Nitrogen enrichment alters multiple dimensions of grassland functional stability via changing compositional stability

Abstract

Anthropogenic nutrient enrichment is known to alter the composition and functioning of plant communities. However, how nutrient enrichment influences multiple dimensions of community‐ and ecosystem‐level stability remains poorly understood. Using data from a nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) addition experiment in a temperate semi‐arid grassland that experienced a natural drought, we show that N enrichment, not P enrichment, decreased grassland functional and compositional temporal stability, resistance and recovery but increased functional and compositional resilience. Compositional stability and species asynchrony, rather than species diversity, were identified as key determinants of all dimensions of grassland functional stability, except for recovery. Whereas grassland functional recovery was decoupled from compositional recovery, N enrichment altered other dimensions of functional stability primarily through changing their corresponding compositional stability dimensions. Our findings highlight the need to examine ecological stability at the community level for a more mechanistic understanding of ecosystem dynamics in the face of environmental change.

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