Data and code from: Plant species responses to nutrient addition, but not to herbivore exclusion, strengthen over time in global grasslands

Kari Anne Bråthen; Cynthia Brown; Lars Brudvig; Yvonne Buckley; Miguel Bugalho; Marc Cadotte; Maria Caldeira; Clinton Carbutt; Jane Catford; Enrique Chaneton; Chengjin Chu; Elsa Cleland; Scott Collins; Kathryn Cottingham; Mick Crawley; Pedro Daleo; Ellen Damschen; Carla D’Antonio; Kendi Davies; Nicole DeCrappeo; Tim Dickson; Elizabeth Borer; Eric Seabloom; Ian Donohue; Ingrid Slette; Guozhen Du; Mary Ellyn DuPre; Anita Porath-Krause; John Dwyer; Janneke Hille Ris Lambers; Peter Wilfahrt; Anne Ebeling; Nico Eisenhauer; Kirsten Hofmockel; Anu Eskelinen; Ashley Asmus; Catalina Estrada; Khishigbayar Jamiyansharav; Philip Fay; Eric Lind; Jennifer Firn; Anke Jentsch; Daniel Gruner; Lydia O'Halloran; Sabine Güsewell; Ingibjörg Jónsdóttir; Nicole Hagenah; Peter Adler; Taku Kadoya; Sylvia Haider; Lauren Hallett; Munemitsu Akasaka; W. Harpole; Adam Kay; Yann Hautier; Juan Alberti; Andy Hector; Kevin Kirkman; T. Anderson; Erika Hersch-Green; Julia Klein; Selene Baez; Alan Knapp; Hector Bahamonde; Tiffany Knight; Jonathan Bakker; Johannes Knops; Liesbeth Bakker; Sally Koerner; Isabel Barrio; Kimberly Komatsu; Lori Biederman; Lauri Laanisto; Hanna Böhner; Laura Ladwig; Elizabeth Boughton; Lucíola Lannes; Andrew Leakey; Wei Li; Ylva Lekberg; Ariuntsetseg Lkhagva; Qi Li; Andrew MacDougall; Petr Macek; Jason Martina; Holly Martinson; Rebecca McCulley; Brett Melbourne; Charles Mitchell; Rachel Mitchell; Joslin Moore; Brent Mortensen; Jim Nelson; Raul Ochoa-Hueso; Tim Ohlert; Harry olde Venterink; Devyn Orr; John Orrock; Brooke Osborne; Janet Paper; Pablo Peri; Sally Power; Jodi Price; Suzanne Prober; David Pyke; Xavier Raynaud; Sasha Reed; Zhengwei Ren; Anna Richards; Anita Risch; Christiane Roscher; Mahesh Sankaran; Martin Schuetz; Maria Silveira; Melinda Smith; Nicholas Smith; Karina Speziale; Marie Spohn; Rachel Standish; Carly Stevens; Lauren Sullivan; Michelle Tedder; Pedro Tognetti; G. F. Ciska Veen; Risto Virtanen; Alison Wallace; Glenda Wardle; David Wedin; Arthur Weiss; Gang Wen; George Wheeler; Elizabeth Wolkovich; Peter Wragg; Justin Wright; Laura Yahdjian; Louie Yang; Alyssa Young; Morgan, John; Hillary Young; Wenhuai Li

doi:10.5683/sp4/8kix4c

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Data and code from: Plant species responses to nutrient addition, but not to herbivore exclusion, strengthen over time in global grasslands

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Data and code from: Plant species responses to nutrient addition, but not to herbivore exclusion, strengthen over time in global grasslands

Kari Anne Bråthen, Cynthia Brown, Lars Brudvig, Yvonne Buckley, Miguel Bugalho, Marc Cadotte, Maria Caldeira, Clinton Carbutt, Jane Catford, Enrique Chaneton, …

