Showing papers by "Clare H. Robinson published in 2019"
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center1, Johns Hopkins University2, Marquette University3, University of Minnesota4, Eastern Michigan University5, Wichita State University6, University of North Carolina at Greensboro7, Virginia Institute of Marine Science8, University of Wyoming9, Qatar University10, New Mexico State University11, VU University Amsterdam12, Southern Illinois University Carbondale13, University of Maryland, College Park14, United States Department of Agriculture15, University of Bayreuth16, The Wilderness Society17, Kansas State University18, Institut national de la recherche agronomique19, University of Central Florida20, University of Alberta21, Archbold Biological Station22, University of Colorado Boulder23, James Hutton Institute24, University of Buenos Aires25, Stanford University26, Northwest A&F University27, University of New Mexico28, Lanzhou University29, University of Oulu30, Queensland University of Technology31, University of Kansas32, Towson University33, Michigan State University34, University of Oregon35, Chinese Academy of Sciences36, University of Tasmania37, Jönköping University38, Norwegian University of Life Sciences39, Colorado State University40, University of Greifswald41, Northern Arizona University42, University of Kentucky43, University of Texas at El Paso44, La Trobe University45, University of Houston46, Charles Sturt University47, University of Sydney48, University of Manchester49, Arizona State University50, Leiden University51, University of Oklahoma52, University of California, Santa Cruz53, Oregon State University54, University of British Columbia55, Inner Mongolia University56, Utrecht University57, Georgia Institute of Technology58
TL;DR: An unprecedented global synthesis of over 100 experiments that manipulated factors linked to GCDs shows that herbaceous plant community responses depend on experimental manipulation length and number of factors manipulated, and finds that plant communities are fairly resistant to experimentally manipulated G CDs in the short term.
Abstract: Global change drivers (GCDs) are expected to alter community structure and consequently, the services that ecosystems provide. Yet, few experimental investigations have examined effects of GCDs on plant community structure across multiple ecosystem types, and those that do exist present conflicting patterns. In an unprecedented global synthesis of over 100 experiments that manipulated factors linked to GCDs, we show that herbaceous plant community responses depend on experimental manipulation length and number of factors manipulated. We found that plant communities are fairly resistant to experimentally manipulated GCDs in the short term (<10 y). In contrast, long-term (≥10 y) experiments show increasing community divergence of treatments from control conditions. Surprisingly, these community responses occurred with similar frequency across the GCD types manipulated in our database. However, community responses were more common when 3 or more GCDs were simultaneously manipulated, suggesting the emergence of additive or synergistic effects of multiple drivers, particularly over long time periods. In half of the cases, GCD manipulations caused a difference in community composition without a corresponding species richness difference, indicating that species reordering or replacement is an important mechanism of community responses to GCDs and should be given greater consideration when examining consequences of GCDs for the biodiversity–ecosystem function relationship. Human activities are currently driving unparalleled global changes worldwide. Our analyses provide the most comprehensive evidence to date that these human activities may have widespread impacts on plant community composition globally, which will increase in frequency over time and be greater in areas where communities face multiple GCDs simultaneously.
122 citations
TL;DR: It is found that active communities have lower richness, and show a reduction in the abundance of the most dominant fungi, whilst there are consistent differences in the abundances of certain taxonomic groups between the total and active communities.
Abstract: Our understanding of the diversity and community dynamics of soil fungi has increased greatly through the use of DNA‐based identification. Community characterization of metabolically active communities via RNA sequencing has previously revealed differences between ‘active’ and ‘total’ fungal communities, which may be influenced by the persistence of DNA from nonactive components. However, it is not known how fungal traits influence their prevalence in these contrasting community profiles. In this study, we coextracted DNA and RNA from soil collected from three Antarctic islands to test for differences between total and active soil fungal communities. By matching these geographically isolated fungi against a global dataset of soil fungi, we show that widely dispersed taxa are often more abundant in the total community, whilst taxa restricted to Antarctica are more likely to have higher abundance in the active community. In addition, we find that active communities have lower richness, and show a reduction in the abundance of the most dominant fungi, whilst there are consistent differences in the abundances of certain taxonomic groups between the total and active communities. These results suggest that the views of soil fungal communities offered by DNA‐ and RNA‐based characterization differ in predictable ways.
25 citations