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Mechanisms contributing to stability in ecosystem function depend on the environmental context
Author(s) -
Grman Emily,
Lau Jennifer A.,
Schoolmaster Donald R.,
Gross Katherine L.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01533.x
Subject(s) - ecology , ecosystem , species richness , ecological stability , dominance (genetics) , alternative stable state , perennial plant , biodiversity , eutrophication , biology , grassland , context (archaeology) , disturbance (geology) , environmental science , nutrient , paleontology , biochemistry , gene
Ecology Letters (2010) 13: 1400–1410 Abstract Stability in ecosystem function is an important but poorly understood phenomenon. Anthropogenic perturbations alter communities, but how they change stability and the strength of stabilizing mechanisms is not clear. We examined temporal stability (invariability) in aboveground productivity in replicated 18‐year time series of experimentally perturbed grassland plant communities. We found that disturbed annual‐dominated communities were more stable than undisturbed perennial communities, coincident with increases in the stabilizing effect of mean–variance scaling. We also found that nitrogen‐fertilized communities maintained stability despite losses in species richness, probably because of increased compensatory dynamics and increased dominance by particularly stable dominant species. Among our communities, slight variation in diversity was not the strongest mechanism driving differences in stability. Instead, our study suggests that decreases in individual species variabilities and increases in the relative abundance of stable dominant species may help maintain stability in the functioning of ecosystems confronted with eutrophication, disturbance, and other global changes.