10.5061/DRYAD.KPRR4XH57
Huang, Mengjiao
0000-0002-7093-1703
Fudan University
Wang, Shaopeng
Peking University
Liu, Xiang
Lanzhou University
Nie, Ming
Fudan University
Zhou, Shurong
Hainan University
Hautier, Yann
Utrecht University
Intra- and interspecific variability of specific leaf area mitigate the
reduction of community stability in response to warming and nitrogen
addition
Dryad
dataset
2021
Ecology
National Natural Science Foundation of China
https://ror.org/01h0zpd94
31830009
2022-04-25T00:00:00Z
2022-04-25T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.09207
24399 bytes
3
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Global environmental changes are reducing the diversity and affecting the
functioning of natural ecosystems as well as their ability to reliably
provide ecosystem functions and services to mankind. Many studies have
shown that a greater plant diversity can stabilize community productivity
against environmental fluctuations. However, most of these studies focused
on plant species richness, thus overlooking the potential role of
functional traits in stabilizing community productivity against
environmental fluctuations. Whether and how functional trait mean and
variability influence community stability in response to environmental
changes and their relative contributions to community stability are
largely unknown. Here, we used a 10-year experiment to investigate the
role of species richness, as well as functional mean and intra- and
interspecific variability of specific leaf area (SLA) of plants within-
and among communities in driving community stability in response to
nitrogen (N) addition and warming. We found that both N addition and
warming reduced the temporal stability of community productivity by
reducing species richness and its contribution to species asynchrony and
species stability. In contrast, changes in the mean and variability of SLA
in response to N addition and warming mitigated the reduction of community
stability. Specifically, N addition reduced variation in SLA both by
reducing interspecific differences in SLA within communities and
differences in mean values of SLA among communities. Warming increased
intraspecific differences in SLA among communities, leading to higher
species stability that partly buffered the reduction of community
stability. Our study demonstrates the role of trait mean and variability
in mitigating the reduction of community stability in response to two
pervasive global environmental changes. Gaining a deeper understanding of
the processes linking global changes and the stability of our ecosystems
requires integrating both trait mean values and trait variability.