Life-history constraints in grassland plant species: A growth-defence trade-off is the norm

Eric M. Lind; Elizabeth Borer; Eric Seabloom; Peter Adler; Jonathan D. Bakker; Dana M. Blumenthal; Mick Crawley; Kendi Davies; Jennifer Firn; Daniel S. Gruner; W. Stanley Harpole; Yann Hautier; Helmut Hillebrand; Johannes Knops; Brett Melbourne; Brent Mortensen; Anita C. Risch; Martin Schuetz; Carly Stevens; Peter D. Wragg

doi:10.1111/ele.12078

Life-history constraints in grassland plant species: A growth-defence trade-off is the norm

Eric M. Lind^*, Elizabeth Borer, Eric Seabloom, Peter Adler, Jonathan D. Bakker, Dana M. Blumenthal, Mick Crawley, Kendi Davies, Jennifer Firn, Daniel S. Gruner, W. Stanley Harpole, Yann Hautier, Helmut Hillebrand, Johannes Knops, Brett Melbourne, Brent Mortensen, Anita C. Risch, Martin Schuetz, Carly Stevens, Peter D. Wragg

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

164 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Plant growth can be limited by resource acquisition and defence against consumers, leading to contrasting trade-off possibilities. The competition-defence hypothesis posits a trade-off between competitive ability and defence against enemies (e.g. herbivores and pathogens). The growth-defence hypothesis suggests that strong competitors for nutrients are also defended against enemies, at a cost to growth rate. We tested these hypotheses using observations of 706 plant populations of over 500 species before and following identical fertilisation and fencing treatments at 39 grassland sites worldwide. Strong positive covariance in species responses to both treatments provided support for a growth-defence trade-off: populations that increased with the removal of nutrient limitation (poor competitors) also increased following removal of consumers. This result held globally across 4 years within plant life-history groups and within the majority of individual sites. Thus, a growth-defence trade-off appears to be the norm, and mechanisms maintaining grassland biodiversity may operate within this constraint.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	513-521
Number of pages	9
Journal	Ecology Letters
Volume	16
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12078
Publication status	Published - Apr 2013
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Coexistence
Competition-defence hypothesis
Life history
Mammalian herbivory
Nutrient Network (NutNet)
Resource limitation
Tolerance
Top-down bottom-up
Trade-offs

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10.1111/ele.12078

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Lind, E. M., Borer, E., Seabloom, E., Adler, P., Bakker, J. D., Blumenthal, D. M., Crawley, M., Davies, K., Firn, J., Gruner, D. S., Stanley Harpole, W., Hautier, Y., Hillebrand, H., Knops, J., Melbourne, B., Mortensen, B., Risch, A. C., Schuetz, M., Stevens, C., & Wragg, P. D. (2013). Life-history constraints in grassland plant species: A growth-defence trade-off is the norm. Ecology Letters, 16(4), 513-521. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12078

@article{e842d44fe2704cb7aa49b58e61139256,

title = "Life-history constraints in grassland plant species: A growth-defence trade-off is the norm",

abstract = "Plant growth can be limited by resource acquisition and defence against consumers, leading to contrasting trade-off possibilities. The competition-defence hypothesis posits a trade-off between competitive ability and defence against enemies (e.g. herbivores and pathogens). The growth-defence hypothesis suggests that strong competitors for nutrients are also defended against enemies, at a cost to growth rate. We tested these hypotheses using observations of 706 plant populations of over 500 species before and following identical fertilisation and fencing treatments at 39 grassland sites worldwide. Strong positive covariance in species responses to both treatments provided support for a growth-defence trade-off: populations that increased with the removal of nutrient limitation (poor competitors) also increased following removal of consumers. This result held globally across 4 years within plant life-history groups and within the majority of individual sites. Thus, a growth-defence trade-off appears to be the norm, and mechanisms maintaining grassland biodiversity may operate within this constraint.",

keywords = "Coexistence, Competition-defence hypothesis, Life history, Mammalian herbivory, Nutrient Network (NutNet), Resource limitation, Tolerance, Top-down bottom-up, Trade-offs",

