Elevated CO2 and N Gradually Weaken the Influence of Diversity on Ecosystem Stability.

Abstract

Biodiversity promotes ecosystem productivity and stability, positive impacts that often strengthen over time. But ongoing global changes such as rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels and anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition may modulate the impact of biodiversity on ecosystem productivity and stability over time. Using a quarter-century grassland biodiversity-global change experiment we show that diversity increasingly enhanced productivity over time irrespective of global change treatments. In contrast, the positive influence of diversity on ecosystem stability strengthened over time under ambient conditions but weakened to varying degrees under global change treatments, largely driven by a greater reduction in species asynchrony under global changes. Thus, over 25 years, CO2 and N enrichment gradually eroded some of the positive effects of biodiversity on ecosystem stability. As elevated CO2, N eutrophication, and biodiversity loss increasingly co-occur in grasslands globally, our results raise concerns about their potential joint detrimental effects on long-term grassland stability.