Light competition drives herbivore and nutrient effects on plant diversity

Anu Eskelinen, W Stanley Harpole, Maria-Theresa Jessen, Risto Virtanen, Yann Hautier

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Enrichment of nutrients and loss of herbivores are assumed to cause a loss of plant diversity in grassland ecosystems because they increase plant cover, which leads to a decrease of light in the understory 1-3. Empirical tests of the role of competition for light in natural systems are based on indirect evidence, and have been a topic of debate for the last 40 years. Here we show that experimentally restoring light to understory plants in a natural grassland mitigates the loss of plant diversity that is caused by either nutrient enrichment or the absence of mammalian herbivores. The initial effect of light addition on restoring diversity under fertilization was transitory and outweighed by the greater effect of herbivory on light levels, indicating that herbivory is a major factor that controls diversity, partly through light. Our results provide direct experimental evidence, in a natural system, that competition for light is a key mechanism that contributes to the loss of biodiversity after cessation of mammalian herbivory. Our findings also show that the effects of herbivores can outpace the effects of fertilization on competition for light. Management practices that target maintaining grazing by native or domestic herbivores could therefore have applications in protecting biodiversity in grassland ecosystems, because they alleviate competition for light in the understory.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)301-305
Number of pages5
JournalNature
Volume611
Issue number7935
Early online date2 Nov 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Nov 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We acknowledge the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the State Ministry of Science and Economy of Saxony-Anhalt and the State Ministry for Higher Education, Research and the Arts Saxony for funding the GCEF project. We thank K. Kirsch for help in maintaining the grazing treatment and taking care of the lamps at eDiValo; I. Merbach for help during the project; the staff at the Bad Lauchstädt Experimental Research Station and M. Schädler for their work in maintaining the GCEF plots and infrastructure; H. Auge, F. Buscot, S. Klotz, T. Reitz and M. Schädler for their role in setting up the GCEF; P. Portius and the UFZ workshop staff for planning and manufacturing the lamp mounts; R. Feldman for help in establishing the project; M. Krieger, E. Ramirez, J. Young, U. Rachor and A. Leyendecker for field and laboratory assistance; S. Dunker for help with choosing the lamps; H. Auge for discussions, Valoya for support in planning the lighting; G. Rada (iDiv, Media and Communications) for support with the graphics in Fig. and J. S. Lefcheck for statistical advice. A.E. was supported by the Academy of Finland project no. 297191. M.-T.J .was supported by the iDiv Flexpool program grant no. 34600565-11.

Funding Information:
We acknowledge the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research–UFZ, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the State Ministry of Science and Economy of Saxony-Anhalt and the State Ministry for Higher Education, Research and the Arts Saxony for funding the GCEF project. We thank K. Kirsch for help in maintaining the grazing treatment and taking care of the lamps at eDiValo; I. Merbach for help during the project; the staff at the Bad Lauchstädt Experimental Research Station and M. Schädler for their work in maintaining the GCEF plots and infrastructure; H. Auge, F. Buscot, S. Klotz, T. Reitz and M. Schädler for their role in setting up the GCEF; P. Portius and the UFZ workshop staff for planning and manufacturing the lamp mounts; R. Feldman for help in establishing the project; M. Krieger, E. Ramirez, J. Young, U. Rachor and A. Leyendecker for field and laboratory assistance; S. Dunker for help with choosing the lamps; H. Auge for discussions, Valoya for support in planning the lighting; G. Rada (iDiv, Media and Communications) for support with the graphics in Fig. 1 and J. S. Lefcheck for statistical advice. A.E. was supported by the Academy of Finland project no. 297191. M.-T.J.was supported by the iDiv Flexpool program grant no. 34600565-11.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).

Keywords

  • Animals
  • Biodiversity
  • Ecosystem
  • Grassland
  • Herbivory
  • Mammals
  • Nutrients
  • Plants
  • Enrichment
  • Traits
  • Community responses
  • Impacts
  • Database
  • Nitrogen deposition
  • Species richness

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