TY - JOUR T1 - Change in dominance determines herbivore effects on plant biodiversity JF - Nature Ecology and Evolution Y1 - 2018 A1 - Koerner, S.E. A1 - M.D. Smith A1 - Burkepile, D.E. A1 - N.P. Hanan A1 - M.L. Avolio A1 - Scott. L. Collins A1 - Alan K. Knapp A1 - N.P. Lemoine A1 - E.J. Forrestel A1 - S. Eby A1 - D.I. Thompson A1 - G. Aguado-Santacruz A1 - J.P. Anderson A1 - Anderson, M. A1 - A. Angassa A1 - S. Bagchi A1 - E.S. Bakker A1 - Bastin, Gary A1 - L.E. Baur A1 - K.H. Beard A1 - E.A. Beever A1 - P.J. Bohlen A1 - Elizabeth H. Boughton A1 - Canestro, Don A1 - Cesa, Ariela A1 - Chaneton, Enrique A1 - Cheng, Jimin A1 - C.M. D’Antonio A1 - C. Deleglise A1 - Fadiala. Dembélé A1 - Josh. Dorrough A1 - David. J. Eldridge A1 - Barbara. Fernandez-Going A1 - Silvia. Fernández-Lugo A1 - Lauchlan. H. Fraser A1 - Bill. Freedman A1 - Gonzalo. García-Salgado A1 - Jacob. R. Goheen A1 - Liang. Guo A1 - Sean. Husheer A1 - Moussa. Karembé A1 - Johannes. M. H. Knops A1 - Tineke. Kraaij A1 - Andrew. Kulmatiski A1 - Minna-Maarit. Kytöviita A1 - Felipe. Lezama A1 - Gregory. Loucougaray A1 - Alejandro. Loydi, Dan G. Milchunas, A1 - Dan.G. Milchunas, A1 - Suzanne. J. Milton A1 - J.W. Morgan A1 - Claire. Moxham A1 - Kyle. C. Nehring A1 - Han. Olff A1 - Todd. M. Palmer A1 - Salvador. Rebollo A1 - Corinna. Riginos A1 - Anita. C. Risch A1 - Marta Rueda A1 - Mahesh. Sankaran A1 - Takehiro. Sasaki A1 - Kathryn. A. Schoenecker A1 - Nick. L. Schultz A1 - Martin. Schütz A1 - Angelika. Schwabe A1 - Frances. Siebert A1 - Christian. Smit A1 - Karen. A. Stahlheber A1 - Christian. Storm A1 - Dustin. J. Strong A1 - Jishuai. Su A1 - Yadugiri. V. Tiruvaimozhi A1 - Claudia. Tyler A1 - James. Val A1 - Martijn. L. Vandegehuchte A1 - Kari. E. Veblen A1 - Lance. T. Vermeire A1 - David. Ward A1 - Jianshuang. Wu A1 - Truman. P. Young A1 - Qiang. Yu A1 - Tamara. Jane. Zelikova AB -

Herbivores alter plant biodiversity (species richness) in many of the world’s ecosystems, but the magnitude and the direction of herbivore effects on biodiversity vary widely within and among ecosystems. One current theory predicts that herbivores enhance plant biodiversity at high productivity but have the opposite effect at low productivity. Yet, empirical support for the importance of site productivity as a mediator of these herbivore impacts is equivocal. Here, we synthesize data from 252 large-herbivore exclusion studies, spanning a 20-fold range in site productivity, to test an alternative hypothesis—that herbivore-induced changes in the competitive environment determine the response of plant biodiversity to herbivory irrespective of productivity. Under this hypothesis, when herbivores reduce the abundance (biomass, cover) of dominant species (for example, because the dominant plant is palatable), additional resources become available to support new species, thereby increasing biodiversity. By contrast, if herbivores promote high dominance by increasing the abundance of herbivory-resistant, unpalatable species, then resource availability for other species decreases reducing biodiversity. We show that herbivore-induced change in dominance, independent of site productivity or precipitation (a proxy for productivity), is the best predictor of herbivore effects on biodiversity in grassland and savannah sites. Given that most herbaceous ecosystems are dominated by one or a few species, altering the competitive environment via herbivores or by other means may be an effective strategy for conserving biodiversity in grasslands and savannahs globally.

VL - 2 UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0696-y#article-info ER -