Widening global variability in grassland biomass since the 1980s

Andrew S. MacDougall*, Ellen Esch, Qingqing Chen, Oliver Carroll, Colin Bonner, Timothy Ohlert, Matthias Siewert, John Sulik, Anna Schweiger, Elizabeth T. Borer, Dilip Naidu, Sumanta Bagchi, Yann Hautier, Peter Wilfahrt, Keith Larson, Johan Olofsson, Elsa Cleland, Ranjan Muthukrishnan, Lydia O’Halloran, Juan AlbertiT. Michael Anderson, Carlos A. Arnillas, Jonathan D. Bakker, Isabel C. Barrio, Lori Biederman, Elizabeth H. Boughton, Lars A. Brudvig, Martin Bruschetti, Yvonne Buckley, Miguel N. Bugalho, Marc W. Cadotte, Maria C. Caldeira, Jane A. Catford, Carla D’Antonio, Kendi Davies, Pedro Daleo, Christopher R. Dickman, Ian Donohue, Mary Ellyn DuPre, Kenneth Elgersma, Nico Eisenhauer, Anu Eskelinen, Catalina Estrada, Philip A. Fay, Yanhao Feng, Daniel S. Gruner, Nicole Hagenah, Sylvia Haider, W. Stanley Harpole, Erika Hersch-Green, Anke Jentsch, Kevin Kirkman, Johannes M.H. Knops, Lauri Laanisto, Lucíola S. Lannes, Ramesh Laungani, Ariuntsetseg Lkhagva, Petr Macek, Jason P. Martina, Rebecca L. McCulley, Brett Melbourne, Rachel Mitchell, Joslin L. Moore, John W. Morgan, Taofeek O. Muraina, Yujie Niu, Meelis Pärtel, Pablo L. Peri, Sally A. Power, Jodi N. Price, Suzanne M. Prober, Zhengwei Ren, Anita C. Risch, Nicholas G. Smith, Grégory Sonnier, Rachel J. Standish, Carly J. Stevens, Michelle Tedder, Pedro Tognetti, G. F. Veen, Risto Virtanen, Glenda M. Wardle, Elizabeth Waring, Amelia A. Wolf, Laura Yahdjian, Eric W. Seabloom

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Global change is associated with variable shifts in the annual production of aboveground plant biomass, suggesting localized sensitivities with unclear causal origins. Combining remotely sensed normalized difference vegetation index data since the 1980s with contemporary field data from 84 grasslands on 6 continents, we show a widening divergence in site-level biomass ranging from +51% to −34% globally. Biomass generally increased in warmer, wetter and species-rich sites with longer growing seasons and declined in species-poor arid areas. Phenological changes were widespread, revealing substantive transitions in grassland seasonal cycling. Grazing, nitrogen deposition and plant invasion were prevalent in some regions but did not predict overall trends. Grasslands are undergoing sizable changes in production, with implications for food security, biodiversity and carbon storage especially in arid regions where declines are accelerating.

Original languageEnglish
JournalNature Ecology and Evolution
DOIs
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 2024
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Widening global variability in grassland biomass since the 1980s'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this