Multispecies grasslands produce more yield from lower nitrogen inputs across a climatic gradient

James O’Malley; John A. Finn; Carsten S. Malisch; Matthias Suter; Sebastian T. Meyer; Giovanni Peratoner; Marie Noëlle Thivierge; Diego Abalos; Paul R. Adler; T. Martijn Bezemer; Alistair D. Black; Åshild Ergon; Barbara Golińska; Guylain Grange; Josef Hakl; Nyncke J. Hoekstra; Olivier Huguenin-Elie; Jingying Jing; Jacob M. Jungers; Julie Lajeunesse; Ralf Loges; Gaëtan Louarn; Andreas Lüscher; Thomas Moloney; Christopher K. Reynolds; Ievina Sturite; Ali Sultan Khan; Rishabh Vishwakarma; Yingjun Zhang; Feng Zhu; Caroline Brophy

doi:10.1126/science.ady0764

Multispecies grasslands produce more yield from lower nitrogen inputs across a climatic gradient

James O’Malley, John A. Finn^*, Carsten S. Malisch, Matthias Suter, Sebastian T. Meyer, Giovanni Peratoner, Marie Noëlle Thivierge, Diego Abalos, Paul R. Adler, T. Martijn Bezemer, Alistair D. Black, Åshild Ergon, Barbara Golińska, Guylain Grange, Josef Hakl, Nyncke J. Hoekstra, Olivier Huguenin-Elie, Jingying Jing, Jacob M. Jungers, Julie LajeunesseRalf Loges, Gaëtan Louarn, Andreas Lüscher, Thomas Moloney, Christopher K. Reynolds, Ievina Sturite, Ali Sultan Khan, Rishabh Vishwakarma, Yingjun Zhang, Feng Zhu, Caroline Brophy

^*Corresponding author for this work

NIOO - Terrestrial Ecology (TE)

Research output: Contribution to journal/periodical › Article › Scientific › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

High-yielding forage grasslands frequently contain low species diversity and receive high inputs of nitrogen fertilizer. To investigate multispecies mixtures as an alternative strategy, the 26-site international Legacynet experiment systematically varied the diversity of sown grasslands using up to six high-yielding forage species (grasses, legumes, and herbs) managed under moderate nitrogen inputs. Multispecies mixtures outyielded two widely used grassland practices: a grass monoculture with higher nitrogen fertilizer and a two-species grass-legume community. High yields in multispecies mixtures were driven by strong positive grass-legume and legume-herb interactions. In warmer sites, the yield advantage of legume-containing multispecies mixtures over grass monocultures with higher nitrogen fertilizer inputs increased. Improved design of grassland mixtures can inform more environmentally sustainable forage production and may enhance adaptation of productive grasslands to a warming climate.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	179-183
Number of pages	5
Journal	Science
Volume	391
Issue number	6781
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ady0764
Publication status	Published - 08 Jan 2026

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O’Malley, J., Finn, J. A., Malisch, C. S., Suter, M., Meyer, S. T., Peratoner, G., Thivierge, M. N., Abalos, D., Adler, P. R., Bezemer, T. M., Black, A. D., Ergon, Å., Golińska, B., Grange, G., Hakl, J., Hoekstra, N. J., Huguenin-Elie, O., Jing, J., Jungers, J. M., ... Brophy, C. (2026). Multispecies grasslands produce more yield from lower nitrogen inputs across a climatic gradient. Science, 391(6781), 179-183. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ady0764

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title = "Multispecies grasslands produce more yield from lower nitrogen inputs across a climatic gradient",

abstract = "High-yielding forage grasslands frequently contain low species diversity and receive high inputs of nitrogen fertilizer. To investigate multispecies mixtures as an alternative strategy, the 26-site international Legacynet experiment systematically varied the diversity of sown grasslands using up to six high-yielding forage species (grasses, legumes, and herbs) managed under moderate nitrogen inputs. Multispecies mixtures outyielded two widely used grassland practices: a grass monoculture with higher nitrogen fertilizer and a two-species grass-legume community. High yields in multispecies mixtures were driven by strong positive grass-legume and legume-herb interactions. In warmer sites, the yield advantage of legume-containing multispecies mixtures over grass monocultures with higher nitrogen fertilizer inputs increased. Improved design of grassland mixtures can inform more environmentally sustainable forage production and may enhance adaptation of productive grasslands to a warming climate.",

author = "James O{\textquoteright}Malley and Finn, {John A.} and Malisch, {Carsten S.} and Matthias Suter and Meyer, {Sebastian T.} and Giovanni Peratoner and Thivierge, {Marie No{\"e}lle} and Diego Abalos and Adler, {Paul R.} and Bezemer, {T. Martijn} and Black, {Alistair D.} and {\AA}shild Ergon and Barbara Goli{\'n}ska and Guylain Grange and Josef Hakl and Hoekstra, {Nyncke J.} and Olivier Huguenin-Elie and Jingying Jing and Jungers, {Jacob M.} and Julie Lajeunesse and Ralf Loges and Ga{\"e}tan Louarn and Andreas L{\"u}scher and Thomas Moloney and Reynolds, {Christopher K.} and Ievina Sturite and Khan, {Ali Sultan} and Rishabh Vishwakarma and Yingjun Zhang and Feng Zhu and Caroline Brophy",

note = "Data archiving: no NIOO data",

year = "2026",

month = jan,

day = "8",

doi = "10.1126/science.ady0764",

language = "English",

volume = "391",

pages = "179--183",

journal = "Science",

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O’Malley, J, Finn, JA, Malisch, CS, Suter, M, Meyer, ST, Peratoner, G, Thivierge, MN, Abalos, D, Adler, PR, Bezemer, TM, Black, AD, Ergon, Å, Golińska, B, Grange, G, Hakl, J, Hoekstra, NJ, Huguenin-Elie, O, Jing, J, Jungers, JM, Lajeunesse, J, Loges, R, Louarn, G, Lüscher, A, Moloney, T, Reynolds, CK, Sturite, I, Khan, AS, Vishwakarma, R, Zhang, Y, Zhu, F & Brophy, C 2026, 'Multispecies grasslands produce more yield from lower nitrogen inputs across a climatic gradient', Science, vol. 391, no. 6781, pp. 179-183. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ady0764

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T1 - Multispecies grasslands produce more yield from lower nitrogen inputs across a climatic gradient

AU - O’Malley, James

AU - Finn, John A.

AU - Malisch, Carsten S.

AU - Suter, Matthias

AU - Meyer, Sebastian T.

AU - Peratoner, Giovanni

AU - Thivierge, Marie Noëlle

AU - Abalos, Diego

AU - Adler, Paul R.

AU - Bezemer, T. Martijn

AU - Black, Alistair D.

AU - Ergon, Åshild

AU - Golińska, Barbara

AU - Grange, Guylain

AU - Hakl, Josef

AU - Hoekstra, Nyncke J.

AU - Huguenin-Elie, Olivier

AU - Jing, Jingying

AU - Jungers, Jacob M.

AU - Lajeunesse, Julie

AU - Loges, Ralf

AU - Louarn, Gaëtan

AU - Lüscher, Andreas

AU - Moloney, Thomas

AU - Reynolds, Christopher K.

AU - Sturite, Ievina

AU - Khan, Ali Sultan

AU - Vishwakarma, Rishabh

AU - Zhang, Yingjun

AU - Zhu, Feng

AU - Brophy, Caroline

N1 - Data archiving: no NIOO data

PY - 2026/1/8

Y1 - 2026/1/8

N2 - High-yielding forage grasslands frequently contain low species diversity and receive high inputs of nitrogen fertilizer. To investigate multispecies mixtures as an alternative strategy, the 26-site international Legacynet experiment systematically varied the diversity of sown grasslands using up to six high-yielding forage species (grasses, legumes, and herbs) managed under moderate nitrogen inputs. Multispecies mixtures outyielded two widely used grassland practices: a grass monoculture with higher nitrogen fertilizer and a two-species grass-legume community. High yields in multispecies mixtures were driven by strong positive grass-legume and legume-herb interactions. In warmer sites, the yield advantage of legume-containing multispecies mixtures over grass monocultures with higher nitrogen fertilizer inputs increased. Improved design of grassland mixtures can inform more environmentally sustainable forage production and may enhance adaptation of productive grasslands to a warming climate.

AB - High-yielding forage grasslands frequently contain low species diversity and receive high inputs of nitrogen fertilizer. To investigate multispecies mixtures as an alternative strategy, the 26-site international Legacynet experiment systematically varied the diversity of sown grasslands using up to six high-yielding forage species (grasses, legumes, and herbs) managed under moderate nitrogen inputs. Multispecies mixtures outyielded two widely used grassland practices: a grass monoculture with higher nitrogen fertilizer and a two-species grass-legume community. High yields in multispecies mixtures were driven by strong positive grass-legume and legume-herb interactions. In warmer sites, the yield advantage of legume-containing multispecies mixtures over grass monocultures with higher nitrogen fertilizer inputs increased. Improved design of grassland mixtures can inform more environmentally sustainable forage production and may enhance adaptation of productive grasslands to a warming climate.

U2 - 10.1126/science.ady0764

DO - 10.1126/science.ady0764

M3 - Article

C2 - 41343604

AN - SCOPUS:105027209790

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 391

SP - 179

EP - 183

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6781

ER -

Multispecies grasslands produce more yield from lower nitrogen inputs across a climatic gradient

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