Ecological stability has long been considered to change over succession, but how secondary succession influences the relationship between diversity and temporal stability of biomass production at different spatial scales is poorly understood. We studied changes in plant diversity, functional temporal stability (biomass production) and compositional temporal stability (the latter two are hereafter referred to as functional stability and compositional stability) and explored the stabilizing roles of plant diversity at two spatial scales (small plots of 0.25 m2 and large transects of 1.25 m2) during secondary succession in a subalpine meadow from 2003 to 2010. Our results showed that both plant diversity and functional and compositional stability increased at the small plot scale and large transect scale during secondary succession. As secondary succession proceeded, higher average alpha diversity (i.e. species diversity at the plot scale) led to higher functional and compositional stability at the plot scale by mainly species stability, predominantly contributing to higher functional and compositional stability at the large transect scale. In addition, Simpson‐based beta diversity (i.e. compositional dissimilarity among communities within the same transect), while unaffected by succession, contributed to functional stability at the large transect scale by promoting asynchronous dynamics among communities. Synthesis. Our study highlights the stabilizing effects of plant diversity across the two spatial scales during secondary succession. Our findings provide the first empirical evidence that biodiversity‐mediated effects on ecosystem temporal stability strengthen over successional time, suggesting that the stabilizing effects of biodiversity should be considered across spatial and temporal scales in the face of global changes and biodiversity loss.
Fertilizers-induced priming effects of soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition influences net carbon balance and nutrient release. We hypothesize that very strong limitation of plant productivity and microbial activities by nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), common in Tibetan meadows, retard SOM decomposition and turnover. Consequently, N and/or P fertilization will induce priming effects of SOM and have implications for carbon balance. Soils from a nine-year fertilization experiment (N alone, P alone, NP together, and control) from a Tibetan alpine meadow were used to investigate priming effect of SOM and carbon balance after addition of 13 C labeled glucose.N and/or P fertilization acidified soil by 0.5 pH unit, decreased SOM content, and increased total and available N, total P. Regardless of fertilization, glucose addition accelerated SOM decomposition with priming effects of 30-60 μg C g À1 soil during 78 days. Alleviation of N and P limitation by N and NP fertilization lowered the priming effect by 17% and 14%, respectively, but P fertilization increased priming effect by 67%. The negative correlation of priming effect intensity with SOM, nitrate or total N, and microbial biomass contents indicated that fertilization-induced differences in soil N and the microbial community are responsible for the priming effects.Positive correlation of carbon balance with total N and ammonium contents suggested that soil N accounts for carbon sequestration. Therefore, long-term N and/or P fertilization accelerate SOM decomposition and reduce SOM storage in alpine meadows, of which P fertilization induces the highest priming effect and the lowest SOM storage.
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