title: Flooding disturbances increase resource availability and productivity but reduce stability in diverse plant communities.
abstract: The natural world is increasingly defined by change. Within the next 100 years, rising atmospheric CO₂ concentrations will continue to increase the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events. Simultaneously, human activities are reducing global biodiversity, with current extinction rates at ~1,000 × what they were before human domination of Earth's ecosystems. The co-occurrence of these trends may be of particular concern, as greater biological diversity could help ecosystems resist change during large perturbations. We use data from a 200-year flood event to show that when a disturbance is associated with an increase in resource availability, the opposite may occur. Flooding was associated with increases in productivity and decreases in stability, particularly in the highest diversity communities. Our results undermine the utility of the biodiversity-stability hypothesis during a large number of disturbances where resource availability increases. We propose a conceptual framework that can be widely applied during natural disturbances.
authors.affiliation: German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexandra J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.affiliation: Institute of Ecology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Strasse 159, 07743 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ebeling
authors.affiliation: Institute for Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University, 6500 GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: de Kroon
authors.affiliation: 1] German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany [2] UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Community Ecology, 06120 Halle, Germany.
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Roscher
authors.affiliation: 1] German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany [2] Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weigelt
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Buchmann
authors.affiliation: UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Community Ecology, 06120 Halle, Germany.
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Buchmann
authors.affiliation: Institute for Geosciences, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Burgweg 11, 07749 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geography, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, 72070 Tuebingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hacker
authors.affiliation: Institute for Geosciences, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Burgweg 11, 07749 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hildebrandt
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geography and Geoecology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), P.O. Box 6980, 76049 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Sophia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leimer
authors.affiliation: Nature Conservation and Plant Ecology Group, Wageningen University, P.O. box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Liesje
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mommer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geography, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, 72070 Tuebingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Yvonne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oelmann
authors.affiliation: J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Georg August University Göttingen, Berliner Strasse 28, 37073 Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scheu
authors.affiliation: 1] German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany [2] Institute of Ecology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Strasse 159, 07743 Jena, Germany [3] Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Steinauer
authors.affiliation: J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Georg August University Göttingen, Berliner Strasse 28, 37073 Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Tanja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Strecker
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Management, Technische Universität München, 85354 Freising, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Weisser
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geography and Geoecology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), P.O. Box 6980, 76049 Karlsruhe, Germany.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wilcke
authors.affiliation: 1] German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany [2] Institute of Ecology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Strasse 159, 07743 Jena, Germany [3] Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Nico
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Eisenhauer
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D017753:Ecosystem; D010944:Plants; D014887:Weather