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Climate warming reduces the temporal stability of plant community biomass production

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  • Zhiyuan Ma

    (College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University)

  • Huiying Liu

    (College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University)

  • Zhaorong Mi

    (Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Present addresses: Farmland Irrigation Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Xinxiang 453002, China)

  • Zhenhua Zhang

    (Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Yonghui Wang

    (College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University
    Present addresses: Department of Ecology, College of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China)

  • Wei Xu

    (College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University)

  • Lin Jiang

    (School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • Jin-Sheng He

    (College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, and Key Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes of the Ministry of Education, Peking University
    Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

Anthropogenic climate change has emerged as a critical environmental problem, prompting frequent investigations into its consequences for various ecological systems. Few studies, however, have explored the effect of climate change on ecological stability and the underlying mechanisms. We conduct a field experiment to assess the influence of warming and altered precipitation on the temporal stability of plant community biomass in an alpine grassland located on the Tibetan Plateau. We find that whereas precipitation alteration does not influence biomass temporal stability, warming lowers stability through reducing the degree of species asynchrony. Importantly, biomass temporal stability is not influenced by plant species diversity, but is largely determined by the temporal stability of dominant species and asynchronous population dynamics among the coexisting species. Our findings suggest that ongoing and future climate change may alter stability properties of ecological communities, potentially hindering their ability to provide ecosystem services for humanity.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhiyuan Ma & Huiying Liu & Zhaorong Mi & Zhenhua Zhang & Yonghui Wang & Wei Xu & Lin Jiang & Jin-Sheng He, 2017. "Climate warming reduces the temporal stability of plant community biomass production," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-7, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms15378
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15378
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    Cited by:

    1. Akpalu, Wisdom & Vondolia, Godwin K. & Adom, Phillip K. & Peprah, Dorcas Asaah, 2023. "Passive Participation in Illegal Fishing and the Welfare of Fishmongers in a Developing Country," EfD Discussion Paper 23-9, Environment for Development, University of Gothenburg.
    2. Xiang Zhou & Yasushi Yamaguchi, 2018. "Relative Importance of Climatic and Anthropogenic Drivers on the Dynamics of Aboveground Biomass across Agro-Ecological Zones on the Mongolian Plateau," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-21, September.
    3. Quanhui Ma & Hongying Yu & Xiaodi Liu & Zhenzhu Xu & Guangsheng Zhou & Yaohui Shi, 2018. "Climatic warming shifts the soil nematode community in a desert steppe," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 150(3), pages 243-258, October.
    4. Rui Yin & Wenkuan Qin & Xudong Wang & Dong Xie & Hao Wang & Hongyang Zhao & Zhenhua Zhang & Jin-Sheng He & Martin Schädler & Paul Kardol & Nico Eisenhauer & Biao Zhu, 2023. "Experimental warming causes mismatches in alpine plant-microbe-fauna phenology," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    5. Emma Sumner & Susanna Venn, 2021. "Plant Responses to Changing Water Supply and Availability in High Elevation Ecosystems: A Quantitative Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-17, October.
    6. Taofeek O. Muraina, 2020. "Frameworks on Patterns of Grasslands’ Sensitivity to Forecast Extreme Drought," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-13, September.
    7. Geng, Xin & Hu, Shi & Wang, Xunming & Cai, Diwen & Gong, Yuan, 2023. "Adaptive change of land use to nature and society in China’s agro-pastoral ecotone," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).

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