Climate modifies response of non-native and native species richness to nutrient enrichment

LIND, E.M.; YAHDJIAN, L.; ALBERTI, J.; CADOTTE, M.W.; D'ANTONIO, C.M.; HAGENAH, N.; REICH, P.B.; FLORES-MORENO, H.; KIRKMAN, K.P.; SEABLOOM, E.W.; SULLIVAN, L.L.; LAUNGANI, R.; REICHMANN, L.G.; MACDOUGALL, A.S.; MOORE, J.L.; BAKKER, J.D.; BÁEZ, S.; CHANETON, E.J.; CALDEIRA, M.C.; FIRN, J.; FAY, P.A.; IRIBARME, O.; HARPOLE, W.S.; LA PIERRE, K.J.; KNOPS, J.M.H.; MCCULLEY, R.L.; LEAKEY, A.D.W.; BORER, E.T.; PASCUAL, J.

PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

ROYAL SOC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2016 vol. 371 p. 1 - 9

0962-8436

Ecosystem eutrophication often increases domination by non-natives andcauses displacement of native taxa. However, variation in environmental conditionsmay affect the outcome of interactions between native and non-nativetaxa in environments where nutrient supply is elevated. We examined theinteractive effects of eutrophication, climate variability and climate averageconditions on the success of native and non-native plant species using experimentalnutrient manipulations replicated at 32 grassland sites on fourcontinents. We hypothesized that effects of nutrient addition would be greatestwhere climatewas stable and benign, owing to reduced niche partitioning.We found that the abundance of non-native species increased with nutrientaddition independent of climate; however, nutrient addition increased nonnativespecies richness and decreased native species richness, with these effects dampened in warmer or wetter sites. Eutrophication also altered the timescale in which grassland invasion responded to climate, decreasing the importance oflong-term climate and increasing that of annual climate.Thus, climatic conditions mediate the responses of native and non-native flora to nutrient enrichment. Our results suggest that the negative effect of nutrient addition on native abundance is decoupled from its effect on richness and reduces the timescale of the links between climate and compositional change.