Borealis

08/25/2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5683/sp4/8kix4c

Abstract

dominance

Fertilization

growth form

herbivore

indicator species

life history

NutNet

Other

plant origin

SIMPER

Grasslands

Abstract Nutrient enrichment and altered herbivory are among the most pervasive drivers of change in grasslands worldwide, yet how their effects on plant communities accumulate or fade over time, and which species drive those effects, remains poorly resolved. Using long-term data from the Nutrient Network (NutNet), a globally distributed experiment, we examined how grassland plant community composition responded to factorial nutrient addition (NPK) and herbivore exclusion (fencing) across 98 sites and up to 12 years of treatment. For each site and year, we quantified the overall compositional difference between treatments (PERMANOVA), identified the species contributing most to those differences (SIMPER), and classified species as indicators of each treatment (Indicator Species Analysis), linking these responses to each species' dominance, commonness, functional group, lifespan, and provenance. We found that compositional divergence under nutrient addition strengthened over time and was driven disproportionately by a relatively small subset of species, particularly dominant and common ones, whereas the effects of herbivore exclusion were comparatively weak and transient. These results highlight the importance of species-level dynamics for understanding how grassland biodiversity responds to global change. This package provides the processed data and annotated R code needed to reproduce all analyses and figures in the associated study.

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Title: Data and code from: Plant species responses to nutrient addition, but not to herbivore exclusion, strengthen over time in global grasslands
Author/Creator: Kari Anne Bråthen - UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Cynthia Brown - Colorado State University
Lars Brudvig - Michigan State University
Yvonne Buckley - Trinity College Dublin
Miguel Bugalho - University of Lisbon
Marc Cadotte - University of Toronto Scarborough
Maria Caldeira - University of Lisbon
Clinton Carbutt - University of KwaZulu-Natal
Jane Catford - Australian National University
Enrique Chaneton - Universidad de Buenos Aires
Chengjin Chu - Lanzhou University
Elsa Cleland - University of California San Diego
Scott Collins - University of New Mexico
Kathryn Cottingham - Dartmouth College
Mick Crawley - Imperial College London
Pedro Daleo - National University of Mar del Plata
Ellen Damschen - University of Wisconsin–Madison
Carla D’Antonio - University of California, Santa Barbara
Kendi Davies - University of Colorado Boulder
Nicole DeCrappeo - United States Geological Survey
Tim Dickson - University of Nebraska at Omaha
Elizabeth Borer - University of Minnesota
Eric Seabloom - University of Minnesota
Ian Donohue - Trinity College Dublin
Ingrid Slette - University of Minnesota
Guozhen Du - Lanzhou University
Mary Ellyn DuPre - MPG Ranch
Anita Porath-Krause - University of Minnesota
John Dwyer - The University of Queensland
Janneke Hille Ris Lambers - ETH Zurich
Peter Wilfahrt - University of Minnesota
Anne Ebeling - Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Nico Eisenhauer - German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research
Kirsten Hofmockel - Iowa State University
Anu Eskelinen - University of Oulu
Ashley Asmus - University of Minnesota
Catalina Estrada - Imperial College London
Khishigbayar Jamiyansharav - Colorado State University
Philip Fay - Agricultural Research Service
Eric Lind - University of Minnesota
Jennifer Firn - Queensland University of Technology
Anke Jentsch - University of Bayreuth
Daniel Gruner - University of Maryland, College Park
Lydia O'Halloran - University of Minnesota
Sabine Güsewell - ETH Zurich
Ingibjörg Jónsdóttir - University of Iceland
Nicole Hagenah - University of Pretoria
Peter Adler - Utah State University
Taku Kadoya - University of Tsukuba
Sylvia Haider - Leuphana University of Lüneburg
Lauren Hallett - University of Oregon
Munemitsu Akasaka - Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
W. Harpole - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
Adam Kay - University of St. Thomas, Biology
Yann Hautier - Utrecht University
Juan Alberti - National University of Mar del Plata
Andy Hector - University of Zurich
Kevin Kirkman - University of KwaZulu-Natal
T. Anderson - Wake Forest University
Erika Hersch-Green - Michigan Technological University
Julia Klein - Colorado State University
