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Nutrients cause grassland biomass to outpace herbivory.

ABSTRACT: Human activities are transforming grassland biomass via changing climate, elemental nutrients, and herbivory. Theory predicts that food-limited herbivores will consume any additional biomass stimulated by nutrient inputs ('consumer-controlled'). Alternatively, nutrient supply is predicted to increase biomass where herbivores alter community composition or are limited by factors other than food ('resource-controlled'). Using an experiment replicated in 58 grasslands spanning six continents, we show that nutrient addition and vertebrate herbivore exclusion each caused sustained increases in aboveground live biomass over a decade, but consumer control was weak. However, at sites with high vertebrate grazing intensity or domestic livestock, herbivores consumed the additional fertilization-induced biomass, supporting the consumer-controlled prediction. Herbivores most effectively reduced the additional live biomass at sites with low precipitation or high ambient soil nitrogen. Overall, these experimental results suggest that grassland biomass will outstrip wild herbivore control as human activities increase elemental nutrient supply, with widespread consequences for grazing and fire risk.

SUBMITTER: Borer ET

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7695826 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Nutrients cause grassland biomass to outpace herbivory.

Borer E T ET Harpole W S WS Adler P B PB Arnillas C A CA Bugalho M N MN Cadotte M W MW Caldeira M C MC Campana S S Dickman C R CR Dickson T L TL Donohue I I Eskelinen A A Firn J L JL Graff P P Gruner D S DS Heckman R W RW Koltz A M AM Komatsu K J KJ Lannes L S LS MacDougall A S AS Martina J P JP Moore J L JL Mortensen B B Ochoa-Hueso R R Olde Venterink H H Power S A SA Price J N JN Risch A C AC Sankaran M M Schütz M M Sitters J J Stevens C J CJ Virtanen R R Wilfahrt P A PA Seabloom E W EW

Nature communications 20201127 1

Human activities are transforming grassland biomass via changing climate, elemental nutrients, and herbivory. Theory predicts that food-limited herbivores will consume any additional biomass stimulated by nutrient inputs ('consumer-controlled'). Alternatively, nutrient supply is predicted to increase biomass where herbivores alter community composition or are limited by factors other than food ('resource-controlled'). Using an experiment replicated in 58 grasslands spanning six continents, we sh ...[more]

PMID: 33247130

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Project description:The amine-rich surfaces of pyrolyzed human solid waste (py-HSW) can be "primed" or "regenerated" with carbon dioxide (CO2) to enhance their adsorption of ammonia (NH3) for use as a soil amendment. To better understand the mechanism by which CO2 exposure facilitates NH3 adsorption to py-HSW, we artificially enriched a model sorbent, pyrolyzed, oxidized wood (py-ox wood) with amine functional groups through exposure to NH3. We then exposed these N-enriched materials to CO2 and then resorbed NH3. The high heat of CO2 adsorption (Q st) on py-HSW, 49 kJ mol-1, at low surface coverage, 0.4 mmol CO2 g-1, showed that the naturally occurring N compounds in py-HSW have a high affinity for CO2. The Q st of CO2 on py-ox wood also increased after exposure to NH3, reaching 50 kJ mol-1 at 0.7 mmol CO2 g-1, demonstrating that the incorporation of N-rich functional groups by NH3 adsorption is favorable for CO2 uptake. Adsorption kinetics of py-ox wood revealed continued, albeit diminishing NH3 uptake after each CO2 treatment, averaging 5.9 mmol NH3 g-1 for the first NH3 exposure event and 3.5 and 2.9 mmol NH3 g-1 for the second and third; the electrophilic character of CO2 serves as a Lewis acid, enhancing surface affinity for NH3 uptake. Furthermore, penetration of 15NH3 and 13CO2 measured by NanoSIMS reached over 7 μm deep into both materials, explaining the large NH3 capture. We expected similar NH3 uptake in py-HSW sorbed with CO2 and py-ox wood because both materials, py-HSW and py-ox wood sorbed with NH3, had similar N contents and similarly high CO2 uptake. Yet NH3 sorption in py-HSW was unexpectedly low, apparently from potassium (K) bicarbonate precipitation, reducing interactions between NH3 and sorbed CO2; 2-fold greater surface K in py-HSW was detected after exposure to CO2 and NH3 than before gas exposure. We show that amine-rich pyrolyzed waste materials have high CO2 affinity, which facilitates NH3 uptake. However, high ash contents as found in py-HSW hinder this mechanism.

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Nutrients cause grassland biomass to outpace herbivory.

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Nutrients cause grassland biomass to outpace herbivory.

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