Forb diversity globally is harmed by nutrient enrichment but can be rescued by large mammalian herbivory

dc.contributor.authorNelson, Rebecca A.
dc.contributor.authorSullivan, Lauren L.
dc.contributor.authorHersch-Green, Erika I.
dc.contributor.authorSeabloom, Eric W.
dc.contributor.authorBorer, Elizabeth T.
dc.contributor.authorTognetti, Pedro M.
dc.contributor.authorAdler, Peter B.
dc.contributor.authorBiederman, Lori
dc.contributor.authorBugalho, Miguel N.
dc.contributor.authorCaldeira, Maria C.
dc.contributor.authorCancela, Juan P.
dc.contributor.authorCarvalheiro, Luísa G.
dc.contributor.authorCatford, Jane A.
dc.contributor.authorDickman, Chris R.
dc.contributor.authorDolezal, Aleksandra J.
dc.contributor.authorDonohue, Ian
dc.contributor.authorEbeling, Anne
dc.contributor.authorEisenhauer, Nico
dc.contributor.authorElgersma, Kenneth J.
dc.contributor.authorEskelinen, Anu
dc.contributor.authorEstrada, Catalina
dc.contributor.authorGarbowski, Magda
dc.contributor.authorGraff, Pamela
dc.contributor.authorGruner, Daniel S.
dc.contributor.authorHagenah, Nicole
dc.contributor.authorHaider, Sylvia
dc.contributor.authorHarpole, W. Stanley
dc.contributor.authorHautier, Yann
dc.contributor.authorJentsch, Anke
dc.contributor.authorJohanson, Nicolina
dc.contributor.authorKoerner, Sally E.
dc.contributor.authorLannes, Lucíola S.
dc.contributor.authorMacdougall, Andrew S.
dc.contributor.authorMartinson, Holly
dc.contributor.authorMorgan, John W.
dc.contributor.authorOlde Venterink, Harry
dc.contributor.authorOrr, Devyn
dc.contributor.authorOsborne, Brooke B.
dc.contributor.authorPeri, Pablo L.
dc.contributor.authorPower, Sally A.
dc.contributor.authorRaynaud, Xavier
dc.contributor.authorRisch, Anita C.
dc.contributor.authorShrestha, Mani
dc.contributor.authorSmith, Nicholas G.
dc.contributor.authorStevens, Carly J.
dc.contributor.authorVeen, G.F. Ciska
dc.contributor.authorVirtanen, Risto
dc.contributor.authorWardle, Glenda M.
dc.contributor.authorWolf, Amelia A.
dc.contributor.authorYoung, Alyssa L.
dc.contributor.authorHarrison, Susan P.
dc.date.accessioned2025-05-21T08:01:04Z
dc.date.available2025-05-21T08:01:04Z
dc.date.issued2025-03
dc.descriptionDATA AVAILABILITY : Source data and metadata associated with this paper are archived in the following publically accessible Environmental Data Initiative (EDI) repository ID edi.1823.2: https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/62e2c0f1bc1ccb5a29d63b513bb66810. Deposited data can be accessed via the link provided under the repository ‘Data for Forb diversity globally is harmed by nutrient enrichment but can be rescued by large mammalian herbivory’90. Please contact the corresponding author for further information. Data can be cited as follows: Barrio, I., E. Boughton, C. Chu, G. Du, Q. Li, W. Li, G. Wen, N. Eisenhauer, S. Haider, J. Siebert, K. Speziale, D. Wedin, A. Jentsch, M. Spohn, K. Davies, B. Melbourne, B. Mortensen, J. Paper, E. Borer, L. Hallett, J. Firn, Y. Buckley, I. Donohue, L.A. Biederman, K.S. Hofmockel, L. Sullivan, A. Kay, J.M. Knops, E. Chaneton, P.M. Tognetti, L. Yahdjian, M. Bugalho, M. Caldeira, A. MacDougall, K. Elgersma, R. Laungani, E. Cleland, G. Wardle, S. Güsewell, Y. Hautier, A. Hector, K.P. Kirkman, M. Tedder, J. Nelson, N.M. DeCrappeo, D. Pyke, M.J. Crawley, K.L. Cottingham, E.M. Wolkovich, J. Zinnert, C.S. Brown, K. Jamiyansharav, A. Lkhagva, A. Ebeling, C. Roscher, L. Brudvig, M. Sankaran, A. Richards, A. Eskelinen, R. Virtanen, J. Morgan, M. Cadotte, A. Weiss, L. Lannes, H. olde