10.5061/DRYAD.DJH9W0VZK
Muraina, Taofeek O.
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Xu, Chong
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Yu, Qiang
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Yang, Yadong
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Jing, Minghui
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Jia, Xiaotong
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Jaman, Md. Shahariar
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Dam, Quockhanh
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Knapp, Alan K.
Colorado State University
Collins, Scott L.
University of New Mexico
Luo, Yiqi
Northern Arizona University
Luo, Wentao
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zuo, Xiaoan
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xin, Xiaoping
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Han, Xingguo
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Smith, Melinda D.
Colorado State University
Species asynchrony stabilises productivity under extreme drought across
Northern China grasslands
Dryad
dataset
2020
2020-12-29T00:00:00Z
2020-12-29T00:00:00Z
en
12064 bytes
2
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
1. Biodiversity can stabilise productivity through different mechanisms,
such as asynchronous species responses to environmental variability and
species stability. Global changes, like intensified drought, could
negatively affect species richness, species asynchrony, and species
stability, but it is unclear how changes in these mechanisms will affect
stability of aboveground primary productivity (ANPP) across ecosystems. 2.
We studied the effects of a 4-year extreme drought on ANPP stability and
the underlying mechanisms (species richness, species asynchrony, and
species stability) across six grasslands in Northern China. We also
assessed the relative importance of these mechanisms in determining ANPP
stability under extreme drought. 3. We found that extreme drought
decreased ANPP stability, species richness, species asynchrony, and
species stability across the six grasslands. However, structural equation
modelling revealed that species asynchrony, not species richness or
species stability, was the most important mechanism promoting stability of
ANPP, regardless of drought across the six grasslands. 4. Synthesis: Our
results suggest that species asynchrony, not species richness and species
stability, consistently buffers ecosystem stability against extreme
drought across and within grasslands spanning a broad precipitation
gradient. Thus, species asynchrony may be a more general mechanism for
promoting stability of ANPP in grasslands in the face of intensified
drought.