Scale-dependent changes in ecosystem temporal stability over six decades of succession

A widely assumed, but largely untested, tenet in ecology is that ecosystem stability tends to increase over succession. We rigorously test this idea using 60-year continuous data of old field succession across 480 plots nested within 10 fields. We found that ecosystem temporal stability increased over succession at the larger field scale (gamma stability) but not at the local plot scale (alpha stability). Increased spatial asynchrony among plots within fields increased gamma stability, while temporal increases in species stability and decreases in species asynchrony offset each other, resulting in no increase in alpha stability at the local scale. Furthermore, we found a notable positive diversity-stability relationship at the larger but not local scale, with the increased gamma stability at the larger scale associated with increasing functional diversity later in succession. Our results emphasize the importance of spatial scale in assessing ecosystem stability over time and how it relates to biodiversity.

Automated summary

This study rigorously tests the widely assumed tenet in ecology that ecosystem stability tends to increase over succession. The results show that temporal stability at the larger field scale (gamma stability) does increase over succession, but temporal stability at the local plot scale (alpha stability) does not. Increased spatial asynchrony among plots within fields increases gamma stability, while temporal increases in species stability and decreases in species asynchrony offset each other, resulting in no increase in alpha stability at the local scale. Furthermore, there is a notable positive diversity-stability relationship at the larger scale, with the increased gamma stability associated with increasing functional diversity later in succession.