Document Type
Article
Department/Program
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Publication Date
2017
Journal
Ecology Letters
Volume
20
Issue
12
First Page
1534
Last Page
1545
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.
DOI
10.1111/ele.12861
Keywords
Dominant C-4 Grass; Tallgrass Prairie; Temporal Stability; Climate Extremes; Biodiversity; Productivity; Diversity; Precipitation; Variability; Disturbance
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Wilcox, KR; Tredennick, AT; Koerner, SE; Grman, E; Hallett, LM; Johnson, David S.; and Et al., Asynchrony among local communities stabilises ecosystem function of metacommunities (2017). Ecology Letters, 20(12), 1534-1545.
10.1111/ele.12861
