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Weber-Grullon L, Gherardi L, Rutherford WA, Archer SR, Sala OE. Woody-plant encroachment: Precipitation, herbivory, and grass-competition interact to affect shrub recruitment. Ecol Appl 2022; 32:e2536. [PMID: 35038207 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2020] [Revised: 06/14/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Woody-plant encroachment is a global phenomenon that has been affecting the southwestern United States since the late 1800s. Drought, overgrazing, herbivory, and competition between grasses and shrub seedlings have been hypothesized as the main drivers of shrub establishment. However, there is limited knowledge about the interactions among these drivers. Using a rainfall manipulation system and various herbivore exclosures, we tested hypotheses about how precipitation (PPT), competition between grasses and shrub seedlings, and predation affect the germination and first-year survival of mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa), a shrub that has encroached in Southern Great Plains and Chihuahuan Desert grasslands. We found that mesquite germination and survival (1) increased with increasing PPT, then saturated at about the mean growing season PPT level, (2) that competition between grasses and shrub seedlings had no effect on either germination or survival, and (3) that herbivory by small mammals decreased seedling establishment and survival, while ant granivory showed no effect. In addition to its direct positive effect on survival, PPT had an indirect negative effect via increasing small mammal activity. Current models predict a decrease in PPT in the southwestern United States with increased frequency of extreme events. The non-linear nature of PPT effects on Mesquite recruitment suggests asymmetric responses, wherein drought has a relatively greater negative effect than the positive effect of wet years. Indirect effects of PPT, through its effects on small mammal abundance, highlight the importance of accounting for interactions between biotic and abiotic drivers of shrub encroachment. This study provides quantitative basis for developing tools that can inform effective shrub management strategies in grasslands and savannas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Weber-Grullon
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
- Global Drylands Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Laureano Gherardi
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
- Global Drylands Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - William A Rutherford
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - Steven R Archer
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - Osvaldo E Sala
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
- Global Drylands Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
- School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
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Delgado-Baquerizo M, Reich PB, Bardgett RD, Eldridge DJ, Lambers H, Wardle DA, Reed SC, Plaza C, Png GK, Neuhauser S, Berhe AA, Hart SC, Hu HW, He JZ, Bastida F, Abades S, Alfaro FD, Cutler NA, Gallardo A, García-Velázquez L, Hayes PE, Hseu ZY, Pérez CA, Santos F, Siebe C, Trivedi P, Sullivan BW, Weber-Grullon L, Williams MA, Fierer N. The influence of soil age on ecosystem structure and function across biomes. Nat Commun 2020; 11:4721. [PMID: 32948775 PMCID: PMC7501311 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18451-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The importance of soil age as an ecosystem driver across biomes remains largely unresolved. By combining a cross-biome global field survey, including data for 32 soil, plant, and microbial properties in 16 soil chronosequences, with a global meta-analysis, we show that soil age is a significant ecosystem driver, but only accounts for a relatively small proportion of the cross-biome variation in multiple ecosystem properties. Parent material, climate, vegetation and topography predict, collectively, 24 times more variation in ecosystem properties than soil age alone. Soil age is an important local-scale ecosystem driver; however, environmental context, rather than soil age, determines the rates and trajectories of ecosystem development in structure and function across biomes. Our work provides insights into the natural history of terrestrial ecosystems. We propose that, regardless of soil age, changes in the environmental context, such as those associated with global climatic and land-use changes, will have important long-term impacts on the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems across biomes. Soil age is thought to be an important driver of ecosystem development. Here, the authors perform a global survey of soil chronosequences and meta-analysis to show that, contrary to expectations, soil age is a relatively minor ecosystem driver at the biome scale once other drivers such as parent material, climate, and vegetation type are accounted for.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
- Departamento de Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, 41013, Sevilla, Spain. .,Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA.
| | - Peter B Reich
- Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA.,Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia
| | - Richard D Bardgett
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Michael Smith Building, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
| | - David J Eldridge
- Centre for Ecosystem Studies, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Hans Lambers
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley (Perth), WA, 6009, Australia
| | - David A Wardle
- Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang avenue, Singapore, 639798, Singapore
| | - Sasha C Reed
- US Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Moab, UT, USA
| | - César Plaza
- Instituto de Ciencias Agrarias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Serrano 115 bis, 28006, Madrid, Spain
| | - G Kenny Png
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Michael Smith Building, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK.,Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang avenue, Singapore, 639798, Singapore
| | - Sigrid Neuhauser
- Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, Innsbruck, 6020, Austria
| | - Asmeret Asefaw Berhe
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences and Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California Merced, Merced, California, 95343, USA
| | - Stephen C Hart
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences and Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California Merced, Merced, California, 95343, USA
| | - Hang-Wei Hu
- Key Laboratory for Humid Subtropical Eco-geographical Processes of the Ministry of Education, School of Geographical Science, Fujian Normal University, 350007, Fuzhou, China.,Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Ji-Zheng He
- Key Laboratory for Humid Subtropical Eco-geographical Processes of the Ministry of Education, School of Geographical Science, Fujian Normal University, 350007, Fuzhou, China.,Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Felipe Bastida
- CEBAS-CSIC. Department of Soil and Water Conservation. Campus Universitario de Espinardo, 30100, Murcia, Spain
| | - Sebastián Abades
- GEMA Center for Genomics, Ecology & Environment, Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies, Universidad Mayor, Camino La Pirámide, 5750, Huechuraba, Santiago, Chile
| | - Fernando D Alfaro
- GEMA Center for Genomics, Ecology & Environment, Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies, Universidad Mayor, Camino La Pirámide, 5750, Huechuraba, Santiago, Chile.,Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Las Palmeras, 3425, Santiago, Chile
