Species interactions amplify functional group responses to elevated CO2 and N enrichment in a 24‐year grassland experiment
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Plant functional groups (FGs) differ in their response to global changes, although species within those groups also vary in such responses. Both species and FG responses to global change are likely influenced by species interactions such as inter‐specific competition and facilitation, which are prevalent in species mixtures but not monocultures. As most studies focus on responses of plants growing in either monocultures or mixtures, but rarely both, it remains unclear how interspecific interactions in diverse ecological communities, especially among species in different FGs, modify FG responses to global changes. To address these issues, we leveraged data from a 16‐species, 24‐year perennial grassland experiment to examine plant FG biomass responses to atmospheric CO2, and N inputs at different planted diversity. FGs differed in their responses to N and CO2 treatments in monocultures. Such differences were amplified in mixtures, where N enrichment strongly increased C3 grass success at ambient CO2 and C4 grass success at elevated CO2. Legumes declined with N enrichment in mixtures at both CO2 levels and increased with elevated CO2 in the initial years of the experiment. Our results suggest that previous studies that considered responses to global changes in monocultures may underestimate biomass changes in diverse communities where interspecific interactions can amplify responses. Such effects of interspecific interactions on responses of FGs to global change may impact community composition over time and consequently influence ecosystem functions.
Source: Global Change Biology
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17476
Institutions: University of Minnesota, University of Michigan
Language: English
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,330
Awards: G1123726700, G1127978719, Collaborative Research: The Complexity of Global Change - Interactive Effects of Warming, Water Availability, CO2 and N on Grassland Ecosystem Function, LTER: Biodiversity, Multiple Drivers of Environmental Change and Ecosystem Functioning at the Prairie Forest Border, LTREB Renewal: Long-term Interactions among Biodiversity, CO2, and N in a Perennial Grassland Ecosystem, Interacting Responses of C and N Cycles to Altered Biodiversity, Elevated CO2, and N Enrichment, G2667583549, BII-Implementation: The causes and consequences of plant biodiversity across scales in a rapidly changing world, G3059039793, G3133015431, G3198160808, G3327981859, Biodiversity, Environmental Change and Ecosystem Functioning at the Prairie-Forest Boarder, LTREB: Testing Paradigms About Plant Functional Responses to Environmental Change, G4068785103, G4248696568, G4379745807, G4633572923, G46763192, G4850210401, LTER: Multi-decadal responses of prairie, savanna, and forest ecosystems to interacting environmental changes: insights from experiments, observations, and models, Collaborative Research: BoCP-Implementation: Biodiversity and stability on a changing planet: plant traits and interactions that stabilize or destabilize ecosystems and populations, G5593448104, G565110280, G5801412093, G5850321694, G6249183033, G6264791252, G758891369, G7951829551, G8482489969, G8553147368
OpenAlex ID: W4401649604