Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Disturbance regimes and nutrient inputs are changing worldwide, with consequences for the structure and functioning of plant communities. Life-history theory predicts that disturbance should shift communities from long-lived perennials toward short-lived annuals, and that nutrient enrichment may amplify this shift. However, these predictions have not been tested experimentally across broad environmental gradients. Here, using a global grassland experiment spanning 37 sites, we tested how severe physical disturbance (vegetation removal and shallow soil tillage) and fertilisation alter the annual-perennial balance, and whether disturbance expands the climatic envelope of annual dominance. Disturbance increased annual species share from 15% to 29% and relative annual cover from 9% to 29%, whereas fertilisation had little influence and did not interact with disturbance. The disturbance-driven shift arose through contrasting pathways: in graminoids and legumes, perennial cover declined, while in forbs, annual cover expanded. In the absence of disturbance, annual dominance was restricted to systems with extremely hot and dry summers, yet disturbance consistently increased annual prevalence across climatic gradients and doubled the extent of climate space in which annuals dominated. During repeated disturbance, annuals may help maintain vegetation cover, but their expansion also signals loss of perennial cover and associated ecosystem functions.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: DeMalach, Niv, Salguero-Gomez, Roberto, Hollander, Oded, Lucas, Jane, Strauss, Alexander T., Chaudhary, Tilak, Chung, Y. Anny, McCarthy, James K., Moreira, Bruno, Petri, Laís, Thornley, Rachael, Slette, Ingrid J., Borer, Elizabeth T., Seabloom, Eric W., Atkinson, Joe, Beard, Karen H., Brudvig, Lars A., Catano, Christopher P., Catford, Jane A., Classen, Aimee, Clark, Adam Thomas, Dwyer, Ciara, Fenster, Charles, Godoy, Oscar, Gross, Or, Gusmán-Montalaván, Elizabeth, Harpole, W. Stanley, Hersch-Green, Erika, Holub, Petr, Jentsch, Anke, Kandlikar, Gaurav, Kirkman, Kevin, Koerner, Sally E., Kulmatiski, Andrew, Li, Daijiang, MacDougall, Andrew S., Mariotte, Pierre, Martina, Jason P., Meglioli, Pablo A., Millett, Jonathan, O'Halloran, Lydia, Ochoa-Hueso, Raúl, Ogaya, Romà, Osborne, Brooke, Patabendige, Kalpana K., Peñuelas, Josep, Peri, Pablo, Pennings, Steven C., Risch, Anita C., Roscher, Christiane, Sanders, Nathan J., Stevens, Carly, Sullivan, Lauren, Tognetti, Pedro M., Vélez-Mora, Diego, Wagg, Cameron, Werner, Chhaya
Language: English
Subfield: Nature and Landscape Conservation
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDGs: Life on land, Climate action
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7167908092