| | - Nick A Cutler
- School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK
| | - Antonio Gallardo
- Departamento de Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, 41013, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Laura García-Velázquez
- Departamento de Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, 41013, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Patrick E Hayes
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley (Perth), WA, 6009, Australia.,Centre for Microscopy, Characterization and Analysis, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia.,Crop, Livestock and Environment Division, Japan International Research Centre for Agricultural Sciences, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8656, Japan
| | - Zeng-Yei Hseu
- Department of Agricultural Chemistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 10617, Taiwan
| | - Cecilia A Pérez
- Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Las Palmeras, 3425, Santiago, Chile
| | - Fernanda Santos
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences and Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California Merced, Merced, California, 95343, USA
| | - Christina Siebe
- Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, México, D.F. CP 04510, Mexico
| | - Pankaj Trivedi
- Microbiome Network and Department of Agricultural Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, 80523, CO, USA
| | - Benjamin W Sullivan
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, 89557, USA
| | - Luis Weber-Grullon
- Global Drylands Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.,School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.,School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Mark A Williams
- School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Noah Fierer
- Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA
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Delgado-Baquerizo M, Reich PB, Trivedi C, Eldridge DJ, Abades S, Alfaro FD, Bastida F, Berhe AA, Cutler NA, Gallardo A, García-Velázquez L, Hart SC, Hayes PE, He JZ, Hseu ZY, Hu HW, Kirchmair M, Neuhauser S, Pérez CA, Reed SC, Santos F, Sullivan BW, Trivedi P, Wang JT, Weber-Grullon L, Williams MA, Singh BK. Multiple elements of soil biodiversity drive ecosystem functions across biomes. Nat Ecol Evol 2020; 4:210-220. [PMID: 32015427 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-019-1084-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 261] [Impact Index Per Article: 65.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2019] [Accepted: 12/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The role of soil biodiversity in regulating multiple ecosystem functions is poorly understood, limiting our ability to predict how soil biodiversity loss might affect human wellbeing and ecosystem sustainability. Here, combining a global observational study with an experimental microcosm study, we provide evidence that soil biodiversity (bacteria, fungi, protists and invertebrates) is significantly and positively associated with multiple ecosystem functions. These functions include nutrient cycling, decomposition, plant production, and reduced potential for pathogenicity and belowground biological warfare. Our findings also reveal the context dependency of such relationships and the importance of the connectedness, biodiversity and nature of the globally distributed dominant phylotypes within the soil network in maintaining multiple functions. Moreover, our results suggest that the positive association between plant diversity and multifunctionality across biomes is indirectly driven by soil biodiversity. Together, our results provide insights into the importance of soil biodiversity for maintaining soil functionality locally and across biomes, as well as providing strong support for the inclusion of soil biodiversity in conservation and management programmes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo
- Departamento de Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide , Sevilla, Spain.
- Instituto Multidisciplinar para el Estudio del Medio "Ramon Margalef", Universidad de Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, Spain.
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia.
| | - Peter B Reich
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia
- Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, USA
| | - Chanda Trivedi
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia
| | - David J Eldridge
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Sebastián Abades
- GEMA Center for Genomics, Ecology & Environment, Universidad Mayor, Camino La Pirámide, Santiago, Chile
| | - Fernando D Alfaro
- GEMA Center for Genomics, Ecology & Environment, Universidad Mayor, Camino La Pirámide, Santiago, Chile
| | - Felipe Bastida
- Department of Soil and Water Conservation, Campus Universitario de Espinardo, CEBAS-CSIC, Murcia, Spain
| | - Asmeret A Berhe
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences and Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California Merced, Merced, CA, USA
| | - Nick A Cutler
- School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Antonio Gallardo
- Departamento de Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide , Sevilla, Spain
| | - Laura García-Velázquez
- Departamento de Sistemas Físicos, Químicos y Naturales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide , Sevilla, Spain
| | - Stephen C Hart
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences and Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California Merced, Merced, CA, USA
| | - Patrick E Hayes
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- Crop, Livestock and Environment Division, Japan International Research Centre for Agricultural Sciences, Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Ji-Zheng He
- Key Laboratory for Humid Subtropical Eco-geographical Processes of the Ministry of Education, School of Geographical Science, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, China
- Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Zeng-Yei Hseu
- Department of Agricultural Chemistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Hang-Wei Hu
- Key Laboratory for Humid Subtropical Eco-geographical Processes of the Ministry of Education, School of Geographical Science, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, China
- Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Martin Kirchmair
- Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Sigrid Neuhauser
- Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Cecilia A Pérez
- Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Las Palmeras, Santiago, Chile
| | - Sasha C Reed
- US Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Moab, UT, USA
| | - Fernanda Santos
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences and Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California Merced, Merced, CA, USA
| | - Benjamin W Sullivan
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA
| | - Pankaj Trivedi
- Microbiome Cluster and Department of Agricultural Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Jun-Tao Wang
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Luis Weber-Grullon
- Global Drylands Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
- School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Mark A Williams
- School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Brajesh K Singh
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia
- Global Centre for Land Based Innovation, Western Sydney University, Penrith South, New South Wales, Australia
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