A unified framework for partitioning the drivers of stability of ecological communities

Abstract

Aim: Identifying the drivers of ecological stability is critical for ensuring the main-tenance of ecosystem functioning and services, particularly in a changing world.Different ecological mechanisms by which biological communities stabilize ecosystemfunctions (i.e. “stabilizing effects”) have been proposed, yet with various theoreticalexpectations and debated conclusions. Here we propose a unified framework thataims at reconciling, and combining, different approaches to reliably test the strengthof three stabilizing effects on the temporal constancy of ecosystem functions: the ef-fects of (a) dominant species, (b) species asynchrony, and (c) diversity. Innovation: Compared to existing developments the approach allows, for the firsttime, disentangling these three stabilizing effects at the level of individual communi-ties. So far this was not possible, and conclusions depended on indirect tests andcomparative analyses across communities. We also propose a graphical representa-tion of the relative contributions of the three stabilizing effects on a ternary plot,allowing us to easily compare communities sampled in various ecological contexts ina standardized space. Main conclusions: Our study answers the current need for a unified framework tolink theoretical concepts on the temporal stability of ecological communities to dataanalysis. The present development promises flexible tests for a deeper understand-ing of the ecological stabilization of biodiversity and the relative importance of itscomponents.