Evidence for long-term shift in plant community composition under decadal experimental warming

Journal of Ecology

Volumn 103, Issue 5, 2015, Pages 1131-1140

  Shi, Zheng ^a   Sherry, Rebecca ^b   Xu, Xia ^a   Hararuk, Oleksandra ^a,c   Souza, Lara ^a   Jiang, Lifen ^a   Xia, Jianyang ^a,d   Liang, Junyi ^a   Luo, Yiqi ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA   (United States)

^b FORT COLLINS SCIENCE CENTER   (United States)

^c PACIFIC FORESTRY CENTRE   (Canada)

^d EAST CHINA NORMAL UNIVERSITY   (China)

Author keywords

Diversity; Extreme climate; Increased temperature; Plant climate interactions; Prairie plant community; Species invasion; Tallgrass prairie; Temperate grassland

Indexed keywords

CLIMATE CHANGE; COMMUNITY RESPONSE; COMMUNITY STRUCTURE; DOMINANCE; INVASIBILITY; LONG-TERM CHANGE; PLANT COMMUNITY; PRAIRIE; RELATIVE ABUNDANCE; SOIL TEMPERATURE; SPECIES RICHNESS;

OKLAHOMA [UNITED STATES]; UNITED STATES;

EID: 84939566016     PISSN: 00220477     EISSN: 13652745     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.12449     Document Type: Article

References (68)

