Biodiversity increases the resistance of ecosystem productivity to climate extremes

Authors: ISBELL, FOREST - University Of Minnesota; CRAVEN, DYLAN - University Of Leipzig; CONNOLLY, JOHN - University College Dublin; LOREAU, MICHEL - Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique; SCHMID, BERNHARD - University Of Zurich; BEIERKUHNLEIN, CARL - University Of Bayreuth; BEZEMER, T. - Netherlands Institute Of Ecology; BONIN, CATHERINE - Iowa State University; BRUELHEIDE, HELGE - University Of Halle; DE LUCA, ENRICA - University Of Zurich; EBELING, ANNE - University Of Jena; GRIFFIN, JOHN - Swansea University; GUO, QINFENG - Forest Service (FS); HAUTIER, YANN - University Of Oxford; HECTOR, ANDY - University Of Oxford; JENTSCH, ANKE - University Of Bayreuth; KREYLING, JURGEN - University Of Bayreuth; LANTA, VOJTECH - University Of Turku; MANNING, PETE - University Of Bern; MEYER, SEBASTIAN - Technische Universitat Munchen; MORI, AKIRA - Yokohama National University; NAEEM, SHAHID - Columbia University; NIKLAUS, PASCAL - University Of Zurich; Polley, Herbert; REICH, PETER - University Of Minnesota; ROSCHER, CHRISTIANE - University Of Halle; SEABLOOM, ERIC - University Of Minnesota; SMITH, MELINDA - Colorado State University; THAKUR, MADHAV - University Of Leipzig; TILMAN, DAVID - University Of Minnesota; TRACY, BENJAMIN - Virginia Tech; VAN DER PUTTEN, WIM - Netherlands Institute Of Ecology; VAN RUIJVEN, JASPER - Wageningen University; WEIGELT, ALEXANDRA - University Of Leipzig; WEISSER, WOLFGANG - Technische Universitat Munchen; WILSEY, BRIAN - Iowa State University; EISENHAUER, NICO - University Of Leipzig

Submitted to: Nature
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/16/2015
Publication Date: 10/14/2015
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/5451335
Citation: Isbell, F., Craven, D., Connolly, J., Loreau, M., Schmid, B., Beierkuhnlein, C., Bezemer, T.M., Bonin, C., Bruelheide, H., De Luca, E., Ebeling, A., Griffin, J., Guo, Q., Hautier, Y., Hector, A., Jentsch, A., Kreyling, J., Lanta, V., Manning, P., Meyer, S., Mori, A.S., Naeem, S., Niklaus, P.A., Polley, H.W., Reich, P.B., Roscher, C., Seabloom, E., Smith, M., Thakur, M.P., Tilman, D., Tracy, B.F., Van Der Putten, W., Van Ruijven, J., Weigelt, A., Weisser, W.W., Wilsey, B., Eisenhauer, N. 2015. Biodiversity increases the resistance of ecosystem productivity to climate extremes. Nature. 526:574-589. doi:10.1038/nature15374.

Interpretive Summary: Biomass production varies less among years in response to climate extremes (is more stable) in plant communities with many than few species per unit of land area. The reasons for this stabilizing effect of greater species numbers, also referred to as greater biodiversity, remain unclear however. Biodiversity could stabilize community productivity by increasing resistance or resilience to climate extremes or both. Resistant communities experience smaller changes in productivity in response to climate extremes, such as drought, than do less-resistant communities. Conversely, resilient communities more quickly recover to average productivity levels following climate extremes than do less-resilient communities. We used data from 46 experiments located in Europe and North America to determine whether greater biodiversity stabilizes grassland productivity by increasing resistance, resilience, or both. Greater biodiversity increased resistance, but not resilience, to climate extremes. Grassland productivity changed less in response to wet or dry and brief or prolonged periods of climate extremes in species-rich than species-poor communities. By contrast, biodiversity did not consistently affect the rate at which productivity recovered from large changes. Climate change is anticipated to increase the frequency of extreme climate events. Our results highlight the importance of maintaining or increasing plant diversity as a means to stabilize productivity and associated ecosystem services.

Technical Abstract: It remains unclear whether biodiversity buffers ecosystems against extreme climate events, which are becoming increasingly frequent worldwide. Although early results suggested that biodiversity might provide both resistance and resilience (sensu rapid recovery) of ecosystem productivity to drought, subsequent experimental tests produced mixed results. Here we generally test whether biodiversity provides resistance during and resilience after climate events that occurred during 46 grassland plant diversity experiments. We show that biodiversity tends to increase resistance, but not resilience. Biodiversity increased ecosystem resistance for a broad range of climate events, including wet or dry, moderate or extreme, and brief or prolonged events. On average across all studies and climate events, the productivity of low diversity communities with one or two species changed by approximately 50%, while that of high diversity communities with 16 to 32 species changed by approximately 25%, during climate events. In contrast, biodiversity did not consistently increase ecosystem resilience, and even decreased resilience after prolonged wet events. Our results suggest that as extreme climate events become increasingly frequent, biodiversity will likely become increasingly important for the stability of ecosystem functioning and services. Anthropogenic environmental changes that drive biodiversity loss will likely decrease ecosystem stability partly by decreasing the resistance of ecosystem productivity to climate events.