Grassland biodiversity response to livestock grazing, productivity, and climate varies across biome components and diversity measurements

Abstract

Livestock overgrazing and climate change have been identified as the primary causes of grassland degeneration and biodiversity decline, yet the underlying mechanism remains unclear. To gain a better understanding of this, we conducted a meta-analysis of 91 local or regional field studies from 26 countries across all inhabited continents. Using concise statistical analyses, we assessed five theoretical hypotheses for grazing intensity, grazing history, grazing animal type, productivity, and climate, and decomposed the individual contributions of each factor in regulating multiple components of grassland biodiversity. After controlling for confounding effects, we found that: no significant linear or binomial pattern for the effect-size of grassland biodiversity as grazing intensity increased; the effect-size of producer richness was relatively lower (negative biodiversity response) in grasslands with a short grazing history, grazed by large livestock, high productivity, or high climate suitability; additionally, significant difference for the effect-size of consumer richness was only detected across grazing animal groups; and the effect-size of consumer abundance, and decomposer abundance all displayed significant differences with respect to grazing characters, grassland productivity, and climate suitability. Besides, results of hierarchical variance partitioning suggested that the total and individual contribution of predictors varied across biome components and diversity measurements. Specifically, grassland productivity acted as a key factor in driving producer richness. The findings presented here collectively suggest that the response of grassland biodiversity to livestock grazing, productivity, and climate varies across different components of the biome and measurements of diversity.