Abstract:

Temporal stability of ecosystem functioning increases the predictability and reliability of ecosystem services, and understanding the drivers of stability across spatial scales is important for land management and policy decisions. We used species-level abundance data from 62 plant communities across five continents to assess mechanisms of temporal stability across spatial scales. We assessed how asynchrony (i.e. different units responding dissimilarly through time) of species and local communities stabilised metacommunity ecosystem function. Asynchrony of species increased stability of local communities, and asynchrony among local communities enhanced metacommunity stability by a wide range of magnitudes (1–315%); this range was positively correlated with the size of the metacommunity. Additionally, asynchronous responses among local communities were linked with species’ populations fluctuating asynchronously across space, perhaps stemming from physical and/or competitive differences among local communities. Accordingly, we suggest spatial heterogeneity should be a major focus for maintaining the stability of ecosystem services at larger spatial scales.

Author affiliation: Wilcox, Kevin R.. Oklahoma State University; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Tredennick, Andrew T.. State University of Utah; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Koerner, Sally E.. University of North Carolina; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Grman, Emily. Eastern Michigan University; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Hallett, Lauren M.. University of Oregon; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Avolio, Meghan L.. University Johns Hopkins; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: La Pierre, Kimberly J.. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Houseman, Gregory R.. Wichita State University; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Forest, Isbell. University of Minnesota; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Johnson, David Samuel. Virginia Institute of Marine Science; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Alatalo, Juha M.. Qatar University; Qatar

Author affiliation: Baldwin, Andrew H.. University of Maryland; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Bork, Edward W.. University of Alberta; Canadá

Author affiliation: Boughton, Elizabeth H.. MacArthur Agroecology Research Center; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Bowman, William D.. University of Colorado; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Britton, Andrea J.. James Hutton Institute; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Cahill, James F.. University of Alberta; Canadá

Author affiliation: Collins, Scott L.. University of New Mexico; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Du, Guozhen. Lanzhou University; China

Author affiliation: Eskelinen, Anu. Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research; Alemania. German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research; Alemania. University of Oulu; Finlandia

Author affiliation: Gough, Laura. Towson University; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Jentsch, Anke. University of Bayreuth; Alemania

Author affiliation: Kern, Christel. United States Forest Service; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Klanderud, Kari. Norwegian University of Life Sciences; Noruega

Author affiliation: Knapp, Alan K.. Colorado State University; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Kreyling, Juergen. Greifswald University; Alemania

Author affiliation: Luo, Yiqi. Oklahoma State University; Estados Unidos. Northern Arizona University; Estados Unidos. Tsinghua University; China

Author affiliation: McLaren, James E.. University of Texas at El Paso; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Megonigal, Patrick. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Onipchenko, Vladimir. Moscow State Lomonosov University; Rusia

Author affiliation: Prevéy, Janet. Pacific Northwest Research Station; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Price, Jodi N.. Charles Sturt University; Australia

Author affiliation: Robinson, Clare H.. University of Manchester; Reino Unido

Author affiliation: Sala, Osvaldo Esteban. Arizona State University; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina

Author affiliation: Smith, Melinda D.. Colorado State University; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A.. Leiden University; Países Bajos

Author affiliation: Souza, Lara. Oklahoma State University; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: Tilman, David. University of Minnesota; Estados Unidos

Author affiliation: White, Shannon R.. Government of Alberta; Canadá

Author affiliation: Xu, Zhuwen. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de China

Author affiliation: Yahdjian, María Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina

Author affiliation: Yu, Qiang. Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences; China

Author affiliation: Zhang, Pengfei. Lanzhou University; China

Author affiliation: Zhang, Yunhai. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de China. University Aarhus; Dinamarca