecades of experimental research have conclusively shown a positive relationship between species richness and ecosystem function. However, authoritative reviews find no consensus on how species loss affects function in natural communities. We analyse experimental and observational data in an identical way and test whether they produce similar results. LocationNorth America and Europe (experimental communities); global (natural communities). Time periodExperimental communities: 1998–2013; natural communities: 1982–2018. Major taxa studiedExperimental communities: temperate grassland plants; natural communities: temperate grassland plants, tropical forest trees, kelp forest producers and native bees. MethodsWe used an approach inspired by the Price equation to analyse 129 datasets from experimental and natural communities worldwide. We tested how the effects of species loss on ecosystem function varied with dominance and the non‐randomness of species loss and, in turn, how these two factors differed between experiments and observations. ResultsStudies carried out in experimental and natural communities reached different conclusions regarding the effects of species loss. First, species loss had greater effects on ecosystem function in experiments than in nature. Second, the importance of species loss was negatively correlated with dominance in nature because as dominance increased, lost species were increasingly those contributing little to ecosystem function. Although experimental and natural communities exhibited similar levels of dominance, an analogous relationship was not possible in experiments because the order of species loss was randomized by design. Main conclusionsSpecies loss was sometimes, but not always, the major driver of loss of function in nature. Variation in the importance of species loss was not messy and context dependent; instead, it was predicted by functional dominance. Although results from experimental and natural communities were similar in several key ways, they differed in that species loss was a consistent predictor of ecosystem function in experiments and not in nature.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1915938 1831937 1831944 1725683 1753859
PAR ID:
10455340
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;
Publisher / Repository:
Wiley-Blackwell
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Global Ecology and Biogeography
Volume:
29
Issue:
9
ISSN:
1466-822X
Format(s):
Medium: X Size: p. 1531-1541
Size(s):
p. 1531-1541
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al (, Global Ecology and Biogeography)
    Abstract AimTheoretical, experimental and observational studies have shown that biodiversity–ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationships are influenced by functional community structure through two mutually non‐exclusive mechanisms: (1) the dominance effect (which relates to the traits of the dominant species); and (2) the niche partitioning effect [which relates to functional diversity (FD)]. Although both mechanisms have been studied in plant communities and experiments at small spatial extents, it remains unclear whether evidence from small‐extent case studies translates into a generalizable macroecological pattern. Here, we evaluate dominance and niche partitioning effects simultaneously in grassland systems world‐wide. LocationTwo thousand nine hundred and forty‐one grassland plots globally. Time period2000–2014. Major taxa studiedVascular plants. MethodsWe obtained plot‐based data on functional community structure from the global vegetation plot database “sPlot”, which combines species composition with plant trait data from the “TRY” database. We used data on the community‐weighted mean (CWM) and FD for 18 ecologically relevant plant traits. As an indicator of primary productivity, we extracted the satellite‐derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from MODIS. Using generalized additive models and deviation partitioning, we estimated the contributions of trait CWM and FD to the variation in annual maximum NDVI, while controlling for climatic variables and spatial structure. ResultsGrassland communities dominated by relatively tall species with acquisitive traits had higher NDVI values, suggesting the prevalence of dominance effects for BEF relationships. We found no support for niche partitioning for the functional traits analysed, because NDVI remained unaffected by FD. Most of the predictive power of traits was shared by climatic predictors and spatial coordinates. This highlights the importance of community assembly processes for BEF relationships in natural communities. Main conclusionsOur analysis provides empirical evidence that plant functional community structure and global patterns in primary productivity are linked through the resource economics and size traits of the dominant species. This is an important test of the hypotheses underlying BEF relationships at the global scale. 