1. Arft, A.M., Walker, M.D., Gurevitch, J., Alatalo, J.M., Bret-Harte, M.S., Dale, M. et al. (1999) Responses of tundra plants to experimental warming: meta-analysis of the international tundra experiment. Ecological Monographs, 69, 491-511.
2. Arnone, J.A., Jasoni, R.L., Lucchesi, A.J., Larsen, J.D., Leger, E.A., Sherry, R.A., Luo, Y.Q., Schimel, D.S. & Verburg, P.S.J. (2011) A climatically extreme year has large impacts on C-4 species in tallgrass prairie ecosystems but only minor effects on species richness and other plant functional groups. Journal of Ecology, 99, 678-688.
3. Bai, E., Li, S., Xu, W., Li, W., Dai, W. & Jiang, P. (2013) A meta-analysis of experimental warming effects on terrestrial nitrogen pools and dynamics. New Phytologist, 199, 441-451.
4. Borer, E.T., Seabloom, E.W., Gruner, D.S., Harpole, W.S., Hillebrand, H., Lind, E.M. et al. (2014) Herbivores and nutrients control grassland plant diversity via light limitation. Nature, 508, 517-520.
5. Chapin, F.S., Giblin, A.E., Nadelhoffer, K.J. & Laundre, J.A. (1995) Response of Arctic tundra to experimental and observed changes in climate. Ecology, 76, 694-711.
6. Chapin, F.S., Randerson, J.T., McGuire, A.D., Foley, J.A. & Field, C.B. (2008) Changing feedbacks in the climate-biosphere system. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 6, 313-320.
7. Cheng, X., Luo, Y., Su, B., Zhou, X., Niu, S., Sherry, R., Weng, E. & Zhang, Q. (2010) Experimental warming and clipping altered litter carbon and nitrogen dynamics in a tallgrass prairie. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 138, 206-213.
8. Christie, E.K. & Delting, J.K. (1982) Analysis of interferences between C(3) and C(4) grasses in relation to temperature and soil nitrogen supply. Ecology, 63, 1277-1284.
9. Clark, C.M., Cleland, E.E., Collins, S.L., Fargione, J.E., Gough, L., Gross, K.L., Pennings, S.C., Suding, K.N. & Grace, J.B. (2007) Environmental and plant community determinants of species loss following nitrogen enrichment. Ecology Letters, 10, 596-607.
10. Collins, S.L., Knapp, A.K., Briggs, J.M., Blair, J.M. & Steinauer, E.M. (1998) Modulation of diversity by grazing and mowing in native tallgrass prairie. Science, 280, 745-747.
11. Davis, M.A., Grime, J.P. & Thompson, K. (2000) Fluctuating resources in plant communities: a general theory of invasibility. Journal of Ecology, 88, 528-534.
12. De Boeck, H.J., Dreesen, F.E., Janssens, I.A. & Nijs, I. (2011) Whole-system responses of experimental plant communities to climate extremes imposed in different seasons. New Phytologist, 189, 806-817.
13. Dieleman, C.M., Branfireun, B.A., McLaughlin, J.W. & Lindo, Z. (2015) Climate change drives a shift in peatland ecosystem plant community: implications for ecosystem function and stability. Global Change Biology, 21, 388-395.
14. Dukes, J.S. & Mooney, H.A. (1999) Does global change increase the success of biological invaders? Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 14, 135-139.
15. Dukes, J. S., Chiariello, N. R., Cleland, E. E., Moore, L. A., Schaw, M. R., Thayer, S., Tobeck, T., Mooney, H. A. & Field, C. B. (2005) Responses of grassland production to single and multiple global environmental changes. PLoS Biology, 3, 1829-1837.
16. Field, C.B., Lobell, D.B., Peters, H.A. & Chiariello, N.R. (2007) Feedbacks of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 32, 1-29.
17. Foster, B.L. & Gross, K.L. (1998) Species richness in a successional grassland: effects of nitrogen enrichment and plant litter. Ecology, 79, 2593-2602.
18. Gedan, K.B. & Bertness, M.D. (2009) Experimental warming causes rapid loss of plant diversity in New England salt marshes. Ecology Letters, 12, 842-848.
19. Grime, J.P., Brown, V.K., Thompson, K., Masters, G.J., Hillier, S.H., Clarke, I.P., Askew, A.P., Corker, D. & Kielty, J.P. (2000) The response of two contrasting limestone grasslands to simulated climate change. Science, 289, 762-765.
20. Grime, J.P., Fridley, J.D., Askew, A.P., Thompson, K., Hodgson, J.G. & Bennett, C.R. (2008) Long-term resistance to simulated climate change in an infertile grassland. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105, 10028-10032.
21. Harmens, H., Williams, P.D., Peters, S.L., Bambrick, M.T., Hopkins, A. & Ashenden, T.W. (2004) Impacts of elevated atmospheric CO2 and temperature on plant community structure of a temperate grassland are modulated by cutting frequency. Grass and Forage Science, 59, 144-156.
22. Hautier, Y., Seabloom, E.W., Borer, E.T., Adler, P.B., Harpole, W.S., Hillebrand, H., et al. (2014) Eutrophication weakens stabilizing effects of diversity in natural grasslands. Nature, 508, 521-525.
23. Hoeppner, S.S. & Dukes, J.S. (2012) Interactive responses of old-field plant growth and composition to warming and precipitation. Global Change Biology, 18, 1754-1768.
