The relationship between species richness and community stability to invasion changes under drought stress
Data files
Apr 23, 2026 version files 27.32 KB
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dataset_1.xlsx
25.19 KB
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README.md
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Abstract
Although plant diversity is known to enhance community stability to biological invasions, its interaction with environmental stressors remains poorly understood. We examined how drought stress affects the stability of native communities with different levels of plant diversity to invasion, by establishing experimental plant communities (300 plots) across a species richness gradient (1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 species), introducing the invasive herb Symphyotrichum subulatum to half of the communities, and applying three drought treatments (no, moderate and extreme drought). Results showed that a drought-dependent shift in community stability to invasion (quantified as the aboveground biomass change ratio between invaded and uninvaded communities): the positive richness-stability relationship observed under control moisture conditions became nonsignificant under drought stress. Plant diversity enhanced community stability under control moisture conditions by intensifying light competition (light interception efficiency) through selection effects (the presence of Patrinia scabiosaefolia and/or Artemisia migoana). Under drought stress, however, the change in the root-shoot-ratio (RSR) negatively influenced community stability. The effect of this change on stability was not significantly modulated by species richness. Different influences of species richness on light competition and the change of RSR explain the drought context-dependent role of species richness in stability. These findings provide crucial insights for predicting and managing invasion dynamics in the context of increasing drought extremes.
DOI: 10.5061/dryad.7wm37pw5v
This dataset contains ecological measurements from a biodiversity-ecosystem functioning experiment. The experiment manipulated plant species richness (plot code: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 species) and drought intensity (three levels: 0 = control, 1 = moderate drought, 2 = severe drought). A total of 49 unique species compositions were tested across combinations of richness and drought treatments.
dataset_1.xlsx
Variables:
plot code: Unique identifier for each experimental plot (e.g., 1-1-1-A), encoding species richness, drought intensity, and species composition.
richness: Number of native plant species in the plot (1, 2, 4, 8, or 16).
drought intensity: Level of drought treatment applied: 0 = control (no drought), 1 = moderate drought, 2 = extreme drought.
species composition: Categorical code representing the specific mixture of species in the plot (1–49 unique compositions).
Log BCR: Log-transformed Biomass Change Ratio: log(Biomass_invaded / Biomass_uninvaded), quantifying community stability to invasion.
Complementarity change: Change in complementarity effect (invaded minus uninvaded), reflecting niche differentiation or facilitation.
Selection change: Change in selection effect (invaded minus uninvaded), reflecting dominance of competitive species.
Overyielding: Excess biomass production in mixture relative to monoculture expectations (Loreau & Hector 2001).
change of root-shoot-ratio: Difference in root-to-shoot ratio (invaded minus uninvaded), indicating biomass allocation shifts.
LIE: Light Interception Efficiency, measuring light competition intensity within the community canopy.
NA: missing data codes
Sharing/Access information
Data was derived from the following sources:bAuthor
Code/Software
The linear mixed model was conducted by using R 4.2.3; Diffslope of Simba package in R 4.2.3 was used to test (Permutation test) the slope difference; Other data analyses were performed using SPSS 20.0 for windows.