author = "Lind, {Eric M.} and Elizabeth Borer and Eric Seabloom and Peter Adler and Bakker, {Jonathan D.} and Blumenthal, {Dana M.} and Mick Crawley and Kendi Davies and Jennifer Firn and Gruner, {Daniel S.} and {Stanley Harpole}, W. and Yann Hautier and Helmut Hillebrand and Johannes Knops and Brett Melbourne and Brent Mortensen and Risch, {Anita C.} and Martin Schuetz and Carly Stevens and Wragg, {Peter D.}",

year = "2013",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1111/ele.12078",

language = "English",

volume = "16",

pages = "513--521",

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Lind, EM, Borer, E, Seabloom, E, Adler, P, Bakker, JD, Blumenthal, DM, Crawley, M, Davies, K, Firn, J, Gruner, DS, Stanley Harpole, W, Hautier, Y, Hillebrand, H, Knops, J, Melbourne, B, Mortensen, B, Risch, AC, Schuetz, M, Stevens, C & Wragg, PD 2013, 'Life-history constraints in grassland plant species: A growth-defence trade-off is the norm', Ecology Letters, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 513-521. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12078

TY - JOUR

T1 - Life-history constraints in grassland plant species

T2 - A growth-defence trade-off is the norm

AU - Lind, Eric M.

AU - Borer, Elizabeth

AU - Seabloom, Eric

AU - Adler, Peter

AU - Bakker, Jonathan D.

AU - Blumenthal, Dana M.

AU - Crawley, Mick

AU - Davies, Kendi

AU - Firn, Jennifer

AU - Gruner, Daniel S.

AU - Stanley Harpole, W.

AU - Hautier, Yann

AU - Hillebrand, Helmut

AU - Knops, Johannes

AU - Melbourne, Brett

AU - Mortensen, Brent

AU - Risch, Anita C.

AU - Schuetz, Martin

AU - Stevens, Carly

AU - Wragg, Peter D.

PY - 2013/4

Y1 - 2013/4

N2 - Plant growth can be limited by resource acquisition and defence against consumers, leading to contrasting trade-off possibilities. The competition-defence hypothesis posits a trade-off between competitive ability and defence against enemies (e.g. herbivores and pathogens). The growth-defence hypothesis suggests that strong competitors for nutrients are also defended against enemies, at a cost to growth rate. We tested these hypotheses using observations of 706 plant populations of over 500 species before and following identical fertilisation and fencing treatments at 39 grassland sites worldwide. Strong positive covariance in species responses to both treatments provided support for a growth-defence trade-off: populations that increased with the removal of nutrient limitation (poor competitors) also increased following removal of consumers. This result held globally across 4 years within plant life-history groups and within the majority of individual sites. Thus, a growth-defence trade-off appears to be the norm, and mechanisms maintaining grassland biodiversity may operate within this constraint.

AB - Plant growth can be limited by resource acquisition and defence against consumers, leading to contrasting trade-off possibilities. The competition-defence hypothesis posits a trade-off between competitive ability and defence against enemies (e.g. herbivores and pathogens). The growth-defence hypothesis suggests that strong competitors for nutrients are also defended against enemies, at a cost to growth rate. We tested these hypotheses using observations of 706 plant populations of over 500 species before and following identical fertilisation and fencing treatments at 39 grassland sites worldwide. Strong positive covariance in species responses to both treatments provided support for a growth-defence trade-off: populations that increased with the removal of nutrient limitation (poor competitors) also increased following removal of consumers. This result held globally across 4 years within plant life-history groups and within the majority of individual sites. Thus, a growth-defence trade-off appears to be the norm, and mechanisms maintaining grassland biodiversity may operate within this constraint.

KW - Coexistence

KW - Competition-defence hypothesis

KW - Life history

KW - Mammalian herbivory

KW - Nutrient Network (NutNet)

KW - Resource limitation

KW - Tolerance

KW - Top-down bottom-up

KW - Trade-offs

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DO - 10.1111/ele.12078

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84931749009

SN - 1461-023X

VL - 16

SP - 513

EP - 521

JO - Ecology Letters

JF - Ecology Letters

IS - 4

ER -

Life-history constraints in grassland plant species: A growth-defence trade-off is the norm

Abstract

Keywords

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