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Multiple facets of biodiversity drive the diversity–stability relationship

Multiple facets of biodiversity drive the diversity–stability relationship
Multiple facets of biodiversity drive the diversity–stability relationship

A substantial body of evidence has demonstrated that biodiversity stabilizes ecosystem functioning over time in grassland ecosystems. However, the relative importance of different facets of biodiversity underlying the diversity–stability relationship remains unclear. Here we use data from 39 grassland biodiversity experiments and structural equation modelling to investigate the roles of species richness, phylogenetic diversity and both the diversity and community-weighted mean of functional traits representing the ‘fast–slow’ leaf economics spectrum in driving the diversity–stability relationship. We found that high species richness and phylogenetic diversity stabilize biomass production via enhanced asynchrony in the performance of co-occurring species. Contrary to expectations, low phylogenetic diversity enhances ecosystem stability directly, albeit weakly. While the diversity of fast–slow functional traits has a weak effect on ecosystem stability, communities dominated by slow species enhance ecosystem stability by increasing mean biomass production relative to the standard deviation of biomass over time. Our in-depth, integrative assessment of factors influencing the diversity–stability relationship demonstrates a more multicausal relationship than has been previously acknowledged.

1579-1587
Craven, Dylan
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Eisenhauer, Nico
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Pearse, William D.
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Hautier, Yann
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Isbell, Forest
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Roscher, Christiane
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Bahn, Michael
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Beierkuhnlein, Carl
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Bönisch, Gerhard
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Buchmann, Nina
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Byun, Chaeho
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Catford, Jane A.
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Cerabolini, Bruno E.L.
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Cornelissen, J. Hans C.
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Craine, Joseph M.
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De Luca, Enrica
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Ebeling, Anne
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Griffin, John N.
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Hector, Andy
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Hines, Jes
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Jentsch, Anke
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Kattge, Jens
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Kreyling, Jürgen
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Lanta, Vojtech
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Lemoine, Nathan
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Meyer, Sebastian T.
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Minden, Vanessa
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Onipchenko, Vladimir
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Polley, H. Wayne
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Reich, Peter B.
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van Ruijven, Jasper
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Schamp, Brandon
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Smith, Melinda D.
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Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A.
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Tilman, David
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Weigelt, Alexandra
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Wilsey, Brian
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Manning, Peter
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Craven, Dylan
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Eisenhauer, Nico
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Pearse, William D.
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Hautier, Yann
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Isbell, Forest
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Roscher, Christiane
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Bahn, Michael
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Beierkuhnlein, Carl
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Bönisch, Gerhard
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Buchmann, Nina
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Byun, Chaeho
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Catford, Jane A.
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Cerabolini, Bruno E.L.
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Cornelissen, J. Hans C.
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Craine, Joseph M.
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De Luca, Enrica
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Ebeling, Anne
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Griffin, John N.
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Hector, Andy
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Hines, Jes
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Jentsch, Anke
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Kattge, Jens
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Kreyling, Jürgen
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Lanta, Vojtech
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Lemoine, Nathan
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Meyer, Sebastian T.
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Minden, Vanessa
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Onipchenko, Vladimir
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Polley, H. Wayne
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Reich, Peter B.
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van Ruijven, Jasper
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Schamp, Brandon
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Smith, Melinda D.
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Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A.
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Tilman, David
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Weigelt, Alexandra
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Wilsey, Brian
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Manning, Peter
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Craven, Dylan, Eisenhauer, Nico, Pearse, William D., Hautier, Yann, Isbell, Forest, Roscher, Christiane, Bahn, Michael, Beierkuhnlein, Carl, Bönisch, Gerhard, Buchmann, Nina, Byun, Chaeho, Catford, Jane A., Cerabolini, Bruno E.L., Cornelissen, J. Hans C., Craine, Joseph M., De Luca, Enrica, Ebeling, Anne, Griffin, John N., Hector, Andy, Hines, Jes, Jentsch, Anke, Kattge, Jens, Kreyling, Jürgen, Lanta, Vojtech, Lemoine, Nathan, Meyer, Sebastian T., Minden, Vanessa, Onipchenko, Vladimir, Polley, H. Wayne, Reich, Peter B., van Ruijven, Jasper, Schamp, Brandon, Smith, Melinda D., Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A., Tilman, David, Weigelt, Alexandra, Wilsey, Brian and Manning, Peter (2018) Multiple facets of biodiversity drive the diversity–stability relationship. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2, 1579-1587. (doi:10.1038/s41559-018-0647-7).

Record type: Article

Abstract

A substantial body of evidence has demonstrated that biodiversity stabilizes ecosystem functioning over time in grassland ecosystems. However, the relative importance of different facets of biodiversity underlying the diversity–stability relationship remains unclear. Here we use data from 39 grassland biodiversity experiments and structural equation modelling to investigate the roles of species richness, phylogenetic diversity and both the diversity and community-weighted mean of functional traits representing the ‘fast–slow’ leaf economics spectrum in driving the diversity–stability relationship. We found that high species richness and phylogenetic diversity stabilize biomass production via enhanced asynchrony in the performance of co-occurring species. Contrary to expectations, low phylogenetic diversity enhances ecosystem stability directly, albeit weakly. While the diversity of fast–slow functional traits has a weak effect on ecosystem stability, communities dominated by slow species enhance ecosystem stability by increasing mean biomass production relative to the standard deviation of biomass over time. Our in-depth, integrative assessment of factors influencing the diversity–stability relationship demonstrates a more multicausal relationship than has been previously acknowledged.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 24 July 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 27 August 2018

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 425462
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/425462
PURE UUID: 9e6f7fe3-9c5c-4aab-9e76-99138a86f035
ORCID for Jane A. Catford: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0582-5960

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 19 Oct 2018 16:30
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 21:49

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Contributors

Author: Dylan Craven
Author: Nico Eisenhauer
Author: William D. Pearse
Author: Yann Hautier
Author: Forest Isbell
Author: Christiane Roscher
Author: Michael Bahn
Author: Carl Beierkuhnlein
Author: Gerhard Bönisch
Author: Nina Buchmann
Author: Chaeho Byun
Author: Jane A. Catford ORCID iD
Author: Bruno E.L. Cerabolini
Author: J. Hans C. Cornelissen
Author: Joseph M. Craine
Author: Enrica De Luca
Author: Anne Ebeling
Author: John N. Griffin
Author: Andy Hector
Author: Jes Hines
Author: Anke Jentsch
Author: Jens Kattge
Author: Jürgen Kreyling
Author: Vojtech Lanta
Author: Nathan Lemoine
Author: Sebastian T. Meyer
Author: Vanessa Minden
Author: Vladimir Onipchenko
Author: H. Wayne Polley
Author: Peter B. Reich
Author: Jasper van Ruijven
Author: Brandon Schamp
Author: Melinda D. Smith
Author: Nadejda A. Soudzilovskaia
Author: David Tilman
Author: Alexandra Weigelt
Author: Brian Wilsey
Author: Peter Manning

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