Discussion
In this study, we sought to understand the impacts of drought on the
community stability of biocrusts. We examined two perspectives on how
the central Colorado Plateau’s biocrusts might resist change under
experimental precipitation reduction, i.e., community successional
maturity and species composition. Our results supported our hypothesis
that successional reversal or successional slowing would occur, with
lower abundance of later successional moss cover and higher abundance of
early successional lightly-pigmented cyanobacterial cover. Further, we
showed broad compositional resistance with no evidence to support the
diversity-stability hypothesis; rather, our results indicated a negative
relationship between diversity and compositional resistance with no
effect from the aridity gradient.