Decoupled responses of above‐ and below‐ground stability of productivity to nitrogen addition at the local and larger spatial scale

• Published in: Global change biology Vol. 28; no. 8; pp. 2711 - 2720
• Main Authors: Yang, Guo‐Jiao, Hautier, Yann, Zhang, Zi‐Jia, Lü, Xiao‐Tao, Han, Xing‐Guo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.04.2022
• Subjects: Dynamic stability; Ecosystem; Ecosystem services; Ecosystem stability; Ecosystems; Grassland; Grasslands; metacommunity; multiple spatial scales; Net Primary Productivity; Nitrogen; nitrogen deposition; Poaceae; Primary production; Productivity; Provisioning; semi‐arid grassland; spatial asynchrony; Stability; temporal stability; spatial asynchrony; multiple spatial scales; temporal stability; metacommunity; nitrogen deposition; semi-arid grassland
• ISSN: 1354-1013; 1365-2486
• DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16090

Temporal stability of net primary productivity (NPP) is important for predicting the reliable provisioning of ecosystem services under global changes. Although nitrogen (N) addition is known to affect the temporal stability of aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), it is unclear how it impacts that of belowground net primary productivity (BNPP) and NPP, and whether such effects are scale dependent. Here, using experimental N addition in a grassland, we found different responses of ANPP and BNPP stability to N addition at the local scale and that these responses propagated to the larger spatial scale. That is, N addition significantly decreased the stability of ANPP but did not affect the stability of BNPP and NPP at the two scales investigated. Additionally, spatial asynchrony of both ANPP and BNPP among communities provided greater stability at the larger scale and was not affected by N addition. Our findings challenge the traditional view that N addition would reduce ecosystem stability based on results from aboveground dynamics, thus highlighting the importance of viewing ecosystem stability from a whole system perspective. It remains unknown how would nitrogen (N) enrichment affect the stability of belowground productivity. Using a field experiment with six N addition rates in a temperate steppe, we found that N addition decreased the stability of ANPP, but did not affect the stability of BNPP and total NPP at both local and larger scales. Spatial asynchrony of both ANPP and BNPP provided greater stability at larger scale and was not affected by N addition, highlighting the importance of understanding stability from a whole system perspective.