    more » « less
  2. ; (, Journal of Ecology)
    Abstract Climate change poses a growing threat to many ecosystems, including grasslands, which are a current priority for conservation due to their vulnerability to interacting threats from human activity.North American grasslands are expected to experience warmer temperatures and more frequent and severe droughts in the coming decades, with potential consequences for native biodiversity.We conducted an experiment at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, Minnesota, USA, to investigate how warming and drought treatments affected grassland plant community structure over 6 years in plots planted with species mixtures.Warming consistently reduced plant species richness with its effects on Shannon diversity (which additionally considers species' relative abundances) and dominance varying across years. These warming‐by‐year interactions were likely driven by temporal variability in environmental conditions and species‐specific responses. Notably, legumes consistently showed positive responses to warming.Drought alone had minimal direct effects on species richness and diversity but reduced variability in diversity responses over time, suggesting greater stability of diversity under drought conditions.Synthesis. This study underscores the important role of warming in reducing species richness, altering diversity and reshaping functional group composition in grassland ecosystems. While temporal variability influenced the magnitude of warming effects on diversity, legumes' positive responses highlight the importance of functional group dynamics in potentially buffering against species loss. Long‐term experiments that allow consideration of interannual variability are essential for improving predictions of ecosystem responses and informing adaptive management strategies aimed at sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in grasslands. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; (, Ecology)
    Abstract Dominant species play a key role in plant communities, influencing the abundance and richness of subordinate species through competitive and facilitative interactions. However, generalizations about the effects of dominant plant species in grasslands can be difficult due to the many differences among communities, such as abiotic conditions and regional species pools. To overcome this issue, we conducted a dominant species removal experiment in two semiarid grassland communities at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in central New Mexico. These communities had different dominant species but similar abiotic conditions and regional species pools. We studied the effects of removing dominant species on community composition, diversity, and aboveground net primary production (ANPP) over a 23‐year period. Our results showed that dominant grasses suppressed both richness and abundance of subordinate species. In the Chihuahuan Desert grassland, the loss ofBouteloua eriopodawas only partially compensated for by subordinate species, while in the Great Plains grassland, the loss ofBouteloua graciliswas fully compensated for after 16 years. Despite increased species richness, removing dominant species reduced ANPP and resulted in a negative relationship between species richness and ANPP in both grasslands. These results have important implications for ecosystem management and conservation, highlighting the potential impact of losing dominant species on subordinate species and community dynamics. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; et al (, Journal of Ecology)
    Abstract Dominance often indicates one or a few species being best suited for resource capture and retention in a given environment. Press perturbations that change availability of limiting resources can restructure competitive hierarchies, allowing new species to capture or retain resources and leaving once dominant species fated to decline. However, dominant species may maintain high abundances even when their new environments no longer favour them due to stochastic processes associated with their high abundance, impeding deterministic processes that would otherwise diminish them.Here, we quantify the persistence of dominance by tracking the rate of decline in dominant species at 90 globally distributed grassland sites under experimentally elevated soil nutrient supply and reduced vertebrate consumer pressure.We found that chronic experimental nutrient addition and vertebrate exclusion caused certain subsets of species to lose dominance more quickly than in control plots. In control plots, perennial species and species with high initial cover maintained dominance for longer than annual species and those with low initial cover respectively. In fertilized plots, species with high initial cover maintained dominance at similar rates to control plots, while those with lower initial cover lost dominance even faster than similar species in controls. High initial cover increased the estimated time to dominance loss more strongly in plots with vertebrate exclosures than in controls. Vertebrate exclosures caused a slight decrease in the persistence of dominance for perennials, while fertilization brought perennials' rate of dominance loss in line with those of annuals. Annual species lost dominance at similar rates regardless of treatments.Synthesis.Collectively, these results point to a strong role of a species' historical abundance in maintaining dominance following environmental perturbations. Because dominant species play an outsized role in driving ecosystem processes, their ability to remain dominant—regardless of environmental conditions—is critical to anticipating expected rates of change in the structure and function of grasslands. Species that maintain dominance while no longer competitively favoured following press perturbations due to their historical abundances may result in community compositions that do not maximize resource capture, a key process of system responses to global change. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; (, Ecology and Evolution)
    Abstract Human impacts on ecosystems are resulting in unprecedented rates of biodiversity loss worldwide. The loss of species results in the loss of the multiple roles that each species plays or functions (i.e., “ecosystem multifunctionality”) that it provides. A more comprehensive understanding of the effects of species on ecosystem multifunctionality is necessary for assessing the ecological impacts of species loss. We studied the effects of two dominant intertidal species, a primary producer (the seaweedNeorhodomela oregona) and a consumer (the shellfishMytilus trossulus), on 12 ecosystem functions in a coastal ecosystem, both in undisturbed tide pools and following the removal of the dominant producer. We modified analytical methods used in biodiversity–multifunctionality studies to investigate the potential effects of individual dominant species on ecosystem function. The effects of the two dominant species from different trophic levels tended to differ in directionality (+/−) consistently (92% of the time) across the 12 individual functions considered. Using averaging and multiple threshold approaches, we found that the dominant consumer—but not the dominant producer—was associated with ecosystem multifunctionality. Additionally, the relationship between abundance and multifunctionality differed depending on whether the dominant producer was present, with a negative relationship between the dominant consumer and ecosystem function with the dominant producer present compared to a non‐significant, positive trend where the producer had been removed. Our findings suggest that interactions among dominant species can drive ecosystem function. The results of this study highlight the utility of methods previously used in biodiversity‐focused research for studying functional contributions of individual species, as well as the importance of species abundance and identity in driving ecosystem multifunctionality, in the context of species loss. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email