24. Hoover, D.L., Knapp, A.K. & Smith, M.D. (2014) Resistance and resilience of a grassland ecosystem to climate extremes. Ecology, 95, 2646-2656.
25. IPCC (2013) Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
26. Jentsch, A. & Beierkuhnlein, C. (2003) Global climate change and local disturbance regimes as interacting drivers for shifting altitudinal vegetation patterns (Globale Klimaveränderungen und lokale Störungsregime als interagierende Steuergrößen sich verschiebender höhenzonaler Vegetationsmuster). Erdkunde, 57, 216-231.
27. Jentsch, A., Kreyling, J. & Beierkuhnlein, C. (2007) A new generation of climate-change experiments: events, not trends. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 5, 365-374.
28. Kardol, P., Campany, C.E., Souza, L., Norby, R.J., Weltzin, J.F. & Classen, A.T. (2010) Climate change effects on plant biomass alter dominance patterns and community evenness in an experimental old-field ecosystem. Global Change Biology, 16, 2676-2687.
29. Klanderud, K. & Totland, O. (2005) Simulated climate change altered dominance hierarchies and diversity of an alpine biodiversity hotspot. Ecology, 86, 2047-2054.
30. Klein, J.A., Harte, J. & Zhao, X.Q. (2004) Experimental warming causes large and rapid species loss, dampened by simulated grazing, on the Tibetan Plateau. Ecology Letters, 7, 1170-1179.
31. Knapp, A.K., Briggs, J.M., Hartnett, D.C. & Collins, S.L. (1998) Grassland Dynamics: Long-term Research in Tallgrass Prairie. OxfordUniversity Press, New York.
32. Koerner, S.E., Burkepile, D.E., Fynn, R.W.S., Burns, C.E., Eby, S., Govender, N. et al. (2014) Plant community response to loss of large herbivores differs between North American and South African savanna grasslands. Ecology, 95, 808-816.
33. Lu, M., Zhou, X.H., Yang, Q., Li, H., Luo, Y.Q., Fang, C.M., Chen, J.K., Yang, X. & Li, B. (2013) Responses of ecosystem carbon cycle to experimental warming: a meta-analysis. Ecology, 94, 726-738.
34. Luo, Y. (2007) Terrestrial carbon-cycle feedback to climate warming. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 38, 683-712.
35. Luo, Y.Q., Wan, S.Q., Hui, D.F. & Wallace, L.L. (2001) Acclimatization of soil respiration to warming in a tall grass prairie. Nature, 413, 622-625.
36. Luo, Y.Q., Sherry, R., Zhou, X.H. & Wan, S.Q. (2009) Terrestrial carbon-cycle feedback to climate warming: experimental evidence on plant regulation and impacts of biofuel feedstock harvest. Global Change Biology Bioenergy, 1, 62-74.
37. Luo, Y., Melillo, J., Niu, S., Beier, C., Clark, J.S., Classen, A.T. et al. (2011) Coordinated approaches to quantify long-term ecosystem dynamics in response to global change. Global Change Biology, 17, 843-854.
38. Niu, S.L., Sherry, R.A., Zhou, X.H., Wan, S.Q. & Luo, Y.Q. (2010) Nitrogen regulation of the climate-carbon feedback: evidence from a long-term global change experiment. Ecology, 91, 3261-3273.
39. Niu, S., Sherry, R., Zhou, X. & Luo, Y. (2013) Ecosystem carbon fluxes in response to warming and clipping in a tallgrass prairie. Ecosystems, 16, 948-961.
40. Olofsson, J., Oksanen, L., Callaghan, T., Hulme, P.E., Oksanen, T. & Suominen, O. (2009) Herbivores inhibit climate-driven shrub expansion on the tundra. Global Change Biology, 15, 2681-2693.
41. Peñuelas, J., Prieto, P., Beier, C., Cesaraccio, C., De Angelis, P., De Dato, G., et al. (2007) Response of plant species richness and primary productivity in shrublands along a north-south gradient in Europe to seven years of experimental warming and drought: reductions in primary productivity in the heat and drought year of 2003. Global Change Biology, 13, 2563-2581.
42. Post, E. (2013) Erosion of community diversity and stability by herbivore removal under warming. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 280, 20122722.
43. Post, E. & Pedersen, C. (2008) Opposing plant community responses to warming with and without herbivores. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105, 12353-12358.
44. Prieto, P., Penuelas, J., Lloret, F., Llorens, L. & Estiarte, M. (2009) Experimental drought and warming decrease diversity and slow down post-fire succession in a Mediterranean shrubland. Ecography, 32, 623-636.
45. Rastetter, E.B. (1996) Validating models of ecosystem response to global change. BioScience, 46, 190-198.
46. Rustad, L.E., Campbell, J.L., Marion, G.M., Norby, R.J., Mitchell, M.J., Hartley, A.E., Cornelissen, J.H.C. & Gurevitch, J. (2001) A meta-analysis of the response of soil respiration, net nitrogen mineralization, and above-ground plant growth to experimental ecosystem warming. Oecologia, 126, 543-562.
