title: Land use imperils plant and animal community stability through changes in asynchrony rather than diversity.
abstract: Human land use may detrimentally affect biodiversity, yet long-term stability of species communities is vital for maintaining ecosystem functioning. Community stability can be achieved by higher species diversity (portfolio effect), higher asynchrony across species (insurance hypothesis) and higher abundance of populations. However, the relative importance of these stabilizing pathways and whether they interact with land use in real-world ecosystems is unknown. We monitored inter-annual fluctuations of 2,671 plant, arthropod, bird and bat species in 300 sites from three regions. Arthropods show 2.0-fold and birds 3.7-fold higher community fluctuations in grasslands than in forests, suggesting a negative impact of forest conversion. Land-use intensity in forests has a negative net impact on stability of bats and in grasslands on birds. Our findings demonstrate that asynchrony across species--much more than species diversity alone--is the main driver of variation in stability across sites and requires more attention in sustainable management.
authors: Department of Biology, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstrasse 3, D-64287 Darmstadt, Germany.
authors: Nico
authors: N
authors: Blüthgen
authors: Terrestrial Ecology Research Group, Department for Ecology and Ecosystem Management, Center for Life and Food Sciences Weihenstephan, Technische Universität München, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, D-85354 Freising, Germany.
authors: Nadja K
authors: NK
authors: Simons
authors: Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, D-89069 Ulm, Germany.
authors: Kirsten
authors: K
authors: Jung
authors: Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH 3013 Bern, Switzerland.
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Prati
authors: Institute of Zoology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Gregor-Mendel-Strasse 33, 1180 Vienna, Austria.|Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute at the National Zoological Park, Front Royal 22630, Virginia, USA.
authors: Swen C
authors: SC
authors: Renner
authors: Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH 3013 Bern, Switzerland.
authors: Steffen
authors: S
authors: Boch
authors: Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH 3013 Bern, Switzerland.|Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), D-60325 Frankfurt, Germany.
authors: Markus
authors: M
authors: Fischer
authors: Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, Heisenbergstrasse 2, D-48149 Münster, Germany.
authors: Norbert
authors: N
authors: Hölzel
authors: Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, Heisenbergstrasse 2, D-48149 Münster, Germany.
authors: Valentin H
authors: VH
authors: Klaus
authors: Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, Heisenbergstrasse 2, D-48149 Münster, Germany.
authors: Till
authors: T
authors: Kleinebecker
authors: Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, D-89069 Ulm, Germany.
authors: Marco
authors: M
authors: Tschapka
authors: Terrestrial Ecology Research Group, Department for Ecology and Ecosystem Management, Center for Life and Food Sciences Weihenstephan, Technische Universität München, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, D-85354 Freising, Germany.
authors: Wolfgang W
authors: WW
authors: Weisser
authors: Terrestrial Ecology Research Group, Department for Ecology and Ecosystem Management, Center for Life and Food Sciences Weihenstephan, Technische Universität München, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, D-85354 Freising, Germany.
authors: Martin M
authors: MM
authors: Gossner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001181:Arthropods; D044822:Biodiversity; D001717:Birds; D002685:Chiroptera; D017753:Ecosystem; D065928:Forests; D065948:Grassland; D006801:Humans; D000067936:Natural Resources; D010944:Plants; D011157:Population Dynamics