Realistic plant species losses reduce invasion resistance in a California serpentine grassland

Summary 1.  The majority of experiments examining effects of species diversity on ecosystem functioning have randomly manipulated species richness. More recent studies demonstrate that realistic species losses have dramatically different effects on ecosystem functioning than those of randomized losses, but these results are based primarily on microcosm experiments or modelling efforts. 2.  We conducted a field‐based experiment directly comparing the consequences of realistic and randomized plant species losses on invasion resistance and productivity in a native‐dominated serpentine grassland in California, USA. The realistic species loss order was based on nested subset analysis of long‐term presence/absence data from our research site and reflects differing species sensitivities to prolonged drought. 3.  Biomass of exotic invasive plant species was inversely related to native species richness in the realistic loss order. In contrast, invader biomass was consistently low across species richness levels in the randomized species loss order, with no effect of native species richness on invader biomass among randomized assemblages. Although total above‐ground plant biomass increased with soil depth (a proxy for resource availability) in both realistic and randomized assemblages, soil depth influenced invader biomass only in the randomized assemblages. 4.   Synthesis . Our results illustrate that the functional consequences of realistic species losses can differ distinctly from those of randomized species losses and that incorporation of realistic species loss scenarios can increase the relevance of experiments linking biodiversity and ecosystem functioning to conservation in the face of anthropogenic global change.