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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0The New Phytologist

Ecological determinants of stability in dryland plant communities

  • Johanne Gresse1
  • Jules Segrestin2
  • Lars Götzenberger2,3
  • Jan Lepš2,4
  • Pierre Liancourt5
  • Merav Seifan6
  • Katja Tielbörger1,7,8
  • Maria Májeková1,7,8
8 affiliations
  1. 1Plant Ecology Group, Institute of Evolution and Ecology University of Tübingen Tübingen 72076 Germany
  2. 2Department of Botany, Faculty of Sciences University of South Bohemia České Budějovice 370 05 Czech Republic
  3. 3Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences Třeboň 379 01 Czech Republic
  4. 4Institute of Entomology Czech Academy of Sciences České Budějovice 370 05 Czech Republic
  5. 5Botany Department State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart Stuttgart 70191 Germany
  6. 6Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research Ben‐Gurion University of the Negev Midreshet Ben‐Gurion 8499000 Israel
  7. 7Cluster of Excellence (EXC 3121): TERRA – Terrestrial Geo‐Biosphere Interactions in a Changing World University of Tübingen Tübingen 72076 Germany
  8. 8Cluster of Excellence GreenRobust Eberhard Karls University Tübingen 72076 Germany
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Abstract

Community stability is often presented as crucial for sustaining ecosystem services under environmental change. Yet, its determinants (dominance, asynchrony in species fluctuations, averaging effect of species diversity) have rarely been disentangled in natural systems, and their contributions across climates remain unclear.

We disentangled the determinants of stability in 40 winter annual communities comprising 178 populations across four climates (arid, semi‐arid, Mediterranean, mesic‐Mediterranean) and two microhabitats (open areas and under perennial shrubs) over 13 yr in a dryland biodiversity hotspot.

Asynchrony in species fluctuations and the averaging effect of species diversity emerged as the strongest stabilizing mechanisms. Asynchrony consistently stabilized communities across climates, independent of species richness, challenging the ‘Insurance Hypothesis’. The averaging effect was weaker in desert and mesic‐Mediterranean climates, suggesting biodiversity may not always determine stability.

These findings stress the need to separate compensatory dynamics into asynchrony in species fluctuations and the averaging effect of species diversity to better predict community stability over time under increasing climatic variability.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{gresse2026ecological,
  title = {{Ecological determinants of stability in dryland plant communities}},
  author = {Johanne Gresse and Jules Segrestin and Lars Götzenberger and Jan Lepš and Pierre Liancourt and Merav Seifan and Katja Tielbörger and Maria Májeková},
  journal = {The New Phytologist},
  year = {2026},
  month = jul,
  doi = {10.1111/nph.71453},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71453},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Ecological determinants of stability in dryland plant communities
AU  - Johanne Gresse
AU  - Jules Segrestin
AU  - Lars Götzenberger
AU  - Jan Lepš
AU  - Pierre Liancourt
AU  - Merav Seifan
AU  - Katja Tielbörger
AU  - Maria Májeková
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/29
JO  - The New Phytologist
DO  - 10.1111/nph.71453
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.71453
AB  - Community stability is often presented as crucial for sustaining ecosystem services under environmental change. Yet, its determinants (dominance, asynchrony in species fluctuations, averaging effect of species diversity) have rarely been disentangled in natural systems, and their contributions across climates remain unclear.  We disentangled the determinants of stability in 40 winter annual communities comprising 178 populations across four climates (arid, semi‐arid, Mediterranean, mesic‐Mediterranean) and two microhabitats (open areas and under perennial shrubs) over 13 yr in a dryland biodiversity hotspot.  Asynchrony in species fluctuations and the averaging effect of species diversity emerged as the strongest stabilizing mechanisms. Asynchrony consistently stabilized communities across climates, independent of species richness, challenging the ‘Insurance Hypothesis’. The averaging effect was weaker in desert and mesic‐Mediterranean climates, suggesting biodiversity may not always determine stability.  These findings stress the need to separate compensatory dynamics into asynchrony in species fluctuations and the averaging effect of species diversity to better predict community stability over time under increasing climatic variability.
SN  - 0028-646X
SN  - 1469-8137
ER  -