Altered rainfall patterns increase forb abundance and richness in native tallgrass prairie

Jones, Sydney K.; Collins, Scott L.; Blair, John M.; Smith, Melinda D.; Knapp, Alan K.

doi:10.1038/srep20120

Cited by 53 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Furthermore, emergent responses, which occur subsequent to the first year of a multiyear rainfall period, have received little attention, in part because extended above-or below-average rainfall periods are expected to occur infrequently and are therefore impossible to observe a priori. Recent observations suggest that grassland responses to external forcings can change over multiple years as a result of legacies (Jones, Collins, Blair, Smith, & Knapp, 2016;Ratajczak et al, 2017), and comparing legacy and emergent components of ANPP in different grassland types can provide a more comprehensive understanding of how these processes influence ecosystem responses over periods of multiple years.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional grassland productivity responses to precipitation during multiyear above‐ and below‐average rainfall periods

Petrie

Peters

Jin

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

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There is considerable uncertainty in the magnitude and direction of changes in precipitation associated with climate change, and ecosystem responses are also uncertain. Multiyear periods of above- and below-average rainfall may foretell consequences of changes in rainfall regime. We compiled long-term aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) and precipitation (PPT) data for eight North American grasslands, and quantified relationships between ANPP and PPT at each site, and in 1-3 year periods of above- and below-average rainfall for mesic, semiarid cool, and semiarid warm grassland types. Our objective was to improve understanding of ANPP dynamics associated with changing climatic conditions by contrasting PPT-ANPP relationships in above- and below-average PPT years to those that occurred during sequences of multiple above- and below-average years. We found differences in PPT-ANPP relationships in above- and below-average years compared to long-term site averages, and variation in ANPP not explained by PPT totals that likely are attributed to legacy effects. The correlation between ANPP and current- and prior-year conditions changed from year to year throughout multiyear periods, with some legacy effects declining, and new responses emerging. Thus, ANPP in a given year was influenced by sequences of conditions that varied across grassland types and climates. Most importantly, the influence of prior-year ANPP often increased with the length of multiyear periods, whereas the influence of the amount of current-year PPT declined. Although the mechanisms by which a directional change in the frequency of above- and below-average years imposes a persistent change in grassland ANPP require further investigation, our results emphasize the importance of legacy effects on productivity for sequences of above- vs. below-average years, and illustrate the utility of long-term data to examine these patterns.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional grassland productivity responses to precipitation during multiyear above‐ and below‐average rainfall periods

Petrie

Peters

Jin

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

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“…Increased variability in rainfall can have large impacts on community composition and species diversity independent of rainfall amount (Knapp et al 2002). Jones et al (2016) conducted a 15-year precipitation variability grassland experiment and found that increased rainfall variability led to an increase in forb abundance and richness while dominant grasses remained relatively stable. Over time, rainfall variability led to the development of distinct communities as forb diversity increased, suggesting that rainfall variability plays a role in community assembly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Priority effects are affected by precipitation variability and are stronger in exotic than native grassland species

Goodale

Wilsey

2018

Plant Ecol

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Exotic perennial grassland species often green up earlier than their native counterparts, allowing them to gain an advantage by dominating resources early (priority effects). Precipitation variability is expected to increase with climate change, and may alter the strength of priority effects. We hypothesized that exotics will have stronger priority effects than natives, precipitation variability will impact the strength of priority effects, and precipitation variability will impact the priority effects of native species more than those of exotics. We seeded one of five native or five exotic grassland species from the Central U.S. spanning multiple functional groups 28 days prior to a native seed mix. Priority effect strength was determined by how much establishment and diversity was reduced in the mix compared to controls (no species seeded before mix). We crossed these priority effect treatments with three water variability treatments, one low variability, and two high variability with alternate timing. Exotic species had stronger priority effects than natives, and decreased diversity and establishment from the seed mix. High variability precipitation when the growing season began dry significantly increased priority effects compared to low variability and high variability beginning wet. We found no significant evidence for a more pronounced impact of precipitation on native species, but trends suggest future studies may reveal significant interactions. Although future research in the field over multiple growing seasons is needed, our results suggest priority effects of exotics in Central U.S. grasslands are independent of precipitation timing and therefore likely to persist under changing climates.

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“…Such time lags in the effects of precipitation on forbs are often overlooked, yet have recently been identified in other systems (Jones et al. , Dudney et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…F statistics and df are provided in Table 8. other functional groups, showed low resistance and high resilience, increasing after fire (Keeley et al 1981) and decreasing in dry years and in years following significant precipitation. Such time lags in the effects of precipitation on forbs are often overlooked, yet have recently been identified in other systems (Jones et al 2016, Dudney et al 2017. Non-native annual grasses fluctuated from year to year, responding positively to high rainfall, likely contributing to the negative correlation between native diversity and previous growing season precipitation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resistance and resilience: ten years of monitoring shrub and prairie communities in Orange County, CA, USA

et al. 2018

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Mediterranean‐climate natural systems have high ecological value, yet the extent of their cover has diminished greatly due to changes in land use. Other stressors, ranging from intense short‐term disturbances such as wildfire to more gradual events such as extended drought and continuous pressures including competition with invasive species, test the resistance and resilience of community composition and structure. Data from long‐term monitoring provided an opportunity to evaluate the responses of three Southern California plant communities (chaparral, coastal sage scrub, and grassland) to disturbances. We analyzed ten years of point intercept and quadrat data from Orange County to describe trends through time and assess community resistance and resilience. We found that grassland communities, which were more degraded from the start of our study, were generally resistant to change. Chaparral was also fairly resistant to disturbance, while coastal sage scrub exhibited more variation, with some transects exhibiting more resilience than others. Transects with fewer native shrubs experienced less of a decline in shrub cover during drought than those with dense shrubs. Grasslands had the lowest native diversity. There were increases in native diversity in years with more precipitation that were preceded by dry years. There was a decline in native perennial bunchgrasses during our monitoring. Our analyses demonstrated the resilience of native shrub cover to fire and the susceptibility (low resistance) of dense native shrubs and native grasses to drought and increases in non‐native species. We encourage academic ecologists to embrace diverse data sources available for hypothesis testing, especially monitoring efforts associated with regulatory purposes, to advance the goal of understanding long‐term dynamics.

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Altered rainfall patterns increase forb abundance and richness in native tallgrass prairie

Cited by 53 publications

References 66 publications

Regional grassland productivity responses to precipitation during multiyear above‐ and below‐average rainfall periods

Regional grassland productivity responses to precipitation during multiyear above‐ and below‐average rainfall periods

Priority effects are affected by precipitation variability and are stronger in exotic than native grassland species

Resistance and resilience: ten years of monitoring shrub and prairie communities in Orange County, CA, USA

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