loading page

Nonlinear response of community stability to ambient climate determines response direction of community stability to warming and grazing
  • +28
  • Peipei Liu,
  • Wangwang Lv,
  • Jianping Sun,
  • Caiyun Luo,
  • Zhenhua Zhang,
  • Xiaoxue Zhu,
  • Xinwu Lin,
  • Jichuang Duan,
  • Guangping Xu,
  • Xiao-Feng Chang ,
  • Yigang Hu,
  • Qiaoyan Lin,
  • Burenbayin Xu,
  • Xiaowei Guo,
  • Lili Jiang,
  • Tsechoe Dorji,
  • Yanfen Wang,
  • Shilong Piao,
  • Jinzhi Wang,
  • Haishan Niu,
  • Liyong Shen,
  • Yang Zhou,
  • Bowen Li,
  • Qi Wang,
  • Suren Zhang,
  • Lu Xia,
  • Yingnian Li,
  • Guangmin Cao,
  • Josep Penuelas,
  • Xinquan Zhao,
  • Shiping Wang
Peipei Liu
Chinese Academy of Sciences

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile
Wangwang Lv
Author Profile
Jianping Sun
Author Profile
Caiyun Luo
Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology Chinese Academy of Sciences
Author Profile
Zhenhua Zhang
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology
Author Profile
Xiaoxue Zhu
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology
Author Profile
Xinwu Lin
Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Author Profile
Jichuang Duan
Author Profile
Guangping Xu
Author Profile
Xiao-Feng Chang
Institute of Water and Soil Conservation of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resource
Author Profile
Qiaoyan Lin
Author Profile
Burenbayin Xu
Author Profile
Xiaowei Guo
Author Profile
Lili Jiang
Author Profile
Tsechoe Dorji
Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research Chinese Academy of Sciences
Author Profile
Yanfen Wang
University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Author Profile
Shilong Piao
Peking university
Author Profile
Jinzhi Wang
Author Profile
Haishan Niu
Author Profile
Liyong Shen
Author Profile
Bowen Li
Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research Chinese Academy of Sciences
Author Profile
Qi Wang
Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research Chinese Academy of Sciences
Author Profile
Suren Zhang
Author Profile
Yingnian Li
Author Profile
Guangmin Cao
Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Author Profile
Josep Penuelas
CSIC-CREAF
Author Profile
Xinquan Zhao
Author Profile
Shiping Wang
Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Author Profile

Abstract

The impacts of human-driven environmental changes on the stability of natural grasslands have been assessed by comparing differences between manipulative warming and grazing plots and reference plots. However, little is known about whether or how ambient climate regulates the effects of manipulative treatments. A 36-year observational dataset shows that there is a nonlinear response of community stability to ambient climate. Manipulative warming and grazing decrease community stability with experiment duration through an increase in legume coverage and/or decrease in species asynchrony, due to exceeding the threshold of background annual mean air temperature with decreasing background annual mean air temperature through time during the 10-year experiment period. Moreover, the temperature sensitivity of community stability is more sensitive under the ambient treatment than under the manipulative treatments. Therefore, our study emphasizes the importance of the context dependency of the response of community stability to human-driven environmental changes.