Change in functional trait diversity mediates the effects of nutrient addition on grassland stability

Chen, Qingqing and Wang, Shaopeng and Seabloom, Eric W. and Isbell, Forest and Borer, Elizabeth T. and Bakker, Jonathan D. and Bharath, Siddharth and Roscher, Christiane and Peri, Pablo Luis and Power, Sally A. and Donohue, Ian and Stevens, Carly and Ebeling, Anne and Nogueira, Carla and Caldeira, Maria C. and MacDougall, Andrew S. and Moore, Joslin L. and Bagchi, Sumanta and Jentsch, Anke and Tedder, Michelle and Kirkman, Kevin and Alberti, Juan and Hautier, Yann (2024) Change in functional trait diversity mediates the effects of nutrient addition on grassland stability. Journal of Ecology. ISSN 0022-0477

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Abstract

Nutrient enrichment impacts grassland plant diversity such as species richness, functional trait composition and diversity, but whether and how these changes affect ecosystem stability in the face of increasing climate extremes remains largely unknown. We quantified the direct and diversity‐mediated effects of nutrient addition (by nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) on the stability of above‐ground biomass production in 10 long‐term grassland experimental sites. We measured five facets of stability as the temporal invariability, resistance during and recovery after extreme dry and wet growing seasons. Leaf traits (leaf carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and specific leaf area) were measured under ambient and nutrient addition conditions in the field and were used to construct the leaf economic spectrum (LES). We calculated functional trait composition and diversity of LES and of single leaf traits. We quantified the contribution of intraspecific trait shifts and species replacement to change in functional trait composition as responses to nutrient addition and its implications for ecosystem stability. Nutrient addition decreased functional trait diversity and drove grassland communities to the faster end of the LES primarily through intraspecific trait shifts, suggesting that intraspecific trait shifts should be included for accurately predicting ecosystem stability. Moreover, the change in functional trait diversity of the LES in turn influenced different facets of stability. That said, these diversity‐mediated effects were overall weak and/or overwhelmed by the direct effects of nutrient addition on stability. As a result, nutrient addition did not strongly impact any of the stability facets. These results were generally consistent using individual leaf traits but the dominant pathways differed. Importantly, major influencing pathways differed using average trait values extracted from global trait databases (e.g. TRY). Synthesis. Investigating changes in multiple facets of plant diversity and their impacts on multidimensional stability under global changes such as nutrient enrichment can improve our understanding of the processes and mechanisms maintaining ecosystem stability.