Biotic stability mechanisms in Inner Mongolian grassland

Wang, Yonghui; Niu, Xiaxia; Liu, Zhao; Liang, Cunzhu; Miao, Bingkui; Zhang, Qing; Zhang, Jing Hui; Schmid, Bernhard; Ma, Wenqi

doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.0675

Cited by 26 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…S4, S5), which suggests that their relationship is context dependent. We found that the effect size of β diversity on spatial asynchrony increased with the amount and variability of precipitation (Table 1), coinciding with recent findings that the stabilizing effect of biodiversity in naturally assembled grasslands increases along a precipitation gradient (Hallett et al 2014), as long as aridity is not too extreme where it can reverse the relationship (Wang et al 2020). Future experiments are required to test the context dependence of β diversity in regulating ecosystem stability.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Biotic homogenization destabilizes ecosystem functioning by decreasing spatial asynchrony

Wang

Loreau

Mazancourt

et al. 2021

Ecology

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106

107

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Our planet is facing significant changes of biodiversity across spatial scales. Although the negative effects of local biodiversity (α diversity) loss on ecosystem stability are well documented, the consequences of biodiversity changes at larger spatial scales, in particular biotic homogenization, that is, reduced species turnover across space (β diversity), remain poorly known. Using data from 39 grassland biodiversity experiments, we examine the effects of β diversity on the stability of simulated landscapes while controlling for potentially confounding biotic and abiotic factors. Our results show that higher β diversity generates more asynchronous dynamics among local communities and thereby contributes to the stability of ecosystem productivity at larger spatial scales. We further quantify the relative contributions of α and β diversity to ecosystem stability and find a relatively stronger effect of α diversity, possibly due to the limited spatial scale of our experiments. The stabilizing effects of both α and β diversity lead to a positive diversity–stability relationship at the landscape scale. Our findings demonstrate the destabilizing effect of biotic homogenization and suggest that biodiversity should be conserved at multiple spatial scales to maintain the stability of ecosystem functions and services.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Biotic homogenization destabilizes ecosystem functioning by decreasing spatial asynchrony

Wang

Loreau

Mazancourt

et al. 2021

Ecology

Self Cite

106

107

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show abstract

“…Current global environmental change is causing increasing interest in the role of abiotic factors in the long‐term sustainability of ecosystems (De Laender et al., 2016; Mazzochini et al., 2019; Wu et al., 2021). Recent studies have indicated that abiotic drivers (e.g., environmental conditions, such as climate, soil and topography) might obscure the true magnitude and direction of biodiversity on the functioning and stability of ecosystems (Coelho de Souza et al., 2019; Gross et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2020). Environmental heterogeneity is also an important abiotic factor affecting biodiversity and stability (Oliver et al., 2010; Stein et al., 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial asynchrony matters more than alpha stability in stabilizing ecosystem productivity in a large temperate forest region

Qiao

Geng

Zhang

et al. 2022

Global Ecol Biogeogr

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Aim Understanding the biodiversity–stability relationship has become a central issue in ecology and conservation biology. Although the stabilizing effects of tree species diversity on ecosystem productivity are well recorded in small local communities, they remain poorly understood across scales (from local to larger spatial scales). This study evaluates biodiversity–stability effects from local to larger spatial scales in a large temperate forest region, considering a range of environmental conditions and environmental heterogeneity. Location North‐eastern China (c. 700,000 km2). Time period 2005–2017. Major taxa studied Woody plants. Methods We define stability as the temporal invariability of biomass productivity. Regional metacommunities representing larger spatial scales were developed by aggregating multiple sets of local field plots. Simple regression analysis was used to test biodiversity–stability relationships in metacommunities. Piecewise structural equation modelling was then used to disentangle the effects of diversity and abiotic variables on forest stability at local and larger spatial scales. Multiple mixed‐effects regression models were used to determine the relative contribution of individual predictive variables to stability across spatial scales. Results We found that local diversity (alpha diversity) was positively related to the stability of local communities (alpha stability), whereas species turnover across space (beta diversity) was positively related to asynchronous dynamics among local communities (spatial asynchrony), regardless of whether abiotic factors were considered or not. We also found that environmental conditions and environmental heterogeneity affected forest stability across scales. The effect of spatial asynchrony on gamma stability was greater than that of alpha stability. Main conclusions Our results imply that spatial asynchrony is a key to maintaining the stability of ecosystem productivity within a large temperate forest region. We suggest that diverse forests and heterogeneous landscapes should be sustained at multiple spatial scales to buffer the negative effects of climate change and forest degradation.

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“…On the other hand, the effect of species diversity on life‐history ecosystem linkages may be contingent on the evenness of plant species abundances in the community. Plant species richness is often driven by low abundance species (Grime, 1998) while a few dominant species contribute to most of the cover and biomass (Avolio et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2020; Whittaker, 1965). For instance, in a central US grassland, large reductions of species richness through removal of low abundance species had little effect on ecosystem production, which was driven by a few dominant species (Smith & Knapp, 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of life‐history strategy on ecosystem sensitivity to resource fluctuations

et al. 2021

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To cope with uncertainty and variability in their environment, plants evolve distinct life‐history strategies by allocating different fractions of energy to growth, survival and fecundity. These differences in life‐history strategies could potentially influence ecosystem‐level dynamics, such as the sensitivity of primary production to resource fluctuations. However, linkages between evolutionary and ecosystem dynamics are not well understood. We used an annual plant population model to ask, when might differences in plant life‐history strategies produce differences in the sensitivity of primary production to resource fluctuations? Consistent with existing theory, we found that a highly variable and unpredictable environment led to the evolution of a conservative strategy characterized by relatively low and invariant germination fractions, while a variable but predictable environment favoured a riskier strategy featuring more variable germination fractions. Unexpectedly, we found that the influence of life‐history strategy on the sensitivity of production to resource fluctuations depended on competitive interactions, specifically the rate at which production saturates with the number of competing individuals. Rapid saturation overwhelms the influence of life‐history strategy, but when production saturates more slowly, the risky strategy translated to high sensitivity, whereas the conservative strategy translated to low sensitivity. Empirical estimates from Sonoran Desert annual plant populations indicate that production saturates relatively rapidly with the number of individuals for most species, suggesting that life‐history differences are unlikely to alter sensitivity of production to resource fluctuations, at least in this community. Synthesis. Our modelling results imply that research to understand the sensitivity of primary production to resource fluctuations should focus more on the intraspecific competitive interactions shaping the density–yield relationship than on the life‐history strategies that determine temporal risk‐spreading.

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Biotic stability mechanisms in Inner Mongolian grassland

Cited by 26 publications

References 62 publications

Biotic homogenization destabilizes ecosystem functioning by decreasing spatial asynchrony

Biotic homogenization destabilizes ecosystem functioning by decreasing spatial asynchrony

Spatial asynchrony matters more than alpha stability in stabilizing ecosystem productivity in a large temperate forest region

The influence of life‐history strategy on ecosystem sensitivity to resource fluctuations

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