03310nas a2200733 4500008004100000245008800041210006900129520119600198653002001394653002201414653001901436653001701455653002001472653001501492653002201507653002501529653002201554100001701576700002701593700002301620700001701643700002401660700001701684700002801701700002601729700001901755700002701774700002201801700002401823700002101847700002801868700001701896700002401913700002201937700002401959700001101983700001901994700001702013700001802030700001902048700002002067700002002087700002202107700001402129700002402143700002302167700002502190700001902215700002002234700002402254700002202278700001602300700003202316700001602348700001802364700002302382700001502405700002002420700001402440700001902454700001802473700002302491856006202514 2017 eng d00aAsynchrony among local communities stabilises ecosystem function of metacommunities0 aAsynchrony among local communities stabilises ecosystem function3 a
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.
10aAlpha diversity10aalpha variability10abeta diversity10aBiodiversity10aCoRRE data base10apatchiness10aPlant communities10aPrimary productivity10aspecies synchrony1 aWilcox, K.R.1 aTredennick, Andrew, T.1 aKoerner, Sally, E.1 aGrman, Emily1 aHallett, Lauren, M.1 aAvolio, M.L.1 aLa Pierre, Kimberly, J.1 aHouseman, Gregory, R.1 aIsbell, Forest1 aJohnson, David, Samuel1 aAlatalo, Juha, M.1 aBaldwin, Andrew, H.1 aBork, Edward, W.1 aBoughton, Elizabeth, H.1 aBowman, W.D.1 aBritton, Andrea, J.1 aCahill, James, F.1 aCollins, Scott., L.1 aDu, G.1 aEskelinen, Anu1 aGough, Laura1 aJentsch, Anke1 aKern, Christel1 aKlanderud, Kari1 aKnapp, Alan, K.1 aKreyling, Juergen1 aLuo, Yiqi1 aMcLaren, Jennie, R.1 aMegonigal, Patrick1 aOnipchenko, Vladimir1 aPrevéy, Janet1 aPrice, Jodi, N.1 aRobinson, Clare, H.1 aSala, Osvaldo, E.1 aSmith, M.D.1 aSoudzilovskaia, Nadejda, A.1 aSouza, Lara1 aTilman, David1 aWhite, Shannon, R.1 aXu, Zhuwen1 aYahdjian, Laura1 aYu, Qiang1 aZhang, Pengfei1 aZhang, Yunhai1 aGurevitch, Jessica uhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ele.12861/epdf