47. Saleska, S.R., Shaw, M.R., Fischer, M.L., Dunne, J.A., Still, C.J., Holman, M.L. & Harte, J. (2002) Plant community composition mediates both large transient decline and predicted long-term recovery of soil carbon under climate warming. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 16, 1055. doi:10.1029/2001GB001573.
48. Schmidt, C., Hickman, K., Channell, R., Harmoney, K. & Stark, W. (2008) Competitive abilities of native grasses and non-native (Bothriochloa spp.) grasses. Plant Ecology, 197, 69-80.
49. Seastedt, T.R., Coxwell, C.C., Ojima, D.S. & Parton, W.J. (1994) Controls of plant and soil carbon in a semihumid temperate grassland. Ecological Applications, 4, 344-353.
50. Shaver, G.R., Canadell, J., Chapin, F.S., Gurevitch, J., Harte, J., Henry, G., Ineson, P., Jonasson, S., Melillo, J., Pitelka, L. & Rustad, L. (2000) Global warming and terrestrial ecosystems: a conceptual framework for analysis. BioScience, 50, 871-882.
51. Shi, Z., Sherry, R., Xu, X., Hararuk, O., Souza, L., Jiang, L.F., Xia, J.Y., Liang, J.Y. & Luo, Y.Q. (2015) Data from: Evidence for long-term shift in plant community composition under decadal experimental warming. Journal of Ecology, http://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.1v339.
52. Smith, M.D., Knapp, A.K. & Collins, S.L. (2009) A framework for assessing ecosystem dynamics in response to chronic resource alterations induced by global change. Ecology, 90, 3279-3289.
53. Tilman, D., Reich, P.B. & Knops, J.M.H. (2006) Biodiversity and ecosystem stability in a decade-long grassland experiment. Nature, 441, 629-632.
54. US Department of Agriculture (1979) Soil Survey of McClain County, Oklahoma. Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, Stillwater, OK.
55. Walker, MD, Wahren, CH, Hollister, RD, Henry, GH, Ahlquist, LE, Alatalo, JM et al. (2006) Plant community responses to experimental warming across the tundra biome. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103, 1342-1346.
56. Walther, G.-R., Roques, A., Hulme, P.E., Sykes, M.T., Pyšek, P., Kühn, I. et al. (2009) Alien species in a warmer world: risks and opportunities. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 24, 686-693.
57. Wan, S., Luo, Y. & Wallace, L.L. (2002) Changes in microclimate induced by experimental warming and clipping in tallgrass prairie. Global Change Biology, 8, 754-768.
58. Wan, S.Q., Hui, D.F., Wallace, L. & Luo, Y.Q. (2005) Direct and indirect effects of experimental warming on ecosystem carbon processes in a tallgrass prairie. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 19, GB2014. doi:10.1029/2004GB002315.
59. White, S.R., Bork, E.W. & Cahill, J.F. (2014) Direct and indirect drivers of plant diversity responses to climate and clipping across northern temperate grassland. Ecology, 95, 3093-3103.
60. White, S.R., Carlyle, C.N., Fraser, L.H. & Cahill, J.F. (2012) Climate change experiments in temperate grasslands: synthesis and future directions. Biology Letters, 8, 484-487.
61. Wilson, G.T., Hickman, K. & Williamson, M. (2012) Invasive warm-season grasses reduce mycorrhizal root colonization and biomass production of native prairie grasses. Mycorrhiza, 22, 327-336.
62. Wu, Z.T., Dijkstra, P., Koch, G.W., Penuelas, J. & Hungate, B.A. (2011) Responses of terrestrial ecosystems to temperature and precipitation change: a meta-analysis of experimental manipulation. Global Change Biology, 17, 927-942.
63. Xu, X., Niu, S.L., Sherry, R.A., Zhou, X.H., Zhou, J.Z. & Luo, Y.Q. (2012a) Interannual variability in responses of belowground net primary productivity (NPP) and NPP partitioning to long-term warming and clipping in a tallgrass prairie. Global Change Biology, 18, 1648-1656.
64. Xu, X., Sherry, R.A., Niu, S.L., Zhou, J.Z. & Luo, Y.Q. (2012b) Long-term experimental warming decreased labile soil organic carbon in a tallgrass prairie. Plant and Soil, 361, 307-315.
65. Xu, X., Shi, Z., Li, D., Zhou, X., Sherry, R.A. & Luo, Y. (2015) Plant community structure regulates responses of prairie soil respiration to decadal experimental warming. Global Change Biology, doi:10.1111/gcb.12940.
66. Yang, H.J., Jiang, L., Li, L.H., Li, A., Wu, M.Y. & Wan, S.Q. (2012) Diversity-dependent stability under mowing and nutrient addition: evidence from a 7-year grassland experiment. Ecology Letters, 15, 619-626.
67. Zavaleta, E.S., Shaw, M.R., Chiariello, N.R., Mooney, H.A. & Field, C.B. (2003) Additive effects of simulated climate changes, elevated CO2, and nitrogen deposition on grassland diversity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 100, 7650-7654.
68. Zhou, X., Wan, S.Q. & Luo, Y.Q. (2007) Source components and interannual variability of soil CO2 efflux under experimental warming and clipping in a grassland ecosystem. Global Change Biology, 13, 761-775.