ArticleOecologia2021
Density-dependent plant growth drives grazer stimulation of aboveground net primary production in Yellowstone grasslands.
Article in Oecologia, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Feast or famine: How is global change affecting forage supply for Yellowstone's ungulate herds?Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America · 2023Article
- Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The mechanisms by which grazing animals influence aboveground net primary production (ANPP) in grasslands have long been an area of active research. The prevailing wisdom is that grazing can increase ANPP by increasing the availability of growth-limiting resources such as nitrogen and water, but recent theory suggests that the density-dependent growth of grassland vegetation can lead to grazer-stimulation of ANPP simply by removing shoot biomass and increasing relative growth rate (RGR). We compared the relative roles of resource availability and density-dependent growth in driving positive responses of ANPP to grazing in Yellowstone National Park. We measured the effects of clipping (50% simulated grazing intensity) and natural grazing on soil nitrogen availability, soil moisture, and shoot growth over 2 months in two grassland plant communities (mesic and dry) grazed primarily by bison. Clipping increased RGR by over 100% in both grassland types but had no effect on N availability or soil moisture during the same growth periods. Clipping stimulated ANPP only at mesic grassland, and the magnitude of this effect was strongly related to the initial plant biomass at the time of clipping relative to estimated peak biomass, supporting the density-dependent framework. Bison grazing had qualitatively similar effects on ANPP and RGR to clipping with no accompanying effects on N availability or soil moisture. Our results show how grazing can stimulate ANPP independent of a direct influence on resource availability simply by exploiting the dynamics of density-dependent plant growth.
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Registered trials
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