The relationship between the spatial scaling of biodiversity and ecosystem stability.

ABSTRACT:

Aim

Ecosystem stability and its link with biodiversity have mainly been studied at the local scale. Here we present a simple theoretical model to address the joint dependence of diversity and stability on spatial scale, from local to continental.

Methods

The notion of stability we use is based on the temporal variability of an ecosystem-level property, such as primary productivity. In this way, our model integrates the well-known species-area relationship (SAR) with a recent proposal to quantify the spatial scaling of stability, called the invariability-area relationship (IAR).

Results

We show that the link between the two relationships strongly depends on whether the temporal fluctuations of the ecosystem property of interest are more correlated within than between s

SUBMITTER: Delsol R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5892714 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature