Data and code for "Contrasting drought sensitivity of Eurasian and North American grasslands"

<p>Extreme droughts generally decrease productivity in grassland ecosystems&nbsp;with negative consequences for nature&rsquo;s contribution to people. The extent to<br>which this negative effect varies among grassland types and over time in response&nbsp;to multi-year extreme drought remains unknown. Using a coordinated distributed&nbsp;<br>experiment that simulated four-years of growing-season drought (~66% rainfall&nbsp;reduction), we compared drought sensitivity within and among six grasslands&nbsp;<br>spanning broad precipitation gradients in each of Eurasia and North America - two of the Northern Hemisphere&rsquo;s largest grass-dominated regions. Aboveground&nbsp;<br>plant production declined substantially with drought in the Eurasian grasslands and effects accumulated over time, while the declines were less severe and more&nbsp;<br>muted over time in the North American grasslands. Drought effects on species richness shifted from positive to negative in Eurasia, but from negative to positive&nbsp;<br>in North America over time. The differing responses of plant production in these grasslands were accompanied by less common (subordinate) plant species&nbsp;<br>declining in Eurasian grasslands but increasing in North American grasslands. Our findings demonstrate the high production sensitivity of Eurasian compared&nbsp;<br>to North American grasslands to extreme drought (43.6% vs. 25.2% reduction), and the key role of subordinate species in determining impacts of extreme drought on grassland productivity.&nbsp;</p>