Aims Both extreme drought and insect herbivores can suppress plant growth in grassland communities.However,most studies have examined extreme drought and insects in isolation,and there is reason to believe that insect...Aims Both extreme drought and insect herbivores can suppress plant growth in grassland communities.However,most studies have examined extreme drought and insects in isolation,and there is reason to believe that insects might alter the ability of grasslands to withstand drought.Unfortunately,few studies have tested the interactive effects of extreme drought and insect herbivores in grassland communities.Methods Here,we tested the drought–herbivore interactions using a manipulative experiment that factorially crossed extreme drought with the exclusion of insect herbivores in a temperate semiarid grassland in Inner Mongolia.Important Findings Our results demonstrated that both extreme drought and insect herbivores separately decreased total plant cover.When combined,insect herbivores reduced the impact of drought on total cover by increasing the relative abundance of drought-resistant dominant species.Our results highlight that the negative effect of extreme drought on total plant cover could be alleviated by maintaining robust insect herbivore communities.展开更多
Aims and Methods Diversity-disturbance research has focused on community diversity,but disturbance frequency could impact diversity within species as well,with important consequences for community diversity and ecosys...Aims and Methods Diversity-disturbance research has focused on community diversity,but disturbance frequency could impact diversity within species as well,with important consequences for community diversity and ecosystem function.We examined patterns of genetic diversity of a dominant grass species,Andropogon gerardii,in native North American tallgrass prairie sites located in eastern Kansas that have been subjected to a gradient of fire frequency treatments(burned every 1,2,4 or 20 years)since the 1970s.In addition,we were able to assess the relationships between genetic diversity of A.gerardii,species diversity and productivity across this range of fire frequencies.Important Findings We found no significant relationships between genetic diversity of A.gerardii at the local scale(1 m^(2) plot level)and disturbance frequency(burned 2 to 32 times over a 38-year period).However,at the site level(i.e.across all plots sampled within a site,~100 m^(2))there were differences in genotype richness and composition,as well as genomic dissimilarity among individuals of A.gerardii.Genotype richness was greatest for the site burned at an intermediate(4-year)frequency and lowest for the infrequently(20-year)burned site.In addition,genotypes found in the frequently burned sites were more similar from each other than expected by random chance than those found in the infrequently burned sites.Genotype composition of A.gerardii was not significantly different between the frequently burned sites(annual vs.2 year)but did differ between frequently burned and infrequently burned sites(1 and 2 year vs.4 and 20 year,etc.).Together,these results suggest site-level ecological sorting of genotypes in intact prairie across a broad gradient of disturbance frequencies,likely driven by alterations in environmental conditions.Frequent fire promotes the abundance of dominant grass species,reduces plant community diversity and impacts ecosystem processes such as productivity.Our study suggests that genetic diversity within dominant grass species also may be affected by disturbance frequency,which could have important implications for how species are able to respond to disturbance.展开更多
Aims:The long-term effects of changing fire regimes on the herbaceous component of savannas are poorly understood but essential for understanding savanna dynamics.We present results from one of the longest running(>...Aims:The long-term effects of changing fire regimes on the herbaceous component of savannas are poorly understood but essential for understanding savanna dynamics.We present results from one of the longest running(>44 years)fire experiments in savannas,the experimental burn plots(EBPs),which is located in the Kruger National Park(South Africa)and encompasses four major savanna vegetation types that span broad spatial gradients of rainfall(450–700 mm)and soil fertility.Methods:Herbaceous vegetation was sampled twice in the EBPs using a modified step-point method,once prior to initiation of the experiment(1954)and again after 44–47 years.Different combinations of three fire frequency(1-,2-and 3-year return intervals)and five season(before the first spring rains,after the first spring rains,mid-summer,late summer and autumn)treatments,as well as a fire exclusion treatment,were applied at the plot level(;7 ha each),with each treatment(n=12 total)replicated four times at each of the four sites(n=192 plots total).The effects of long-term alterations to the fire regime on grass community structure and composition were analyzed separately for each site.Important Findings:Over the 44+years duration of the experiment,fires were consistently more intense on sites with higher mean annual rainfall(>570 mm),whereas fires were not as intense or consistent for sites with lower and more variable rainfall(<510 mm)and potentially higher herbivory due to greater soil fertility.Because the plots were open to grazing,the impacts of herbivory along with more variable rainfall regimes likely minimized the effects of fire for the more arid sites.As a consequence,fire effects on grass community structure and composition were most marked for the higher rainfall sites and generally not significant for the more arid sites.For the high-rainfall sites,frequent dry season fires(1-to 3-year return intervals)resulted in high grass richness,evenness and diversity,whereas fire exclusion and growing season fires had the lowest of these measures and diverged the most in composition as the result of increased abundance of a few key grasses.Overall,the long-term cumulative impacts of altered fire regimes varied across broad climatic and fertility gradients,with fire effects on the grass community decreasing in importance and herbivory and climatic variability likely having a greater influence on community structure and composition with increasing aridity and soil fertility.展开更多
基金This study was sponsored by the National Key R&D Program of China(2017YFA0604802,2019YFE0117000)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(41320104002).
