Aboveground biomass production and litter accumulation in coastal grassland ecosystems: the basis of a global study

Herbaceous dominated ecosystems are found throughout the world representing a wide variety of locations that differ in their mean annual precipitation, annual temperature ranges, light availability, and soil nutrient concentrations. This is reflected in a wide range of annual above- and belowground biomass production, plant diversity and canopy density between these ecosystems worldwide. Our study aims to understand how nutrient availability and disturbance impact species relative abundance, diversity, and annual aboveground production. Here, we present background data on herbaceous dominated ecosystems found in coastal South Carolina, USA that are part of a global network (DragNet) of herbaceous dominated ecosystem study sites distributed across the world. Dominated by both grass species and forbs, we found that within a site, there is variation in the relationship between species diversity and biomass production. Aboveground biomass and accumulated litter are not correlated suggesting that the drivers for carbon assimilation and decomposition are different. This research will serve as the foundation for future research on how nutrients and soil disturbance interact with the amount of carbon assimilation and if some species show trait variation in response to these treatments in different regions of the world.