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Related Experiment Video

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Linking Predation Risk, Herbivore Physiological Stress and Microbial Decomposition of Plant Litter

Linking Predation Risk, Herbivore Physiological Stress and Microbial Decomposition of Plant Litter

Published on: March 12, 2013

Mechanisms contributing to stability in ecosystem function depend on the environmental context.

Emily Grman¹, Jennifer A Lau, Donald R Schoolmaster

¹Plant Biology Department, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. grmanemi@msu.edu

Ecology Letters

|September 21, 2010

Summary

Disturbed grassland communities show greater stability in productivity than undisturbed ones, challenging the idea that diversity is the main driver of ecosystem stability. This stability is linked to how species interact and the dominance of certain species.

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Environmental Science
Plant Community Ecology

Background:

Ecosystem stability is crucial but poorly understood, especially how anthropogenic disturbances affect it.
Investigating temporal stability in aboveground productivity of experimentally perturbed grassland plant communities over 18 years.
Understanding the strength of stabilizing mechanisms under environmental change.

Discussion:

Disturbed annual-dominated communities exhibited higher stability than undisturbed perennial communities.
Nitrogen fertilization maintained stability despite species richness loss, due to compensatory dynamics and dominant species.
Mean-variance scaling effects increased in disturbed communities, contributing to stability.

Key Insights:

Decreased individual species variability and increased abundance of stable dominants enhance ecosystem stability.
Species diversity was not the strongest driver of stability differences in this study.
Ecosystem stability is influenced by species interactions and dominance patterns, not solely by diversity.

Outlook:

Findings suggest mechanisms for maintaining ecosystem stability under global change pressures like eutrophication and disturbance.
Highlights the importance of species-specific traits and interactions in ecosystem resilience.
Provides insights for conservation and management strategies focused on ecosystem functioning.