文摘Aims Both extreme drought and insect herbivores can suppress plant growth in grassland communities.However,most studies have examined extreme drought and insects in isolation,and there is reason to believe that insects might alter the ability of grasslands to withstand drought.Unfortunately,few studies have tested the interactive effects of extreme drought and insect herbivores in grassland communities.Methods Here,we tested the drought–herbivore interactions using a manipulative experiment that factorially crossed extreme drought with the exclusion of insect herbivores in a temperate semiarid grassland in Inner Mongolia.Important Findings Our results demonstrated that both extreme drought and insect herbivores separately decreased total plant cover.When combined,insect herbivores reduced the impact of drought on total cover by increasing the relative abundance of drought-resistant dominant species.Our results highlight that the negative effect of extreme drought on total plant cover could be alleviated by maintaining robust insect herbivore communities.
基金National Science Foundation:Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant(NSF-DDIG),(DEB-1011371)Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies-Field Ecology Grant(YIBS)to CCC.
文摘Aims and Methods Diversity-disturbance research has focused on community diversity,but disturbance frequency could impact diversity within species as well,with important consequences for community diversity and ecosystem function.We examined patterns of genetic diversity of a dominant grass species,Andropogon gerardii,in native North American tallgrass prairie sites located in eastern Kansas that have been subjected to a gradient of fire frequency treatments(burned every 1,2,4 or 20 years)since the 1970s.In addition,we were able to assess the relationships between genetic diversity of A.gerardii,species diversity and productivity across this range of fire frequencies.Important Findings We found no significant relationships between genetic diversity of A.gerardii at the local scale(1 m^(2) plot level)and disturbance frequency(burned 2 to 32 times over a 38-year period).However,at the site level(i.e.across all plots sampled within a site,~100 m^(2))there were differences in genotype richness and composition,as well as genomic dissimilarity among individuals of A.gerardii.Genotype richness was greatest for the site burned at an intermediate(4-year)frequency and lowest for the infrequently(20-year)burned site.In addition,genotypes found in the frequently burned sites were more similar from each other than expected by random chance than those found in the infrequently burned sites.Genotype composition of A.gerardii was not significantly different between the frequently burned sites(annual vs.2 year)but did differ between frequently burned and infrequently burned sites(1 and 2 year vs.4 and 20 year,etc.).Together,these results suggest site-level ecological sorting of genotypes in intact prairie across a broad gradient of disturbance frequencies,likely driven by alterations in environmental conditions.Frequent fire promotes the abundance of dominant grass species,reduces plant community diversity and impacts ecosystem processes such as productivity.Our study suggests that genetic diversity within dominant grass species also may be affected by disturbance frequency,which could have important implications for how species are able to respond to disturbance.
基金This work is part of the Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity Project,which was supported by the Knowledge and Distributed Intelligence Program of the National Science Foundation(DEB 99-80154)the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis,a center funded by NSF(DEB-0072909)+1 种基金the University of California,and the Santa Barbara campus.Additional support was provided to MDS by NSF(DEB-0516145)the Andrew W.Mellon Foundation.
文摘Aims:The long-term effects of changing fire regimes on the herbaceous component of savannas are poorly understood but essential for understanding savanna dynamics.We present results from one of the longest running(>44 years)fire experiments in savannas,the experimental burn plots(EBPs),which is located in the Kruger National Park(South Africa)and encompasses four major savanna vegetation types that span broad spatial gradients of rainfall(450–700 mm)and soil fertility.Methods:Herbaceous vegetation was sampled twice in the EBPs using a modified step-point method,once prior to initiation of the experiment(1954)and again after 44–47 years.Different combinations of three fire frequency(1-,2-and 3-year return intervals)and five season(before the first spring rains,after the first spring rains,mid-summer,late summer and autumn)treatments,as well as a fire exclusion treatment,were applied at the plot level(;7 ha each),with each treatment(n=12 total)replicated four times at each of the four sites(n=192 plots total).The effects of long-term alterations to the fire regime on grass community structure and composition were analyzed separately for each site.Important Findings:Over the 44+years duration of the experiment,fires were consistently more intense on sites with higher mean annual rainfall(>570 mm),whereas fires were not as intense or consistent for sites with lower and more variable rainfall(<510 mm)and potentially higher herbivory due to greater soil fertility.Because the plots were open to grazing,the impacts of herbivory along with more variable rainfall regimes likely minimized the effects of fire for the more arid sites.As a consequence,fire effects on grass community structure and composition were most marked for the higher rainfall sites and generally not significant for the more arid sites.For the high-rainfall sites,frequent dry season fires(1-to 3-year return intervals)resulted in high grass richness,evenness and diversity,whereas fire exclusion and growing season fires had the lowest of these measures and diverged the most in composition as the result of increased abundance of a few key grasses.Overall,the long-term cumulative impacts of altered fire regimes varied across broad climatic and fertility gradients,with fire effects on the grass community decreasing in importance and herbivory and climatic variability likely having a greater influence on community structure and composition with increasing aridity and soil fertility.