Selene Baez - Polytechnic School of Algiers
Alan Knapp - Colorado State University
Hector Bahamonde - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Tiffany Knight - Washington University in St. Louis
Jonathan Bakker - University of Washington
Johannes Knops - University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Liesbeth Bakker - Netherlands Institute of Ecology
Sally Koerner - University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Isabel Barrio - Agricultural University of Iceland
Kimberly Komatsu - University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Lori Biederman - Iowa State University
Lauri Laanisto - Estonian University of Life Sciences
Hanna Böhner - UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Laura Ladwig - University of New Mexico
Elizabeth Boughton - Archbold Biological Station
Lucíola Lannes - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)
Andrew Leakey - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Wei Li - Iowa State University
Ylva Lekberg - MPG Ranch
Ariuntsetseg Lkhagva - National University of Mongolia
Qi Li - Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology
Andrew MacDougall - University of Guelph
Petr Macek - Czech Academy of Sciences, Biology Centre
Jason Martina - Texas State University
Holly Martinson - McDaniel College
Rebecca McCulley - University of Kentucky
Brett Melbourne - University of Colorado Boulder
Charles Mitchell - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Rachel Mitchell - Northern Arizona University
Joslin Moore - Government of Victoria
Brent Mortensen - Benedictine College
Jim Nelson - University of Kentucky
Raul Ochoa-Hueso - Universidad de Cádiz
Tim Ohlert - Colorado State University
Harry olde Venterink - Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Devyn Orr - Oregon State University
John Orrock - University of Wisconsin–Madison
Brooke Osborne - United States Geological Survey
Janet Paper - Benedictine College
Pablo Peri - National University of Austral Patagonia
Sally Power - Western Sydney University
Jodi Price - Charles Sturt University
Suzanne Prober - Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
David Pyke - United States Geological Survey
Xavier Raynaud - Sorbonne Université
Sasha Reed - United States Geological Survey
Zhengwei Ren - Lanzhou University
Anna Richards - Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Anita Risch - Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
Christiane Roscher - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
Mahesh Sankaran - National Centre for Biological Sciences
Martin Schuetz - Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
Maria Silveira - University of Florida
Melinda Smith - Colorado State University
Nicholas Smith - Texas Tech University
Karina Speziale - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Marie Spohn - Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Rachel Standish - The University of Western Australia
Carly Stevens - Lancaster University
Lauren Sullivan - Iowa State University
Michelle Tedder - University of KwaZulu-Natal
Pedro Tognetti - Agricultural Plant Physiology and Ecology Research Institute
G. F. Ciska Veen - Netherlands Institute of Ecology
Risto Virtanen - University of Oulu
Alison Wallace - Minnesota State University Moorhead
Glenda Wardle - The University of Sydney
David Wedin - University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Arthur Weiss - University of Toronto Scarborough
Gang Wen - Lanzhou University
George Wheeler - University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Elizabeth Wolkovich - University of British Columbia
Peter Wragg - University of Minnesota
Justin Wright - Duke University
Laura Yahdjian - Universidad de Buenos Aires
Louie Yang - University of California, Davis
Alyssa Young - University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Morgan, John
Hillary Young - University of California, Santa Barbara
Wenhuai Li - Inner Mongolia University
Publisher: Borealis
Grant note: 12000-15031907 / Inner Mongolia University 32071883 / National Natural Science Foundation of China NSF-DEB-1042132 / U.S. National Science Foundation 202006810005 / China Scholarship Council DG-0001-13 / Institute on the Environment KF2023001 / Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Ecology and Resources Use of the Mongolian Plateau NSF-DEB-1831944 / Long Term Ecological Research Network NSF-DEB-2425352 / Long Term Ecological Research Network
Academic Unit: College of Arts and Sciences; Biochemistry; Biology
Language: English
Resource Type: Dataset
Record Identifier: 991015483944803691