Establishment from seed is more important for exotic than for native plant species.

Climate change has initiated movement of both native and non-native (exotic) species across the landscape. Exotic species are hypothesized to establish from seed more readily than comparable native species. We tested the hypothesis that seed limitation is more important for exotic species than native grassland species.

Biodiversity: Net primary productivity relationships are eliminated by invasive species dominance.

Experiments often find that net primary productivity (NPP) increases with species richness when native species are considered. However, relationships may be altered by exotic (non-native) species, which are hypothesized to reduce richness but increase productivity (i.e.

Global stocks and capacity of mineral-associated soil organic carbon.

Soil is the largest terrestrial reservoir of organic carbon and is central for climate change mitigation and carbon-climate feedbacks. Chemical and physical associations of soil carbon with minerals play a critical role in carbon storage, but the amount and global capacity for storage in this form remain unquantified. Here, we produce spatially-resolved global estimates of mineral-associated organic carbon stocks and carbon-storage capacity by analyzing 1144 globally-distributed soil profiles.

Biotic homogenization destabilizes ecosystem functioning by decreasing spatial asynchrony.

Our planet is facing significant changes of biodiversity across spatial scales. Although the negative effects of local biodiversity (α diversity) loss on ecosystem stability are well documented, the consequences of biodiversity changes at larger spatial scales, in particular biotic homogenization, that is, reduced species turnover across space (β diversity), remain poorly known. Using data from 39 grassland biodiversity experiments, we examine the effects of β diversity on the stability of simulated landscapes while controlling for potentially confounding biotic and abiotic factors.

Multiple constraints cause positive and negative feedbacks limiting grassland soil CO efflux under CO enrichment.

Terrestrial ecosystems are increasingly enriched with resources such as atmospheric CO that limit ecosystem processes. The consequences for ecosystem carbon cycling depend on the feedbacks from other limiting resources and plant community change, which remain poorly understood for soil CO efflux, J, a primary carbon flux from the biosphere to the atmosphere. We applied a unique CO enrichment gradient (250 to 500 µL L) for eight years to grassland plant communities on soils from different landscape positions.