Venterink, C. Stevens, L. Hallett, N. Smith, J. Alberti, P. Daleo, H. Martinson, B. Osborne, S. Reed, M. DuPre, K. Laflamme, Y. Lekberg, A. Wallace, S.M. Prober, M. Akasaka, T. Kadoya, J. Catford, H. Hillebrand, S. Baez, J. Price, R. Standish, J. Dwyer, H. Bahamonde, P. Peri, A. Eskelinen, D.S. Gruner, L. Yang, K.J. Komatsu, M. Smith, S. Koerner, A. Young, L. Brudvig, C.M. D’Antonio, E. Seabloom, T.M. Anderson, S. Collins, L. Ladwig, D.M. Blumenthal, C.S. Brown, J.A. Klein, A. Knapp, P. Adler, W.S. Harpole, J.D. Bakker, J. Hille Ris Lambers, R.L. McCulley, P.D. Wragg, D. Orr, H. Young, P.A. Fay, J. Martina, A. Leakey, E.I. Damschen, T. Knight, J.L. Orrock, K.P. Kirkman, M. Tedder, C. Mitchell, J. Wright, N. Pichon, A.C. Risch, M. Schuetz, R. Mitchell, R. Ochoa Hueso, S. Power, and R. Nelson. 2025. Data for Forb diversity globally is harmed by nutrient enrichment but can be rescued by large mammalian herbivory ver 2. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/62e2c0f1bc1ccb5a29d63b513bb66810.
dc.descriptionCODE AVAILABILITY : Code associated with this paper is archived in the following publically accessible Zenodo repository 14207290.
dc.description.abstractForbs (“wildflowers”) are important contributors to grassland biodiversity but are vulnerable to environmental changes. In a factorial experiment at 94 sites on 6 continents, we test the global generality of several broad predictions: (1) Forb cover and richness decline under nutrient enrichment, particularly nitrogen enrichment. (2) Forb cover and richness increase under herbivory by large mammals. (3) Forb richness and cover are less affected by nutrient enrichment and herbivory in more arid climates, because water limitation reduces the impacts of competition with grasses. (4) Forb families will respond differently to nutrient enrichment and mammalian herbivory due to differences in nutrient requirements. We find strong evidence for the first, partial support for the second, no support for the third, and support for the fourth prediction. Our results underscore that anthropogenic nitrogen addition is a major threat to grassland forbs, but grazing under high herbivore intensity can offset these nutrient effects.
dc.description.departmentMammal Research Institute
dc.description.departmentZoology and Entomology
dc.description.sdgSDG-15: Life on land
dc.description.sponsorshipFunding acknowledgments are documented in Supplementary Data 3.
dc.description.urihttps://www.nature.com/commsbio
dc.identifier.citationNelson, R.A., Sullivan, L.L., Hersch-Green, E.I. et al. Forb diversity globally is harmed by nutrient enrichment but can be rescued by large mammalian herbivory. Communications Biology 8, 444 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-07882-7.
dc.identifier.issn2399-3642 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.1038/s42003-025-07882-
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/102455
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherNature Research
dc.rights© The Author(s) 2025. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
dc.subjectBiodiversity
dc.subjectGrassland ecology
dc.subjectForbs
dc.subjectWildflowers
dc.titleForb diversity globally is harmed by nutrient enrichment but can be rescued by large mammalian herbivory
dc.typeArticle

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