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MacDougall AS, Esch E, Chen Q, Carroll O, Bonner C, Ohlert T, Siewert M, Sulik J, Schweiger A, Borer ET, Naidu D, Bagchi S, Hautier Y, Wilfahrt P, Larson K, Olofsson J, Cleland E, Muthukrishnan R, O'Halloran L, Alberti J, Anderson TM, Arnillas CA, Bakker JD, Barrio IC, Biederman L, Boughton EH, Brudvig LA, Bruschetti M, Buckley Y, Bugalho MN, Cadotte MW, Caldeira MC, Catford JA, D'Antonio C, Davies K, Daleo P, Dickman CR, Donohue I, DuPre ME, Elgersma K, Eisenhauer N, Eskelinen A, Estrada C, Fay PA, Feng Y, Gruner DS, Hagenah N, Haider S, Harpole WS, Hersch-Green E, Jentsch A, Kirkman K, Knops JMH, Laanisto L, Lannes LS, Laungani R, Lkhagva A, Macek P, Martina JP, McCulley RL, Melbourne B, Mitchell R, Moore JL, Morgan JW, Muraina TO, Niu Y, Pärtel M, Peri PL, Power SA, Price JN, Prober SM, Ren Z, Risch AC, Smith NG, Sonnier G, Standish RJ, Stevens CJ, Tedder M, Tognetti P, Veen GFC, Virtanen R, Wardle GM, Waring E, Wolf AA, Yahdjian L, Seabloom EW. Widening global variability in grassland biomass since the 1980s. Nat Ecol Evol 2024:10.1038/s41559-024-02500-x. [PMID: 39103674 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-024-02500-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 07/09/2024] [Indexed: 08/07/2024]
Abstract
Global change is associated with variable shifts in the annual production of aboveground plant biomass, suggesting localized sensitivities with unclear causal origins. Combining remotely sensed normalized difference vegetation index data since the 1980s with contemporary field data from 84 grasslands on 6 continents, we show a widening divergence in site-level biomass ranging from +51% to -34% globally. Biomass generally increased in warmer, wetter and species-rich sites with longer growing seasons and declined in species-poor arid areas. Phenological changes were widespread, revealing substantive transitions in grassland seasonal cycling. Grazing, nitrogen deposition and plant invasion were prevalent in some regions but did not predict overall trends. Grasslands are undergoing sizable changes in production, with implications for food security, biodiversity and carbon storage especially in arid regions where declines are accelerating.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew S MacDougall
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
| | - Ellen Esch
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Qingqing Chen
- Institute of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Science, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Oliver Carroll
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Colin Bonner
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Timothy Ohlert
- Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Matthias Siewert
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - John Sulik
- Department of Plant Agriculture, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | - Anna Schweiger
- Land Resources and Environmetal Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA
| | - Elizabeth T Borer
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, USA
| | - Dilip Naidu
- Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Sumanta Bagchi
- Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
| | - Yann Hautier
- Ecology and Biodiversity Group, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Peter Wilfahrt
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, USA
| | - Keith Larson
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Johan Olofsson
- Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Elsa Cleland
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | | | - Lydia O'Halloran
- Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA
| | - Juan Alberti
- Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC) FCEyN, UNMdP-CONICET, Mar del Plata, Argentina
| | | | - Carlos A Arnillas
- Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto-Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jonathan D Bakker
- School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Isabel C Barrio
- Faculty of Environmental and Forest Sciences, Agricultural University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Lori Biederman
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
| | | | - Lars A Brudvig
- Department of Plant Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Martin Bruschetti
- Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC) FCEyN, UNMdP-CONICET, Mar del Plata, Argentina
| | - Yvonne Buckley
- Department of Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Miguel N Bugalho
- Centre for Applied Ecology, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Marc W Cadotte
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto-Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Maria C Caldeira
- Forest Research Centre, School of Agriculture, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Jane A Catford
- Department of Geography, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Carla D'Antonio
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Kendi Davies
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Pedro Daleo
- Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC) FCEyN, UNMdP-CONICET, Mar del Plata, Argentina
| | - Christopher R Dickman
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Ian Donohue
- Department of Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | | | | | - Nico Eisenhauer
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Anu Eskelinen
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Physiological Diversity, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | | | - Philip A Fay
- USDA-ARS Grassland Soil, and Water Research Laboratory, Temple, TX, USA
| | - Yanhao Feng
- College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Daniel S Gruner
- Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Nicole Hagenah
- Department of Zoology & Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Sylvia Haider
- Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany
| | - W Stanley Harpole
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Physiological Diversity, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Leipzig, Germany
- Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
| | - Erika Hersch-Green
- Department of Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA
| | - Anke Jentsch
- Department of Disturbance Ecology, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Kevin Kirkman
- School of Life Sciences, College of Agriculture, Engineering and Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | - Johannes M H Knops
- Department of Health and Environmental Sciences, Jiatong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China
| | - Lauri Laanisto
- Chair of Biodiversity and Nature Tourism, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Lucíola S Lannes
- Department of Biology and Animal Sciences, Sao Paulo State University UNESP, Ilha Solteira, Brazil
| | - Ramesh Laungani
- Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA
| | | | - Petr Macek
- Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Centre of Czech Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Jason P Martina
- Department of Biology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA
| | - Rebecca L McCulley
- Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
| | - Brett Melbourne
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Rachel Mitchell
- School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA
| | - Joslin L Moore
- Arthur Rylah Institute for Environment Research, Department of Energy Environment and Climate Action, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
- School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - John W Morgan
- Department of Environment and Genetics, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - Taofeek O Muraina
- Department of Animal Health and Production, Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology, Igbo-Ora, Nigeria
- Department of Biology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA
| | - Yujie Niu
- Department of Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA
- College of Grassland Science, Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecosystem of the Ministry of Education, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Meelis Pärtel
- Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Pablo L Peri
- INTA-UNPA-CONICET, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia, Rìo Gallegos, Argentina
| | - Sally A Power
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Jodi N Price
- Gulbali Institute, Charles Sturt University, Albury, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Suzanne M Prober
- CSIRO Environment, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Zhengwei Ren
- College of Ecology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Anita C Risch
- Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
| | - Nicholas G Smith
- Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA
| | | | | | - Carly J Stevens
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
| | - Michelle Tedder
- Department of Disturbance Ecology, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Pedro Tognetti
- IFEVA Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - G F Ciska Veen
- Department of Terrestrial Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Risto Virtanen
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Glenda M Wardle
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Elizabeth Waring
- Department of Natural Sciences, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, OK, USA
| | - Amelia A Wolf
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Laura Yahdjian
- IFEVA Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Eric W Seabloom
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, USA
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